Somali pirates repaying the debt for Trans-Atlantic slavery?
Jelani Cobb has an interesting conversation brewing over at his blog, American Exception – The Somali Math Problem. He posts that the Somali pirates could continue their attacks for a long time and almost never catch up to the damage done to Africa by European traders engaged in the slave trade. It raises questions of fairness and retribution while using a mirror to assist in the definition of, “evil.” Against my better judgment, he sucked me in and I couldn’t resist adding my two cents!!
There was a comment that this conversation is ultimately about how those in power paint others as evil and depraved. It was chalked to white privilege.
While I have and still do shed tears for my ancestors and the degradation and injury placed upon their shoulders, are black folks just sore losers? Although this is not my point, it’s kind of an interesting way to interpret some of the comments here. Angry that black folks are not the top dogs like the days of old (and yes there was a time when this was accurate). History is a continuum. Not a beginning and not an end.
At the end of the day, I believe that, other than geographical location, the parallels between pirates off the coast of Somali and retribution for slavery are wholly incomparable incidents.
These acts are not sanctioned by any government, there is no country from which to seek redress for grievance.
I can understand the argument’s roots, but I believe there is a sinister cynicism that plagues it, oozing through its pores. This argument has an emotional root which seeks to absolve the wrongdoing and African descendant because of the injustice of slavery. An historical wrong from Arab and European merchants to blacks in Africa and the diaspora. In essence, it’s a get out of jail free card whenever some misguided black disasporian somewhere gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
The fruits of this argument are wicked and deadly and have been sown for generations in countries such as Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, New York, LA. Anywhere that men with one good eye left seek to exact revenge for what was taken.
That’s not to say that reparations aren’t warranted, but the Somali argument weakens the case. So, I get the argument, but I’m not really feeling it.
Punditry is a lot like predicting the weather. Too often wrong, but no one seems to mind it if you are entertaining enough.
This seems like the case with our man Jelani. However, I just don’t need to be entertained that easily.