Dear Editor,
“… slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” This is one of the changes to Florida state’s African American history courses recently approved by the Education Board: it is vehemently opposed by many, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who said “They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us”… but is it? And are we in Guyana and the Caribbean willing to discuss changes to what we teach about African slavery? I believe it is time we opened the debate and offer the following.
The current teaching has a profoundly negative effect on children in the Caribbean and all but a few are affected with an inferiority complex for life; while we do teach of the various slave uprisings, we do not do so in a context that shows the extent of adaptation to European ‘civilization’ that led to the rebellions. Apart from Christianity, very little was given to slaves, despite this, many learned to read, write and do arithmetic to the highest standard and became bookkeepers, Majordomos, and other non-field workers. Foremost among the writers was Fredrick Douglass whose autobiography fired up the abolitionist movement in America; there was Sojourner Truth, a remarkable woman who used the court system to have her child returned to her after he was sold to an Alabama farmer, she was the first black woman to win a case against a white man. These are but a few American examples, then there is the British West Indies and Haiti to consider.
Guyana’s National Hero, Coffy, is an outstanding example of how slaves were learning and adapting to the new culture, Coffy was a cooper (skilled craftsman, Barrel Maker) who did not only lead the 1763 rebellion but who looked to the future where (as he wrote to Dutch Governor Van Hoogenhiem) he envisaged himself, Governor of Berbice, working with the local Dutch authorities to keep the plantations productive! By the end of British slavery (1834) slaves had become well organized, formed collectives and purchased land, and, formed villages; a simple ask of where the money came from would shed light not available in the current curriculum.
Kamala Harris and others would like to keep us ignorant of the real achievements to suit a political narrative, of helpless people, incapable of growth within a repressive system, and that a woman of her standing misses the point is regrettable; just consider all the effort that went into keeping the black man/woman down, if he (the slave) did not understand the system and was capable of working within it to rise to the top, there would be no fear of the abolition, for where would a freed slave incapable of understanding, functioning and rising in a western society go? For me, Slavery is the story of a people who could not be kept down, people who forced all who dealt with them directly to acknowledge their mental and physical capabilities were equal to any other race on earth. We can teach this history or we can continue to perpetuate the old myths; change begins with conversations, one we can have whilst I hum the lyrics of Bob Marley’s last song, his parting gift to mankind, Redemption Song… “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds” … the history of slavery, as a song of freedom, would be great to learn in school!
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
