Former Slave from Mauritana
The biggest issue in the world is what is going on between Palestine and Israel. I personally refuse to take a side. My heart breaks for those innocents that are caught in between the self-serving arrogance, religious fanaticism and inhumanity of small men with little diplomacy skills. However, I for one cannot understand how my Black American progressive friends can talk about the injustices over there without addressing the deportation, abuse and enslavement of Black people there. This isn’t happening in the United States or in an European country. This is going on in the Middle East and parts of Africa. This topic is rarely discussed but it is happening in Palestine and all over the Arab world.
Here is an interview with Dinka Bol Gai Deng and Dr. Abdelgabar Adam. Dinka Bol Gai Deng was enslaved in Sudan and Dr. Abdelgabar Adam was a Darfur refugee.
“Arab racism towards Africans has for long been a taboo subject, considering that it is politically incorrect to voice out the obvious: That Arabs, who are mostly Muslims, are racists to boot and consider Africans, Muslim or Christian, as inferior.
Reference is made to the book of Genesis and the three sons of Noah – Ham, Japheth and Shem. Arabs claim that “the accursed Ham was the progenitor of the black race; that Japheth begat the full-faced, small eyed Europeans, and that Shem fathered the handsome Arabs with beautiful face and hair.”
Arab philosophers carefully tilled the ground in order to make racism towards Africans and all Blacks by their kin a proud cultural heritage. Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980–1037), Arab’s most famous and influential philosopher/scientist in Islam, described Blacks as “people who are by their very nature slaves.” He wrote: “All African women are prostitutes, and the whole race of African men is abeed (slave) stock.” He finally equates black people with “rats plaguing the earth.” Of Gaddafi and Arab racism towards Blacks
Wait there is more…
Ibn Khaldum, an Arab historian who is revered especially by Algerians, stated that “Blacks are characterized by levity and excitability and great emotionalism,” adding that “they are every where described as stupid.”
Al-Dimashqi, often described as a pseudo Arab scientist, wrote: “the Equator is inhabited by communities of blacks who may be numbered among the savage beasts. Their complexion and hair are burnt and they are physically and morally abnormal. Their brains almost boil from the sun’s heat…”
Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadhani said of Black people: “…the zanj (the blacks) are overdone until they are burned, so that the child comes out between black, murky, malodorous, stinking, and crinkly-haired, with uneven limbs, deficient minds, and depraved passions…” Of Gaddafi and Arab racism towards Blacks – Afrik-news.com
This is what is happening today:
“For years, observers interested in probing a little more deeply in Iraqi society than the typical Western news stations found that the sizable black population in Iraq endures a form of virulent racism that African Americans haven’t seen in more than 50 years. Blacks there say they are regularly called “slave” and followed by groups of kids yelling epithets.
The Canadian academic Salim Mansur has claimed, “Blacks are viewed by Arabs as racially inferior, and Arab violence against blacks has a long, turbulent record.” Blacks in North Africa and Middle East Often Face Virulent Racism from Arabs Atlanta Black Star
Here is an excerpt from “My Slave, My Infidel.”
Sudanese refugees are treated horribly but today some Black Americans are crying for others:
CAIRO — On a dirt lane in the poor Arba wa Nus neighborhood, Malles Tonga, a Sudanese refugee, spoke loudly about the brutality of Egyptian police and blamed President Hosni Mubarak for their behavior.
Suddenly, an Egyptian merchant emerged from a nearby dry-goods store, shouted an Egyptian slur for black Africans and yelled: “If you don’t like it here, go home!”
The use of the expletive exemplifies the plight of Sudanese who come to Egypt as refugees: They fear going home, but the welcome mat in Egypt, always thin of resources and tolerance is almost threadbare. Egypt Is Uneasy Stop For Sudanese Refugees, Washington Post.
Like I said, what is happening there is horrible but where is the outcry for our Black people? Black people are being stolen from their homes and enslaved right now. Imagine if this was your family. Imagine the outrage. Where are the Facebook pages? Where are the spokes people on TV? My advice is before you take a side at least take some time to get to know who and what you are supporting.
Descent slavery is where people are born into slavery or belong to a slave caste. It predominantly exists in West Africa in the following countries:
From AntiSlavery.org
Even though slavery was banned in Mauritania in 1981 it still goes on today:
SOS Slavery says there could be up to 600,000 slaves – many of them used as bonded labour – in Mauritania. That would add up to 20% of the population although the BBC’s Ed Horton says those figures are difficult to verify. Mauritania’s parliament has unanimously passed legislation making the practice of slavery punishable by up to 10 years in prison, The BBC
Black Muslims face racism and treated like second class citizen caste by Arabs in Yemen
As of 2002,
Sudan: Between 5,000 and 14,000 abducted since 1983
Millions of girls forced into domestic service worldwide
Hundreds of boys trafficked to the Gulf to race camels
(Source: BBC and Anti-Slavery International)
Good post BBG. Peiople need to be aware of this.I’ve talked about this many times. But people fail to listen. Or maybe they just want to turn a blind eye. The mainstream media totally ignores this abuse and enslavement. Slavery is still alive and well.But it’s very sad and disturbing that this is going on. We have to do what we can to get the word out. I’ll have to reblog this post.
