Since 1987, October has been designated as “Black History Month” in the United Kingdom. This is an annual opportunity to reflect specifically on the men and women of the African diaspora, and to commemorate their courage and contributions. Over the course of the rest of the month, I will be publishing brief articles relevant to black history month - especially but not necessarily limited to short biographies of often neglected or largely forgotten black men in Britain that I hope might prompt further reading and research.
Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
Ottobah Cugoano’s love for the Bible and his passion for
its exegetically faithful and consistent application to contemporary affairs
shines through in Thoughts and sentiments on the evil and wicked traffic of
the slavery: and commerce of the human species, humbly submitted to the
inhabitants of Great-Britain, burning with prophetic Christian fervour. While
I would urge a reading of it in its entirety, I cannot resist highlighting a
few particularly powerful points. In these days of nativist political populism
and insurgent far-right philosophies and behaviours, he though dead still
speaks.
On the
idea that the eventual Christian salvation of some slaves justified slavery
itself - an idea still repeated by some today and familiar to Cugoano as a
slave who heard the gospel in a roundabout way through his slavery:
Sovereign
goodness may eventually visit some men even in a state of slavery, but their
slavery is not the cause of that event and benignity; and therefore, should
some event of good ever happen to some men subjected to slavery, that can plead
nothing for men to do evil that good may come; and should it apparently happen
from thence, it is neither sought for nor designed by the enslavers of men. But
the whole business of slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, and a most
horrible iniquity to traffic with slaves and souls of men; and an evil - sorry
I am - that it still subsists, and more astonishing to think, that it is an
iniquity committed amongst Christians, and contrary to all the genuine
principles of Christi|anity, and yet carried on by men denominated thereby.
On the
erroneous anthropological idea that the “Mark of Cain” given in Genesis to the
first murderer was black skin, and that Africans are descended from Cain, legitimising
their mistreatment:
We
find that the difference of colour among men is only incidental, and equally
natural to all, and agreeable to the place of their habitation; and that if
nothing else be different or contrary among them, but that of features and
complexion, in that respect, they are all equally alike entitled to the
enjoyment of every mercy and blessing of God. But there are some men of that
complexion, because they are not black, whose ignorance and insolence leads
them to think, that those who are black, were marked out in that manner by some
signal interdiction or curse, as originally descending from their progenitors.
To those I must say, that the only mark which we read of, as generally alluded
to, and by them applied wrongfully, is that mark or sign which God gave to
Cain, to assure him that he should not be destroyed. Cain understood by the
nature of the crime he had committed, that the law required death, or cutting
off, as the punishment thereof. But God in his providence doth not always
punish the wicked in this life according to their enormous crimes, (we are
told, by a sacred poet, that he saw the wicked flourishing like a green bay
tree) though he generally marks them out by some signal token of his vengeance;
and that is a sure token of it, when men become long hardened in their wickedness.
The denunciation that passed upon Cain was, that he should be a fugitive and a
vagabond on the earth, bearing the curse and reproach of his iniquity; and the
rest of men were prohibited as much from meddling with him, or defiling their
hands by him, as it naturally is, not to pull down the dead carcase of an
atrocious criminal, hung up in chains by the laws of his country. But allow the
mark set upon Cain to have consisted in a black skin, still no conclusion can
be drawn at all, that any of the black people are of that descent, as the whole
posterity of Cain were destroyed in the universal deluge.
On the
equally erroneous anthropological idea that the “Curse of Ham”, given by Noah
in Genesis was black skin and that Africans are descended from Ham, legitimising
their mistreatment:
There
can be no doubt, that there was a shameful misconduct in Ham himself, by what
is related of him; but the fault, according to the prediction and curse,
descended only to the families of the descendants of his youngest son,
Canaan...who settled in the land known by his name, in the west of Asia, as is
evident from the sacred writings. The Canaanites became an exceeding wicked
people, and were visited with many calamities, according to the prediction of
Noah, for their abominable wickedness and idolatry.
