Introduction
Slavery is a tragedy in human history due to its cruel barbarism, scale, organized nature, and denial of the victims’ essence. It is the worst form of deprivation of human rights, one that exclusively the constant moral appeals of civil society could contain. Although long since abolished, slavery has significantly impacted modern life. Despite its enormous scope, numerous people are not aware of the nature of the issue and thus continue to allow it to exist in modified forms. Determining the dark pages of history and the impact of slavery that deserves explicit condemnation and exposing these facts and documented truths are necessary conditions for creating justice, equality, and solidarity.
Slavery: History and Impact
The history of slavery had its origins in the 1610s when the first enslaved people were forcibly removed from Africa. They worked on cotton plantations or became domestic servants in rich houses (Mende 229). Most masters did not consider their slaves human beings and exploited their labor wherever desired. For example, in the early 1760s, Americans landed more than fifty enslaved people on coral reefs in the middle of the ocean (Mende 232). Only the U.S. Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1776, originally contained a clause abolishing slavery.
Nevertheless, the big planters resisted, and eventually, this clause disappeared from the text of the declaration. Enslaved people were freed by individual landowners, believing that it was impossible to fight for freedom and exploit human labor at the same time. The constitution of 1787 only strengthened the institution of slavery (Mende 233). It was not until 21 years later that the slave trade was attempted to be legally restricted by prohibiting the importation of Africans from abroad. Several centuries of slavery had established white supremacy in society, and it is still challenging to fight this attitude. Therefore, although slavery was officially abolished, its effects are evident today.
The age of modernity proclaimed equality, individual freedom, and enlightenment – and at the same time, reanimated slavery. Modernity has always been a revolutionary project linked to the French and American Revolutions, some of the earliest national ones. The American Revolution and its Bill of Rights did not extend to African slaves or servants of contracted workers from other parts (Hall 12). Although illegal in all countries, slavery is a profitable industry, valued at many millions of dollars. With the possible exception of sex trafficking, many people are unaware of the millions of people worldwide who live as enslaved people, whose labor is not paid, and who are considered property.
The history of modern societies, in which the institutions of slavery existed, is fundamentally different from the history of organizations without such institutions. One can consider modernity as a project of traditional attitudes and forms of behavior and slavery as one such tradition which must be abolished. It is possible to state that this struggle fundamentally conditions societies. The abolitionist movements in Britain and the United States had a central role in forming and spreading democracy in both states (Mende 234). On the other hand, the presence of enslaved Africans and the further emergence of an African-American identity had a fundamental influence on the culture of the United States. The same can be said of France and Great Britain. The descendants of enslaved people in these countries have profoundly and significantly influenced their national cultures (Mende 234). For example, imagining American culture without African Americans is difficult.
The collective memory of slavery haunts those societies where it is a central part of their history. As an illustration, one can consider three European examples and the United States. In the United States, the memory of slavery is embedded in a landscape where its presence is reflected in both small towns and large cities (Hall 16). At this point, the critical category is “race,” dividing and isolating “whites” and “blacks. This categorization dates back to the days of slavery and leads to differences in lifestyles and forms of life. In many cases, these ways of life are unequal, and such inequalities are taken for granted. A recent example is the lenient sentencing of a young white man accused of rape (Hall 17). If he had been black, the punishment would have been much harsher.
Moreover, France and the Netherlands have long denied their historical involvement in the slave trade and suppressed memories of it. One can find small Dutch cities whose wealth was created through the slave trade went to architectural projects and cultural initiatives (Salamani 16). Nevertheless, the Netherlands continue to deny the impact of slavery on their culture and society and suppresses memories. In France and Britain, the slave trade was closely linked to colonialism, and many immigrants in these countries came from former colonies associated with slavery (Salamani 19). Today’s right-wing movements in France and Britain opposing immigration and immigrants are rooted in a memory of slavery that belittles and isolates specific categories of people.
Since the emergence of abolitionist movements, slavery has been presented in public discourse as an evil that cannot be justified according to religious tenets. The idea that “all men are created equal” has theological roots. Those who wanted to legitimize slavery created counternarratives that made exceptions for other “tribes” and “races”: they were represented outside their community, and they were not “created equal. Drawing boundaries that include some and exclude others is a shared ideological tactic. It continues to be used to justify slavery and other forms of social and physical death.
Ancient Greek society, considered the foundation of modern democracy, was founded on slavery and gender segregation. Enslaved people were relegated to the domestic sphere, with no access or recognition in the public sphere for either. The fact that their labor made public discourse and democratic rule possible did not become a matter of public interest or discussion. The modern separation and separation of the public and private spheres reflects these origins (Payne et al. 11696). The struggle of women and laborers for the right to participate fully in public life took more than a century. This fight for recognition and privilege to participate continues today in many parts. Systematic exclusion and segregation laid the groundwork for different ways of life. The breakdown of families in slavery, where adults and children could be separated and sold separately, affects specific communities’ lives (Payne et al. 11696). For an extended period, the relegation of people to second-class citizens who continue to suffer under modern slavery has taken its toll.
There is still an overabundance of African Americans in American prisons, reflecting the attitudes and behaviors that date back to slavery. The origins of the fear of black sexuality in American culture and the perception of women as sexual property can be traced back to the era of slavery (Hall 12). That white or light skin color should be privileged and have a higher status remains a self-evident, almost unconscious condition of modern society. It is one of the most disturbing and dangerous legacies of slavery, and its overcoming is at the very core of the project of modernity.
There are various reasons why slavery still exists and why there are many victims. The combination of susceptibility, psychological pressure, and usually deficit bondage or bound captivity is believed to be the primary rationale for people becoming victims of slavery (Landman 6). Often targets of labor exploitation join into a connection with their captors freely. They are not physically restrained but can be psychologically influenced and tricked. It has been found that the victims of modern slavery tend to be low-skilled workers or migrants with limited or no life opportunities because of the circumstances in which they were born. Migrants without work permits, people without education, or those with few job opportunities are more likely to become victims of modern slavery (Landman 6). Moreover, gender and nationality have a meaningful position on the grounds of modern slavery, significantly when they overlap.
Conclusion
Thus, one can conclude that despite using legislative instruments to abolish slavery, the problem continues to exist and takes on other characteristics. The images of slavery are deeply rooted in society, that getting rid of them together is a serious challenge to humanity. Moreover, exploiting the causes has led to racial and gender discrimination problems, difficulties in the private and public spheres, and prejudice against specific categories of the population. These are serious problems of our time. It is necessary to realize the essence of categorizing people into classes and always be aware of its negative consequences to combat them.
Works Cited
Hall, Catherine. “Doing Reparatory History: Bringing ‘Race’and Slavery Home.” Race & Class, vol. 60, no. 1, 2018, pp. 3-21.
Landman, Todd, and Bernard W. Silverman. “Globalization and Modern Slavery.” Politics and Governance, vol. 7, no. 4, 2019, pp 1-9.
Mende, Janne. “The Concept of Modern Slavery: Definition, Critique, and the Human Rights Frame.” Human Rights Review, vol. 20, no.2, 2019, pp. 229-248.
Payne, B. Keith, Heidi A. Vuletich, and Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi. “Historical Roots of Implicit Bias in Slavery.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol.116, no. 24, 2019, pp. 11693-11698.
Salamani, Abdel Kaader. “European Laws’ View of the Phenomenon of Slavery and the Reasons for abolishing it.” Miṣriqiyā, vol. 1, no. 1, 2021, pp. 14-28.