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Reparations Movement Continues to Grow...But Not Without Dissent

Universities profited from slavery and played a role in the enslavement of Harvard Reparations Plan Reminds Us of the Role of Universities in Black Enslavement As a Harvard alum, I applaud the decision, which is socially responsible, if not a form of enlightened self-interest for the university. Colleges and universities produce the future leaders and thinkers, help to Black people. And it is time that they acknowledge this legacy and make amends for the harm they caused. Harvard University is the latest institution of higher education to address its role in slavery. The Ivy League university–with a massive $53.2 billion endowment–released a 134-page report on its legacy of slavery and announced a $100 million “Legacy of Slavery” fund to provide redress.

Among its findings, Harvard faculty, staff and leaders owned at least 70 people between the school’s founding in 1636 and 1783, when slavery was abolished in Massachusetts. These individuals had names such as Cicely, Titus, Venus, Violet, Juba, Dorcas, Guinea, Pompey, Hope and Bilhah, while others were known as “The Moor,” “The Spaniard,” “unnamed Negro boy,” “Young Jerry” and “the Negar.” Some of these enslaved people lived and worked on the Harvard campus and tended to the needs of Harvard presidents, faculty and students.

“Through connections to multiple donors, the University had extensive financial ties to, and profited from, slavery during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries,” the report says. “These donors helped the University build a national reputation, hire faculty, support students, grow its collections, expand its physical footprint, and develop its infrastructure.” Even today, Harvard honors benefactors with ties to slavery through buildings and professorships.

Harvard also noted that some of its professors embraced eugenics, its museum has the remains of African and Indigenous people, and the legacy of slavery, segregation and discrimination lasted on campus well into the 20th century. shape the direction of society, and have a great impact on the country. And while many of these institutions have benefited from Black labor and profited from the exploitation of their bodies, many of these universities were not originally intended for Black people–HBCUs notwithstanding, of course. David A. Love The University of Pennsylvania, where I received my law degree, found that while the university never owned slaves, at least 75 of its earliest trustees owned enslaved people, and faculty members and alumni were slaveholders, made Black folks threefifths of a person in the U.S. Constitution, supported the Confederacy and promoted racial pseudoscience. Benjamin Franklin, Penn’s founder, owned slaves before becoming an abolitionist in his later years. The University of Oxford, where I studied international human rights law, has established a scholarship program for Caribbean students. One of Oxford’s colleges was funded by a British sugar plantation baron and has a library named after him, while another college built a statue in honor of the colonizer Cecil Rhodes, who committed genocide against the people of southern Africa. And Rutgers University, where I teach journalism and media studies, acknowledged that it was founded by slaveholders and built by enslaved people of African descent. Rutgers has Love continued to page 24 W hen it comes to the absurdity of American taxpayers giving "repaReparations: Blackwashing Slavery In the film, white slavers are the enemy when, in reality, they were business partners with the "womenrations" to black descendants of slaves, it's hard to limit the number of objections. Apart from the fact that American slavery, though horrific, was legal; that it ended 157 years ago; that the government did not own slaves, the private sector did; that most Southerners did not own slaves; that nearly all slave owners were Democrats – so why should non-Democrats pay?; that hundreds of thousands of white Northerners lost their lives and suffered serious injuries fighting in the Civil War that ended slavery; and that today, as conservative writer Michael Medved puts it, only about 5% of whites bear "a generational guilt" to slavery – there's the role Africa itself played.

Take the 2022 movie "The Woman King," starring Viola Davis, about African female warriors. It portrays white slavers as villains and the female warriors as antislavery avengers, and the film claims it is "Inspired by true events." IMDB describes its plot: "A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries."

Inspired by true events? Really?

