*Today is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition!

Today is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

On the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in Saint Domingue, today the Republic of Haiti, saw the beginning of the uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

It is against this background that the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is commemorated on 23 August each year.

It was first celebrated in a number of countries, in particular in Haiti (23 August 1998) and Gorée Island in Senegal (23 August 1999).

This International Day is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples.

In accordance with the goals of the intercultural project "The Routes of Enslaved Peoples", it should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions to which it has given rise between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.

Source:

www.unesco.org/en/days/slave-trade-remembrance

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Do you still experience the effects of slavery?

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Yes.
I'm continually inundated with the past.

Slavery have never been abolished entirely, for instance it still exists in Africa today in 2023 (about 7 million slaves in total; there is an estimation of up to 20% of the population of Mauritania being enslaved, while there was 14% of the US population enslaved in 1850 before the civil war).

Key dates toward the abolition of slavery were the abolition law in 1848 in french 2nd republic, the thirteen amendment of the US in 1865, and other measures by Britain.

But don't say slavery has been abolished, it is not fair for people who still undergo this treatment, there is still a lot to do.

IDK why slavery is always set to mean the transatlantic slave trade.

Slavery existed since like 4000 BC in Egypts and has been pretty ubiqutous. In my own country you could take locals as slaves till the Middle Age started, and all during the Middle Age it's hard for me to tell why a medieval peasant was better off than a slave. We use different words, but a medieval peasant was essentially forced to work all his life getting nothing in return, and the Nobles could punush them pretty much as they wanted.

The trans-Sahara slave trade was nearly as big as the transatlantic and existed much longer, into the 20th century.

I feel like, because the Western countries are the only countries showing any sort of remorse over it, this is the only slave trade ever mentioned and the rest is just glossed over. And to me it's sort of sad that it's like this. It creates IMO a sort of mood that the West are just the most evil ever - while to me it's more like the West admits mistakes and most other countries just pretend it never happened.

@Raspberry_yoghurt said in #4:
> [...]
> I feel like, because the Western countries are the only countries showing any sort of remorse over it, this is the only slave trade ever mentioned and the rest is just glossed over. And to me it's sort of sad that it's like this. It creates IMO a sort of mood that the West are just the most evil ever - while to me it's more like the West admits mistakes and most other countries just pretend it never happened.
The secret is to call it forced labour.

www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves

Who makes up these days and on what grounds? How come joe average is never asked what sort of 'day' they want to commemorate? As others have said there were many slave trades - its funny how when the term 'slave trade'i s mentioned its always the trans atlantic slave trade that people default to. Wonder who might benefit from that?

@slurpinggonads said in #6:
> Wonder who might benefit from that?

Could you keep your paranoia to your self on this? That'd be great.

Also, need those TPS reports by Friday! Thanks.

@slurpinggonads said in #6:
> Who makes up these days and on what grounds? How come joe average is never asked what sort of 'day' they want to commemorate? As others have said there were many slave trades - its funny how when the term 'slave trade'i s mentioned its always the trans atlantic slave trade that people default to. Wonder who might benefit from that?

UNESCO made the day.

I think it happens what I said, that slavery becomes equated with trans-antlantic slavery, because Western countries are sorta "nicer" then it makes sense to ask for instance the UK for reparations for slavery, you have a chance of getting something out of it, whereas it would be a waste of time to bother to ask say Saudi Arabia or Turkey.

I think also western politicians and NGOs will bring it up, because there's a lot of people in the West who care about human rights - but I guess not many people cares in most non-western countries. Like I don't think it would happen very often in, say, Turkey that some famous person or a politician would start talking about how bad it is that one fifth of the population of Istabul was slaves 300 years ago.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_Ottoman_Empire)

@slurpinggonads said in #6:
> How come joe average is never asked what sort of 'day' they want to commemorate?

Yes, exactly! Why is there no:

- i-smell-like-stale-beer-day

- it-is-my-godgiven-right-to-beat-up-my-wife-and-the-kids-day

- I-need-a-pickup-truck-with-300hp-to-drive-to-the-supermarket-day

- I-believe-in-god-and-assault-rifles-like-Jesus-did-day

I could go on. The world's perspective is bleak enough as it is, members of the self-professed "silent majority" to have a voice that is not only heard like now, but followed (like with Trump, Orban and Bolsonaro) is a reason to consider Harry-Karry seriously.

Back to topic:

According to a certain Texan politician, didn't slavery have its perks for the slaves?

@Raspberry_yoghurt said in #8:
> UNESCO made the day.

UNO introduced actually the "International Day for the Abolition of Slavery" in 1949. Mind you, the "Code Noir" of Louis XIV. was in place until 1848, the "Code de l’indigénat" even until 1950!

@Nomen-Nonatur said in #9:
> [...]
> According to a certain Texan politician, didn't slavery have its perks for the slaves?
> [...]

What? Are talking of Florida’s new slavery curriculum? Who is that politician from Texas?