Cugoano then summarises the history of the Canaanites, and
fits in a neat back-hand indicating that quite possibly some of his English
audience are more likely descended from Canaan than Africans.
Many
of the Canaanites who fled away in the Time of Joshua, became mingled with the
different nations, and some historians think that some of them came to England,
and settled about Cornwall, as far back as that time; so that, for any thing
that can be known to the contrary, there may be some of the descendants of that
wicked generation still subsisting among the slave-holders in the West-Indies.
For if the curse of God ever rested upon them, or upon any other men, the only
visible mark thereof was always upon those who committed the most outrageous
acts of violence and oppression. But colour and complexion has nothing to do
with that mark; every wicked man, and the enslavers of others, bear the stamp
of their own iniquity, and that mark which was set upon Cain.
Cugoano then demonstrates that Africans are descended not
from Canaan, the cursed son of Ham, but the not-cursed older son, Cush. Along
these lines he comments:
Now,
the descendants of the other three sons of Ham, were not included under the
curse of his father, and as they dispersed and settled on the different parts
of the earth, they became also sundry distinct and very formidable nations...
The
learned and thinking part of men, who can refer to history, must know, that
nothing with respect to colour, nor any mark or curse from any original
prediction, can in anywise be more particularly ascribed to the Africans than
to any other people of the human species, so as to afford any pretence why they
should be more evil treated, persecuted and enslaved, than any other. Nothing
but ignorance, and the dreams of a viciated imagination, arising from the
general countenance given to the evil practice of wicked men, to strengthen
their hands in wickedness, could ever make any person to fancy otherwise, or
ever to think that stealing, kidnapping, enslaving, persecuting or killing a
black man, is in any way and manner less criminal, than the same evil treatment
of any other man of another complexion.
Let the reader note that the unbiblical “Curse of Ham”
doctrine was a fairly significant ideological underpinning for the enslavement
of Black people and white supremacist views in professedly Christian circles
and became even more so in the USA, at one time embraced at a systemic,
structural level by Christian organisations such as the Southern Baptist
Convention, only formally rejected and reviled at the SBC’s 2018 Annual General
Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.
On the
blackness of sin vs. the blackness of skin:
And by
these extreme differences of colour, it was intended to point out and shew to
the white man, that there is a sinful blackness in his own nature, which he can
no more change, than the external blackness which he sees in another can be
rendered otherwise; and it likewise holds out to the black man, that the sinful
blackness of his own nature is such, that he can no more alter, than the
outward appearance of his colour can be brought to that of another. And this is
imported by it, that there is an inherent evil in every man, contrary to that
which is good; and that all men are like Ethiopians (even God's elect) in a
state of nature and unregeneracy, they are black with original sin, and spotted
with actual transgression, which they cannot reverse.
But to
this truth, asserted of blackness, I must add another glorious one. All thanks
and eternal praise be to God! His infinite wisdom and goodness has found out a
way of renovation, and has opened a fountain through the blood of Jesus, for
sin and for uncleanness, wherein all the stains and blackest dyes of sin and pollution
can be washed away for ever, and the darkest sinner be made to shine as the
brightest angel in heaven. And for that end and purpose, God alone has
appointed all the channels of conveyance of the everlasting Gospel for these
healing and purifying streams of the water of life to run in, and to bring life
and salvation, with light and gladness to men; but he denounces woe to those
who do not receive it themselves, but hinder and debar others who would, from
coming to those salutary streams for life: Yet not alone confined to these, nor
hindered in his purpose by any opposers, HE, who can open the eyes of the
blind, and make the deaf to hear, can open streams in the desert, and make his
benignity to flow, and his salvation to visit, even the meanest and most
ignorant man, in the darkest shades of nature, as well as the most learned on
the earth; and he usually carries on his own gracious work of quickening and
redeeming grace, in a secret, sovereign manner.
