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African American History - How Well Do We Know It?

Its a pity young African Americans are not aware of the struggles their ancestors faced in shaping the destiny of the present generation. African American History is a story of hope and desires which started with the abominable slave trade and culminated in a long sought freedom. A people can only know and understand themselves if they appreciate their past and this is necessary for the young African Americans today.

A story can take many forms depending on who is telling it. The historians of that era when slavery was at its foremost were mostly of European stock so naturally this horrible event in history was very much sanitized for public consumption. The brutalities of the slave trade and the total suppression of African culture, African art and African music are hardly recorded anywhere. It was left to the elders to pass on the stories of the many heroes of the slave trade; those great rebels who helped pave the way for its eventual abolition.

However it was not just African American slaves who suffered, even their brothers and sisters in the Caribbean were abused in the worst possible way. But this abuse and punishment started from the moment they boarded the slave ships where they were herded like sheep below deck in sweltering heat and filthy conditions. Widespread African poverty on the dark continent facilitated this act. The journey which lasted months saw many died en route and thrown overboard. Those who survived were made presentable and sold to the highest bidder and then the inhumane treatment continued on the farms where they were placed.

The key to learning African American history is in understanding the struggle that the slaves endured. For example, many people are not aware of the fact that the slaves were forced to abandon their own religious practices and even from playing traditional African musical instruments simply because the plantation owners did not understand it and therefore regarded it as a threat to them. Slaves were forced to adopt the religious practices of their masters as well as their names and other cultural belief. Basically they were made to forget who they were and where they came from.

So, go ahead and read the publications in school and college libraries but when you are ready for the real truth, go down south and talk to the elders, visit the churches and listen to the stories as they were handed down. But know this, what you are hearing would be no exaggeration as normally occurs when a story is retold countless times. In this case the stories might have become milder, the atrocities and abuse were ten times worse than we could begin to even imagine.