Tag: slavery

4,827 words

This is a foreword that I wrote for Lothrop Stoddard’s The French Revolution in San Domingo, published in 2011.

Historian Frank Moya Pons, writing in The Cambridge History of Latin America, describes Lothrop Stoddard’s The French Revolution in San Domingo as “a book now out of fashion because of its racism, although retaining some interest.” [1]

Interesting indeed, because it reflects the racial views of an important set of American intellectuals in the early twentieth century. There was a time when evolutionary thinking was widely considered to be the key to racial self-defense.[2] (more…)

1,539 words

There is a peculiar asymmetry in how the world discusses imperial and colonial history. Western nations—and England in particular—are routinely placed in the docket of historical judgement, expected to issue formal apologies, pay reparations, and carry the moral weight of empires long dissolved. (more…)

1,446 words

Peter Hammond
Slavery, Terrorism and Islam – The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat
Cape Town: Christian Liberty Books, 2021

Peter Hammond’s Slavery, Terrorism and Islam is structured as a sweeping historical indictment. It is not written in the tone of comparative theology or neutral historiography. Hammond’s objective is to argue that the themes of slavery, expansionist warfare, religious supremacy, and coercion are not distortions of Islam but are embedded in its earliest precedents and carried forward through centuries of jurisprudence and empire. In his telling, modern Islamist terrorism represents continuity rather than corruption. (more…)

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Contemporary liberalism often appears strange and unmoored, but it sits squarely within an older moral tradition: Western abolitionism, a movement that combined genuine humanitarian concern with a pronounced fanatical element. From its inception, abolitionism elevated distant moral causes above domestic social obligations, rejected incremental improvement, and justified coercion in the name of absolute moral ends. (more…)

1,183 words

David Eltis
Atlantic Cataclysm: Rethinking the Atlantic Slave Trades
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025

David Eltis’s Atlantic Cataclysm is an indispensable book for college students and anyone seeking a nuanced, deeply researched, and global understanding of slavery. This masterwork, grounded in decades of archival research and statistical data, obliterates parochial and mythologized versions of the Atlantic slave trade. It compels readers to reassess what they think they know about slavery, particularly the tendency to see it as a uniquely American tragedy. (more…)

1,842 words

John Wright
The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade
Routledge, 2007

The trans-Saharan slave trade is one of the most frequently ignored systems of human trafficking in global history. Public discussion normally centres the Trans-Atlantic trade, whose principal actors were European and American merchants and plantation societies. (more…)

561 words

Tang dynasty-era painting depicting African slave.

Throughout Africa, there is a clear appreciation for China’s growing economic engagement. From infrastructure development to investment in key industries, African leaders largely see China not as a neo-colonial threat but as a partner in development. This pragmatic approach contrasts sharply with the selective moral outrage often directed at Western nations, particularly the United Kingdom. (more…)

3,181 words

Never have we had a more livid moment in the history of global race relations than in the former French colony of San Domingo. Today it is known as Haiti, an impoverished and volatile basket case of a nation, which is not coincidentally run by sub-Saharan blacks. How it got this way after being “gem of the West Indies” over two centuries ago is the topic of Lothrop Stoddard’s gripping 1914 history The French Revolution in San Domingo (available for free download here). (more…)

912 words

Nanny of the Maroons

Contemporary academia loudly celebrates the concept of “lived experience” as a legitimate way of knowing. Personal narratives and subjective impressions are often treated as evidence, placed on the same level as empirical data or archival documentation. Yet this principle is applied selectively. When scholars write about slavery, they suddenly abandon the idea of lived experience, not because it loses relevance, but because it becomes politically inconvenient. (more…)

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Artificial intelligence is frequently praised for its capacity to analyze data, solve problems, and simulate human reasoning. Yet, beneath this optimistic veneer lies a fundamental limitation: contemporary AI systems are explicitly designed to avoid engaging with morally controversial or politically sensitive subjects. (more…)

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Americans today express a deep fascination with the history of slavery, particularly the enslavement of Africans by white Americans. This is a critical chapter of national memory, debated in schools, portrayed in films, and analyzed in countless academic and political arenas. However, this attention is uneven. (more…)

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Contempt for black immigrants in the United States has surged, largely fueled by the resentment of black Americans. Many black Americans believe they are entitled to a unique status in American society due to their ancestors’ history of enslavement, creating a cultural and ideological divide between them and foreign-born blacks. (more…)

6,146 words

Reni Eddo-Lodge is a journalist and commentator about race and feminism. She – I hope I’m not assuming gender here – is of Nigerian ancestry and resides in Britain. The cover of her book seems like a promise. At first one might see “Why I’m No Longer Talking About Race” and shout, Al Hamd’ulIlah! Maybe underneath the cover it’s an empty notebook for doodling or journal entries, huh? On closer examination, one sees that there are also some nearly-invisible letters, and the full title actually is “Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race.” Hey, I’m at peace with that too; haven’t we already heard more than enough skintellectuals sullenly speechifying? (more…)