To
this I must again observe, and what I chiefly intended by this similitude, that
the external blackness of the Ethiopians, is as innocent and natural, as spots
in the leopards; and that the difference of colour and complexion, which it
hath pleased God to appoint among men, are no more unbecoming unto either of
them, than the different shades of the rainbow are unseemly to the whole, or
unbecoming to any part of that apparent arch. It does not alter the nature and
quality of a man, whether he wears a black or a white coat, whether he puts it
on or strips it off, he is still the same man. And so likewise, when a man
comes to die, it makes no difference whether he was black or white, whether he
was male or female, whether he was great or small, or whether he was old or
young; none of these differences alter the essentiality of the man, any more
than he had wore a black or a white coat and thrown it off for ever.
On the
Golden Rule, and the difference between revenge and reparations
But
again, let us follow the European piracy to the West-Indies, or anywhere among
Christians, and this law of the Lord Christ must stare every infidel
slave-holder in the face, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye
also to them likewise”. But there is no slave-holder would like to have himself
enslaved, and to be treated as a dog, and sold like a beast; and therefore the
slave-holders, and merchandizers of men, transgress this plain law, and they
commit a greater violation against it, and act more contrary unto it, than it
would be for a parcel of slaves to assume authority over their masters, and
compel them to slavery under them; for, if that was not doing as they would
wish to be done to, it would be doing, at least, as others do to them, in a way
equally as much and more wrong.
But
our Divine Lord and Master Christ also teacheth men to forgive one another
their trespasses, and that we are not to do evil because others do so, and to
revenge injuries done unto us, Wherefore it is better, and more our duty, to
suffer ourselves to be lashed and cruelly treated, than to take up the task of
their barbarity. The just law of God requires an equal retaliation and
restoration for every injury that men may do to others, to shew the greatness
of the crime; but the law of forbearance, righteousness and forgiveness,
forbids the retaliation to be sought after, when it would be doing as great an
injury to them, without any reparation or benefit to ourselves. For what man
can restore an eye that he may have deprived another of, and if even a double
punishment was to pass upon him, and that he was to lose both his eyes for the
crime, that would make no reparation to the other man whom he had deprived of
one eye. And so, likewise, when a man is carried captive and enslaved, and
maimed and cruelly treated, that would make no adequate reparation and
restitution for the injuries he had received, if he was even to get the person
who had ensnared him to be taken captive and treated in the same manner. What
he is to seek after is a deliverance and protection for himself, and not a
revenge upon others. Wherefore the honest and upright, like the just Bethlehem
Joseph, cannot think of doing evil, nor require an equal retaliation for such
injuries done to them, so as to revenge themselves upon others, for that which
would do them no manner of good, Such vengeance belongeth unto the Lord, and he
will ren|der vengeance and recompence to his enemies and the violaters of his
law.
On
justice and repentance:
And
with regard to that law of men-stealers, merchandizers, and of slaves found in
their hands, that whatever mitigation and forbearance such offenders ought to
meet with, their crimes denote a very heinous offence, and a great violation of
the law of God; they ought, therefore, to be punished according to their
trespasses, which, in some cases, should be death, if the person so robbed and
stole should die in consequence thereof, or should not be restored and brought
back; and even then to be liable to every damage and penalty that the judges
should think proper: for so it is annexed to this law and required, that men
should put away evil from among them. But this cannot now extend to the
West-India slavery: what should rather be required of them, in their present
case of infatuation, is to surrender and give it up, and heal the stripes that
they have wounded, and to pour the healing balm of Christianity into the
bleeding wounds of Heathen barbarity and cruelty...
But
this must appear evident, that for any man to carry on a traffic in the
merchandize of slaves, and to keep them in slavery; or for any nation to
oppress, extirpate and destroy others; that these are crimes of the greatest magnitude,
and a most daring violation of the laws and commandments of the Most High, and
which, at last, will be evidenced in the destruction and overthrow of all the
transgressors. And nothing else can be expected for such violations of taking
away the natural rights and liberties of men, but that those who are the doers
of it will meet with some awful visitation of the righteous judgment of God,
and in such a manner as it cannot be thought that his just vengeance for their
iniquity will be the less tremendous because his judgments are long delayed.
