Diminishing to us all
From Joan Adamson Sir: Ross Clark (Globophobia, 17 April) asks whether the descendants of African slaves bringing lawsuits against Lloyd's of London and others would rather be 'plodding around in a grass skirt in West Africa' than living in America. One can only assume that he thinks, all things being equal, that Africa was as bad then as it is now. However, history tells us otherwise.
While Ross Clark would have us consider slavery as a precursor to globalisation (benefits for everyone, but perhaps not in our lifetime), he should first familiarise himself with what he is talking about. Actually Africans were much more than 'noble' peasants and had a rich and varied history and culture before the transatlantic slave trade. And though slavery had existed within Africa for thousands of years, slaves were not the commodity in Africa that they became in the Americas and other places from the 17th century. Further, it is well known that introducing firearms increased warfare and destabilised West Africa. For nearly 300 years some 15 million slaves were transported out of Africa, although the exact figure could be as high as 28 million.
Ross Clark could do no better than read of the ghastly treatment meted out to slaves by white men and some women in 'The Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project 1933-1938', available from the Library of Congress or on the Internet. If it was my great-great-granny who'd been flogged until blood was drawn for being a few minutes late for work, I'd be seeking reparation too, because in diminishing them so long ago we remain diminished — even Ross Clark.
Joan Adamson
Victoria, Australia
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