Chattel Slavery and the American Anti- Slavery Group
by Joseph Dina
November 2002
In 1993, Dr. Charles Jacobs, Mohammed Athie, and David Chand founded the American Anti- Slavery Group. "Athie is an African Muslim and a former diplomat from Mauritania, David Chand is a South Sudanese Christian activist, and Dr. Jacobs is now the President of the AASG.""According to the London- based Anti- Slavery International (ASI), the world's human rights organization, there is at least twenty seven million people in bondage. There may be more slaves in the world today than ever before."
"The mission of his organization is as follows: The American Anti- Slavery Group, Inc. is the only American organization solely dedicated to abolishing modern day slavery worldwide. We monitor, document, and publish the plight of slaves around the globe. Our special focus is on the worst and most ignored cases of human bondage: black chattel slavery in Mauritania and Sudan."
Chattel slavery in Mauritania and Sudan is quite gruesome. These two countries divide the African and Arab cultures. "A person can become the property of another for life, bought and sold, traded, and inherited, branded and bred." Girls as young as ten are being captured on raids of villages. For the fear that they will escape, they brand them with hot metal objects, such as pots.
In Sudan, Arab militias have been raiding African villages. They kill the men and take the women and children and sell them into slavery. "ASI (Anti- Slavery International) reports that there is probably no village in the north without kidnapped black slaves." Gasper Biro, a special UN human rights monitor has reported that the price of slavery has changed over time. "In 1988, one automatic weapon could be traded for six or seven child slaves. In 1989, a woman or child could be bought from the Dinka tribe- an exceedingly tall and proud pastoral people of the Nile, could be bought for ninety dollars."
Another form of punishment is the stripping of a person's cultural, religious, and personal identities. Members of the Dinka tribe that are captured are brought to a merchant's house. Those who refuse to become Muslims, have their Achilles tendons cut, and are barely able to walk. "Others who are caught trying to escape, are castrated and branded like cattle."
Even though Mauritania has outlawed slavery three times, about one twentieth of the two million population are chattel slaves to North African Arabs. An additional three hundred thousand people are part time slaves, who serve their owners out of fear. Also, many believe that as much as half the population is involved in slavery. "These slaves are chattel. They are used for house or farm labor, for sex, and for breeding. They may be exchanged for camels, trucks, guns, or money." Many are born into slavery and many die in slavery. Some slaves have never experienced freedom. They are deprived of what most of us overlook in our every day lives.
Many Africans that are of the Islamic religion are enslaved. The Koran, which is equivalent to the Christian Bible, says there is to be no enslaving of Muslims. However, the slave owners believe that race outranks religion. "In 1993, the American Anti- Slavery Group began a campaign to bring the passed plight of the slaves to national attention." The NAACP and other organizations have been working towards fighting for an end to slavery in this region and others.
"On July 8th, 2002, Boston abolitionists arrived at Logan International Airport, after their third mission to Sudan, where they say they bought the freedom for more than a thousand women and children, and visited with former slaves who are working to rebuild war torn communities." These two groups work through Arabs, who are at peace with African tribes. They then go undercover, buy slaves, and set them free. "The group went to Sudan as part of a rescue mission cosponsored by the Swiss- based Christian Solidarity Group (CSI) and the Boston- based American Anti- Slavery Group." The civil war that is occurring in Sudan is between Muslim, Arab northern militias and southern, black African communities, and has been going on for two decades. CSI estimates that tens of dozens of children and adults have been snatched from their homes in the southern part of the African nation and brought to the north by suspected members of the northern government militia, known as the Popular Defense Force."
Besides the practices of muro ami and paaling, children in the Philippines are used to perform other tasks as well. Nicreto, a fourteen year old boy who works in the sugar cane fields in addition to his job as a fisher-boy decided to try his hand in the coastal area of Tagda, Hinigaran, Negos Occidental. Without proper training or education; at the age of twelve, he went to sea. He had to go to work at 4a.m. and would come home, with or without a catch, at three or four in the afternoon. If lucky he would have a good catch, and earn 10 to 15 pesos a day. But when fishing became bad, he was forced to go back to take odd-jobs in the sugar cane farm to earn at least one kilo of rice. Nicreto suffers from anemia and in his present situation, cannot even think about life in the future. For him every day is lived only on whatever there is.
The American Anti- Slavery group is only one of many organizations that are working towards the abolishment of slavery. However, their objective will not be completed right away. Hard work, patience, and the willingness of others to make a difference will hopefully pay off in the end.
Sources Used:
htpp://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9712/20/Sudan.slavery/
http://www.sudan.net/news/posted/5344.html
http://www.iabolish.com/today/background/worldwide-evil.htm
http://www.wit.edu/Colloquia/Fall2000/AntiSlavery.html
Mariko Curran