On the
hypocrisy and illegitimacy of Christian support for and participation in
slavery, and the nature of true Christianity:
It is
surely to the great shame and scandal of Christianity among all the Heathen
nations, that those robbers, plunderers, destroyers and enslavers of men should
call themselves Christians, and exercise their power under any Christian
government and authority. I would have my African countrymen to know and
understand, that the destroyers and enslavers of men can be no Christians; for
Christianity is the system of benignity and love, and all its votaries are
devoted to honesty, justice, humanity, meekness, peace and good-will to all
men. But whatever title or claim some may assume to call themselves by it,
without possessing any of its virtues, can only manifest them to be the more
abominable liars, and the greatest enemies unto it, and as belonging to the
synagogue of Satan, and not the adherers to Christ. For the enslavers and
oppressors of men, among those that have obtained the name of Christians, they
are still acting as its greatest enemies, and contrary to all its genuine
principles; they should therefore be called by its opposite, the Antichrist.
Such are fitly belonging to that most dissolute sorceress of all religion in
the world...
On
collective, national guilt and pastoral complicity:
Though
this world is not the place of final retribution, yet there is an evidence
maintained in the course of Divine Providence, that verily there is a God that
judgeth in the earth...
For
national wickedness from the beginning of the world has generally been visited
with national punishments; and surely no national wickedness can be more
heinous in the sight of God than a public toleration of slavery...
Clergy
of all denominations, whom we would consider as the devout messengers of
righteousness, peace, and good-will to all men, if we find any of them ranked
with infidels and barbarians, we must consider them as particularly
responsible, and, in some measure, guilty of the crimes of other wicked men in
the highest degree. For it is their duty to warn every man, and to teach every
man to know their errors; and if they do not, the crimes of those under their
particular charge must rest upon themselves, and upon some of them, in such a
case as this, that of the whole nation in general; and those (whatever their
respective situation may be) who forbid others to assist them, must not be very
sensible of their own duty, and the great extensiveness and importance of their
own charge. And as it is their great duty to teach men righteousness and piety;
this ought to be considered as sufficiently obvious unto them, and to all men,
that nothing can be more contrary unto it, than the evil and very nature of
enslaving men, and making merchandize of them like the brute creation...
But I
shall add another observation, which I am sorry to find among Christians, and I
think it is a great deficiency among the clergy in general, when covetous and
profligate men are admitted amongst them, who either do not know, or dare not
speak the truth, but neglect their duty much, or do it with such supineness,
that it becomes good for nothing. Sometimes an old woman selling matches, will
preach a better, and a more orthodox sermon, than some of the clergy...
On the
claim that black slaves were happier than black freemen in the West Indies:
And
some will be saying, that the Black people, who are free in the West Indies,
are more miserable than the slaves;—and well they may; for while they can get
their work and drudgery done for nothing, it is not likely that they will
employ those whom they must pay for their labour.
On collective,
national repentance:
For
the wickedness that you have done is great, and wherever your traffic and
colonies have been extended it is shameful; and the great injustice and cruelty
done to the poor Africans crieth to heaven against you; and therefore that it
may be forgiven unto you, it cries aloud for universal reformation and national
repentance...
Cugoano makes several proposals as to what repentance would
look like.
· Appointed
days of mourning and fasting, for the purpose of examination and admission of
guilt.
· The proclamation
of a total abolition of slavery and necessary steps to effectively transition
slaves into a way of life forgotten or foreign to them. These steps include the
provision of lawful servitude without torture and oppression for the purposes
of rehabilitation and education for life as freemen, a day of rest each week,
complete freedom, the provision of paid employment with reasonable wages and
maintenance, and support of missions to Africa with news of salvation, not
slavery.