Thank you so much.
Reblogged this on Kushite Kingdom and commented:
Slavery is still alive and well. Be aware of what’s going on in the world. Don’t be ignorant!
Thank you.
This is so horrible! I had NO idea about any of this! I thank you so much for posting this and letting people know! Black people here think they have it bad! It may not be perfect here but we have the power to put up petitions call the news we are NOT enslaved! If anybody comes with some ‘black people are inferior’ they are told immediately, they don’t have that kind of power out in the Middle East!
Thank you again for posting this!
Great post BBG.
Funny how they hate us, eh? Yet they come from us. I’ve always been aware of how Arabs treated us but am not surprised. They hate their own women so that speaks volumes.
Thank you!!
Reblogged this on Cree7's Blog and commented:
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The only thing that surprises me about this story is that people were surprised by this story. Being Black hasn’t changed from chattel to Obama. The fact that it’s Arabs is perfect, they wanna be white, can’t be white, so let’s do the next best thing. Hate and subjugate niggers. That is a world wide pastime enjoyed by many and Black folk enjoy it as well.
Until we snap out of this stupor or The Most High sees fit to swing the balance back in our direction, we are all that we have. You can kiss @ss all day and STILL a effing nigger. Please forgive me sista for my language, I am angry and I still don’t know how to act.
[...] via What region of the world participates in the deportation, abuse and enslavement of Black people? It …. [...]
“My heart breaks for those innocents who are caught between the self serving arrogance, religious fanaticism and inhumanity of small men with little diplomacy skills”
haven’t seen the situation in Israel/Gaza put better than that. Power really does corrupt.
saying that, I’m not really mad at black americans sticking up for Gaza. they should also speak up for enslaved black africans though, especially now that its been made obvious. its not a inhumanity competition. both abuses suck, lets address both which to be fair, the writer of this article does, we should follow her lead.
Perfectly said forgot to include mauritania nd the maghreb countries
I don’t know what to say…. I’m horrified by the thought that this is still happening in the world without people having widespread knowledge. I’m horrified at the fact that us black people are always busy crying for someone else, celebrating those who have hurt us e.g Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee, while we generally have no idea what is happening to our brother and sisters. Great post!
American Black Progressives (liberals) don’t speak out about Arab/Islamic racial hatred because rich white liberals control the conversation. This is evident not just in international affairs, but US domestic political agenda. “Pro-Choice” = Black Baby Genocide (400,000 killed per year). “Pro-Gay” or “Pro-Sexual liberalism” = anti Black Family, where some 70% of Black children are raised without a father. Blind Black Progressives (by and large) are the real sell-outs.
Because it is “cool”and “hip” to be Pro-Palestine/Arab, many young, educated Black people side with the Hamas, Hezbollah or the PLO. They’ve been brainwashed into thinking that Israel is a racist state, where there are no religious freedoms, when the truth is that Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East. The ignorance is rampant, and has a demonic root.
“In the years following the 1973 war, Israel’s enemies realized that they could not defeat Israel on the battlefield. They turned therefore to diplomatic warfare and sought to weaken Israel’s international diplomatic position. Due to pressure from the Arab world, most African and third world countries broke diplomatic relations with Israel. In 1975, the Soviet-Arab-Third World bloc at the United Nations succeeded in passing the infamous “Zionism equals racism” General Assembly resolution which was an attempt to delegitimize the right of the Jewish people to return to their ancestral homeland. The resolution was not revoked until December 1991.”
http://www.adl.org/Israel/Record/yomkippur.asp
[...] What region of the world participates in the deportation, abuse and enslavement of Black people? It … [...]
Good article. But, I’ll go further:
Not only should Black people be repulsed by the self-righteous, racial discrimination claims of the Arab Muslim world. Black Zionists (true lovers of Israel) should stand with Israel when the world is coming against her.
I know we’re angry, sad and outraged, but what do we do?
After all the complaints about “pinkwashing” — the idea that Israel’s tolerance of gays & lesbians is a kind of cover-up for its anti-Arab prejudice — we finally learn that the Arab world is rife with such deep anti-black prejudice that it tolerates slavery. This slap in the face should bring us back to reality. Both Israelis and Arabs are guilty of religious and ethnic prejudice we don’t accept in the U.S. The Palestinians are not innocent lambs; nor are the Israelis.
