The Middle Passage Passed Over

The contact of some African peoples with others fomented a culture of resistance that transcended the dominant system and has lasted until today as an archetype of freedom

The executioner always kills twice;the second time with silence

Elie Wisel *

It is not possible to speak of racism, discrimination or racial prejudice without mentioning the significance of the transatlantic slave trade. This was considered the motor of the world economy in the 18th century, as well as the most pronounced act of human deportation of the history – a massive forced migration process. It had an irreversible effect on the enslaved African population because, except for a few small groups, the victims could never return to their countries of origins.

Abolition as a legal action concluded a little more than a century ago, but the consequences continue to be felt, especially for people of color. In a particular way on the American continent, the fundamental scenario of this conflict, the impact of that ignominy still constitutes a problem for the descendants of those victims.

It middle passage has been defined as the greatest tragedy in human history and the most extraordinary violation of human rights that ever occurred. It had three fundamental characteristics expressed in its magnitude, duration and justification. According to various sources, between 12 million and as many as 20 million people were captured and taken to the Americas, in this way making the African population the archetypes of the enslaved human being.

Spanning almost four centuries, the slave trade was intellectually justified by the Black Codes, a document that established the legality of the sale of African slave as merchandise.

African slavery has been classified as an unpunished crime. UNESCO, with the aim of bringing the issue into public light, in 1992 created the Slave Route Project, with Cuba’s participation represented by the writer Miguel Barnet. Articulated in three basic elements, the proposal has as its objectives: the search for historical truth, the recovery of memory and the establishment of intercultural dialogue.

As an issue that has been practically erased from the collective memory, its undertaking as a part of cultural inheritance constitutes one of the great challenges for contemporary society. At the same time, although slavery disjointed the African continent with irreplaceable losses, it brought about the emergence of a new civilization. Alejo Carpentier defined that process in the following way:

“The Caribbean has played a privileged and unique role in the history of the American continent and the world. This event is so momentous and so important that we must say it is the most important event in history. ...the Caribbean soil, became the theater of the first symbiosis, of the first recorded encounter in history, as such, ever occurring between the three races: the white of Europe, the Indian from America and the African. ...three races of extraordinary importance for their wealth and their possibility of making cultural contributions and which would create an entirely original civilization.”

Although the purchase and sale of slaves was an old practice in Europe —the word “slave” has its origin in “Slav” of the Balkan regions— the transatlantic slave trade had a universal dimension. The massive deportation of men and women for use as a workforce allowed the growth of a capitalist economy at a low cost and for tremendous profits.

What some historians have described as “the slave trade not well treated” (la trata mal tratada), it represents an essential point to understanding the current racial problem. Through its study, it is possible to find many of the political and economic contradictions that are present in the social practice.

For the French historian Jean-Michel Deveau**, one of the most important specialists in the field, “The shroud of silence that has drowned the historiography of the slave trade since the 19th century is barely beginning to become undone.” Deveau says those working to create a pedagogy in this field find that “at the root of the taboo are complexes, false guilt, the shame to still face so recent a past, and —above all— the desire to hide the prelude of contemporary racist dramas and confrontations.”

Based on the use of physical, sexual and moral violence, the ideology of racism fostered the attempt to erase the bonds of those enslaved with their original cultures. However, the African population in America and their descendants found formulas for survival. The contact of some African people with others produced valuable treasures that finally fomented a culture of resistance that transcended the dominant system and has lasted until today as an archetype of freedom.

* Nobel laureate

** Africanist