· The
sending of war ships to the coast of Africa, especially those regions from
which slaves were taken to inspect merchant vessels for slaves, and so to cut
off any future illegal trafficking at its root.
· The
dismissal of all present governors of British forts and factories in Africa,
replaced by good and faithful men.
What would come of such repentance? The mutual blessing and
benefit, and indeed prosperity of Britain and Africa!
Then
would doors of hospitality in abundance be opened in Africa to supply the weary
travellers, and that immense abundance which they are enriched with, might be
diffused afar; but the character of the inhabitants on the west coast of
Africa, and the rich produce of their country, have been too long
misrepresented by avaricious plunderers and merchants who deal in slaves; and
if that country was not annually ravished and laid waste, there might be a very
considerable and profitable trade carried on with the Africans.
Due
encouragement being given to so great, so just, and such a noble undertaking,
would soon bring more revenue in a righteous way to the British nation, than
ten times its share in all the profits that slavery can produce...
Some
plan might be adopted in such a manner as effectually to relieve the grievances
and oppression of the Africans, and to bring great honour and blessings to that
nation.
On a
system of public welfare for the working poor and unemployed:
What
the wages should be for the labour of freemen, is a question not so easily
determined; yet I should think, that it always ought to be something more than
merely victuals and cloaths; and if a man works by the day, he should have the
three hundredth part of what might be estimated as sufficient to keep him in
necessary cloaths and provisions for a year, and, added to that, such wages of
reward as their usefulness might require...
Something
of this kind should be observed in free countries, and then the price of provisions
would be kept at such a rate as the industrious poor could live, without being
oppressed and screwed down to work for nothing, but only barely to live. And
were every civilized nation, where they boast of liberty, so ordered by its
government, that some general and useful employment were provided for every
industrious man and woman, in such a manner that none should stand still and be
idle, and have to say that they could not get employment, so long as there are
barren lands enough at home and abroad sufficient to employ thousands and
millions of people more than there are. This, in a great measure, would prevent
thieves and robbers, and the labour of many would soon enrich a nation. But
those employed by the general community should only have their maintenance
either given or estimated in money, and half the wages of others, which would
make them seek out for something else whenever they could, and half a loaf
would be better than no bread. The men that were employed in this manner, would
form an useful militia, and the women would be kept from a state of misery and
want, and from following a life of dissolute wickedness. Liberty and freedom,
where people may starve for want, can do them but little good. We want many
rules of civilization in Africa; but, in many respects, we may boast of some
more essential liberties than any of the civilised nations in Europe enjoy; for
the poorest amongst us are never in distress for want, unless some general and
universal calamity happen to us.
Cugoano addresses a professedly Christian white majority
culture that has wandered far from biblical orthodoxy and orthopraxy. He writes
truth to the powerful and privileged upholders of the systemically racist and oppressive
status quo, calls for honest and humble admission, invasive repentance at a
personal and structural level, radical forgiveness, and meaningful reparations
without revenge. Anticipating the negative emotional reaction that has in more
recent times come to be known as “white fragility”, Cugoano explains but does
apologise for his earnest tone and how it may be perceived – and if anything
dials it up a notch at the conclusion of the book:
I must
yet say, although it is not for me to determine the manner, that the voice of
our complaint implies a vengeance, because of the great iniquity that you have
done, and because of the cruel injustice done unto us Africans; and it ought to
sound in your ears as the rolling waves around your circum-ambient shores; and
if it is not hearkened unto, it may yet arise with a louder voice, as the
rolling thunder, and it may increase in the force of its volubility, not only
to shake the leaves of the most stout in heart, but to rend the mountains
before them, and to cleave in pieces the rocks under them, and to go on with
fury to smite the stoutest oaks in the forest; and even to make that which is
strong, and wherein you think that your strength lieth, to become as stubble,
and as the fibres of rotten wood, that will do you no good, and your trust in
it will become a snare of infatuation to you!
You can read Cugoano's important work in its entirety free online: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/K046227.0001.001/1:5?rgn=div1;view=fulltext
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