My Thoughts...
When we approached
Elmina I was a little nervous. I was nervous yet anxious at the same time
because I was excited to see the castles but I didn’t know how the tours would
affect me. We were told that the tours would be deep and we were warned about
the possibility of getting very emotional. During the tour I
was a little sad but thankful to God. In the dungeons all I could think about
was that it could have been me all those years ago, just because of the color
of my skin. I can’t even fathom the amount of suffering that so many people
went through. The most ironic thing about the castles is that they each contain
a church. The Europeans worshiped God right above the slave dungeons, in the
midst of all their suffering. I couldn’t believe that a group of people could
bluntly inflict harm on another group of people and believe it to be acceptable
by God.
After all of the tours we had dinner back at the
hotel and then engaged in a reflection session. To me, this was one of the most
important parts of the day. We shared our individual thoughts and how we felt
about going through the castles, we tried to discern the motivations behind the
institution of slavery itself, and lastly, we tried to answer the big question,
“Has humanity changed?”
I will give my view on this last question. Part of
me wants to say yes because slavery and Jim Crow are over. However, I know in
my heart that that’s not true. We’ve made progress as a people but there is still
much work to be done. The fact that race has and will probably always be an
issue in the United States is not progress. A friend of mine made an
interesting comment during reflection. She questioned the theory behind
integration. What exactly were we integrating? Are we integrating whites into
the black community or blacks into the white communities? It just really made
me think about how society has the ability to make us believe in the superiority
of one culture over another. Also, the fact that there are still religious and
ethnic wars happening around the world tells me that humanity has not changed.
However, I do see some potential. I believe that attitudes can be changed and I
believe the possibility of peace. But I also know that none of these will be
achieved in my lifetime.
The funny thing is
that I came to Ghana I expected meet Ghanaians who were angry about slavery,
but I haven’t. Slavery is not a serious factor in the life of an average
Ghanaian. The fact is that Ghanaians are too worried about meeting their basic
needs that they don’t have time to worry about it. They just see slavery as
this thing that happened some time in the past. The subject has not been
heavily integrated in the education system so children usually don’t learn
about it until they’re much older if at all. The structure of culture and norms
doesn’t really slavery to be discussed because Ghanaians tend to refrain from
topics dealing with sad issues and large-scale human suffering. Instead of reading a book about slavery
they would rather read more empowering and inspirational literature. I don’t
blame them. Something that happened over 400 years ago should not be a large
negative factor today. African Americans should not constantly be discriminated against and be reminded of a dynamic between blacks and whites that existed centuries ago. Blacks and whites should see each other as equals...but the terrible implications of the slave trade will always
be evident in the United States.
Being that slavery happened so many years ago I
didn’t feel a direct connection to it at the time we were in the castles and it
still hasn’t hit me hard like I thought it would. At first I thought it was bad
that I didn’t get emotional, but I don’t have to get emotional just to prove
that the experience mattered to me. That day means more to me than I could ever say.
People always talk or joke about going back to Africa, back to their
roots. Now I can say that I’ve actually done it and that experience will always
be in my heart. I walked into the same dungeons that my ancestors walked in, I
watched the sunset over the Atlantic along the same coast that each ship came
and went. The sad thing is that I know I’ll never be able to trace my family
back to exact country in Africa, to the exact town or village. But that doesn’t
matter. All I know is that the color of my skin has a rich African culture and
history attached to it and I will forever be proud of that fact.
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