Have you heard of Kola Boof? She is one-half Sudanese and one-half Arab: her mother was bought/sold to her Arab father. She will give you an ear full about Arabs and I do mean an ear full. She pulls no punches about her hatred of Arabs based on her personal experiences. For some she is too much: too much swearing, even obscenity and she is very critical of American blacks. You can follow her on twitter if you dare.
Recently I saw a picture of a young Arab man sitting on the back of an elderly black man; the young man was playing a video game. He was apparently the son of a Saudi Arabian prince and the man he was sitting on was a slave. I’ll see if I can find it if you are interested.
The Israel/Palestinian conflict is so complicated I hesitate to make a comment. But I will say this: in 1948 two states were proposed: a Jewish state and a Arab state. The Jews accepted the partition, the Arabs didn’t and attacked the Jews. They came from all neighboring countries in an effort to annhiliate the Jews. They lost and they have continued to lose, hence the loss of territory. I thnk it’s reasonable to say that there has never been a Palestinian state because they never accepted the offer.
1.) You say you can’t take a side in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict because of Arab Racism but none of the examples you site are happening in Palestine. 2.) Arab racism against Blacks does indeed exist and is rampant. Just like it exists here in the U.S. I don’t condone it or excuse it That doesn’t mean that one cant’ speak out against injustice when it is happening.And what’s happening in Palestine is as much as injustice as what happens to Blacks in Egypt, Yemen, Mali, Mauritania,etc. Speaking out against Arab racism against Blacks is an important discussion and should be done. That doesn’t mean one shouldn’t or can’t speak out against any other injustices that happen. As MLK said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
I have experienced racism from Palestinians first hand here in the US. The majority of them consider Blacks inferior and will disown their family members if they choose to marry Blacks. I was part of a Palestinian Awareness Orginization (which comprised of mostly Arabs denouncing America and Israel for the occupation of Palestine) for many years until I discovered this dirty secret of theirs and when I brought it to their attention I was met with hostility and denial. So much for their “equality for all” they claim they fight for! The Jews are no different. I’m Ethiopian and have family that were forced to re-locate from Ethiopia to Israel and are treated like 3rd class citizens by Jews there. Although I don’t agree with what’s going on in Palestine I refuse to support a group who demands to be victims of the same racism that most of them subscribe to and practice and do nothing to rectify it.
Also I’m certain if MLK were still here he would address the injustice being done to Blacks by Arabs and tell the Arab community to achieve the freedom they desire they have to first liberate themselves from their own racist ideals.
Found this post through someone I follow on Tumblr. Kicking myself now b/c I can’t find who it was on my feed anymore. Thank you for writing about this. I had no clue, and am going to educate myself on this right now.
People forget that the Trans-Saharan slave trade, during which Africans were taken from sub-Saharan Africa to the north and east, predates the Trans-Atlantic trade. In fact it facilitated the Trans-Atlantic trade. And often it was Arab traders who helped the Europeans kidnap Africans.
Am a black girl but after all said and done I will simply say this “if they are not treating u right u leave”!! When someone treats u like a slave when in their country. I don’t like it when black people make themselves vunarable and expect pity. So spare me d tale of pity!
Yelonelo…that is one of the most ignorant comments I’ve ever read. Maybe you don’t understand what a slave is and the many tactics that are employed to keep them in that state of enslavement. Do yourself a favour and read a book before making such ignorant comments.
I agree with the article, and thank you for posting it.
I am continually amazed and disappointed with the amount of loyalty many African nations give to the Arab Muslims. Africans have been standing shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinians/Arabs ever since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and what has it gotten them? Yes, every moral person should stand against injustice. But why should Africa stand with Arab Islam when it continues to enslave, torture and destroy Africans?
I agree with you Dumisani and I am equally amazed and disappointed w/the loyalty the African-american community gives the Arab Muslims but I believe its because they are not aware of how Arabs really feel about Blacks because Arabs are smart to hide it because they want the support they need from the Black community. However I know that Jews are equally as racist and the Middle East issue is not one we as Black people should be involved in. We have so many other things we need to do for our people and not waste our time, energy and efforts for Jews or Arabs who are already historically the two wealthiest groups of people on earth. And each already have tons of support. Israel of course has the US who gives more $ to them than ALL other countries the US supports combined! And the Arabs have everyone else so we just need to focus on our own. I don’t know if you checked but Africa still needs lots of help and the only other countries involved there are there to exploit it for its resources. Oprah can’t do everything!