There was, in fact, a band of warrior women in Africa called the Dahomey. True, they were fierce, feared and bloodthirsty fighters. But they used that ferocity to kill and conquer other Africans for sale to slave traders. The trans-Atlantic African and the Arab African slave trade could not have occurred without the complicity of African chiefs, who sold conquered Africans to European and Arab slavers. kings." Critic Robert Daniels, who mostly praised the film, said: "You might wonder how (director Gina) Prince-Bythewood can shape a tale centering the Agojie warriors – an all-woman group of soldiers known as the Amazons, sworn to honor and sisterhood – hailing from the West African kingdom of Dahomey, when one considers their hand in perpetuating the transatlantic slave trade." A review on Last Movie Outpost, called "'The Woman King' Historical Embarrassment," puts it this way: "The movie has been set-up as a having a his-

Larry Elder torical basis, telling the story of the reallife Kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries. ... In reality, Dahomey was a notorious slave kingdom, and not the Pan-African freedom fighters as the movie presents them. They enslaved and murdered hundreds of thousands from other tribes and sold them into the slave trade. "Dahomey was renowned as the 'Black Sparta,' and was a fiercely militaristic society bent on domination and conquest. Their soldiers struck fear into other tribes all along what is still known as the Slave Coast, as they captured tribespeople from enemy tribes and sold them as slaves. "The Dahomey women fought to protect their own slave trade. Even worse for those who struggle with reality, the Amazons were formed from among the king's 'third class' wives. These were those considered insufficiently beautiful to share his bed and who had not borne children. Awkward!" About the film, "History vs. Hollywood" writes: "In real life, the Dahomey are much more the villains than the heroes. ... They conquered neighboring African states and took their citizens as Elder continued to page 24

Headlines From Africa

A look at current news from the continent of Africa

Botswana: Botswana has been chosen to host the 15th U.S.-Africa Business Summit, a major platform to strengthen U.S.-Africa trade and investment ties.

Burundi: President Evariste Ndayishimiye promises to promote youth entrepreneurship and front them in key positions in efforts to improve the country’s economic status.

Cameroon: Officials have deployed troops to Cameroon’s port city of Douala, the nation's economic hub, to stem a wave of gang violence that has also disrupted exports to its landlocked neighbors, the Central African Republic and Chad.

Congo: Three prominent Congolese figures, including Nobel winner Denis Mukwege have accused President Felix Tshisekedi of pushing the Democratic Republic of Congo towards breakup by bringing in outside nations to tackle its security crisis.

Eritrea: A high-level Ethiopian government delegation met in Tigray capital Mekelle with Tigrayan leaders to discuss issues related to humanitarian aid, basic services, commerce and the withdrawal of Eritrea and Amhara forces.

Ethiopia: Ethiopian and Sudanese military intelligence agencies agree to enhance cooperation and to share intelligence for the sake of peace and security.

Ghana: Police warn faith leaders against making traditional New Year prophecies which can cause fear, anxiety or death.

Kenya: Severe drought fuels malnutrition and reduced hospital-delivery births in the Turkana County region. codes of conduct are effectively implemented.

Mozambique: A bill legalizing the involvement of local militias in the fight against jihadists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado has been approved despite the belief that the Mozambican army alone is not able to deal with the jihadists. Namibia: Namibia, Angola ministries enter agreement to cooperate on petroleum, natural gas development and improve the mutual social, economic and environmental interests between the two countries. Nigeria: The Central Bank significantly increased the limits imposed on cash withdrawals following public outcry. The bank announced the limits to rein in excess cash and promote cashless payments, but critics say it could stifle small businesses.

Rwanda: As the Rwandan economy rebounds, a drastic rise in the cost of living has left many households struggling to make ends meet due to higher food prices and unemployment that remains at approximately 18%. Rwanda is among the top ten countries globally worst affected by food price inflation, while nominal food inflation rose by 34%.

Senegal: Faced with an ever expanding jihadist threat from its eastern frontier, Senegal sets up military bases near Mali border.

South Africa: Social media users demand answers after two Black teens were attacked for swimming in a “White’s Only’ pool at a South African resort. In a viral video, white men are seen grabbing the teens by their necks and hair at the Maselspoort Resort & Conference Center.