We all need to come clean with our past. In Ethiopia, human slavery of Ethiopians continued for centuries until 1974. It was the Ethiopian Revolution in 1974 that abolished slavery and serfdom in Ethiopia; however, there are no books, movies, researches, textbooks, monuments, museum artifacts on this longest part of Ethiopian history.
‘If you had money, you had slaves’: how Ethiopia is in denial about injustices of the past
Many feel the Ethiopia’s slave-owning traditions, which lasted into the last century, do not align with the country’s modern image of itself. Fred Harter, Wed 18 Jan 2023
Full article: https://zehabesha.com/if-you-had-money- ... -the-past/
Nothing hints at the dark past of the marketplace at Dalbo, a town in southern Ethiopia. Today, it is a thriving hub that draws farmers from the surrounding countryside each week, and doubles as a sports pitch on non-trading days.
There are no plaques, monuments or inscriptions revealing that enslaved people were once sold here alongside livestock and cereals. Local people will often shut down the conversation when the subject is raised.
“They are hiding the story because they feel ashamed,” says Zerfe Argaw, who lives on a farmstead a few miles outside Dalbo. “It is seen as a closed subject; people don’t want to talk about it.”
Zerfeis in her 50s, too young to have seen people being sold in the market, but she was told about the trade by older relatives. “I heard different stories,” she says. “Slave owners owned [entire] households as slaves and would sell whole families to buyers, including the children.” ...
... Historical data on the slave trade is patchy. Ahmed Hassen, a professor of history at Addis Ababa University, says the number of enslaved people ebbed and flowed, especially during times of war, but estimates that up to one-third of Ethiopians were enslaved at different points in history.
In some districts, the proportion was likely even higher. The sociologist Remo Chiatti calculates that 50 to 80% of people were slaves in parts of Wolaita, a southern kingdom centred on Dalbo that was absorbed into the Ethiopian empire in the 1890s.
“Slavery was everywhere,” says Ahmed. “It was the backbone of labour; it was the source of everything. It was not only landlords and the court of the emperor keeping slaves, but also rich peasants. If you had money, you had them.” ....
Read full article at https://zehabesha.com/if-you-had-money- ... -the-past/
Re: Slavery in Ethiopia, until 1974
What is the point of hiding this long part of our history under the carpet? It is longest enduring period in human history. In Ethiopia, there is no discussion on national TV stations, newspapers, magazines, Youtube, Tiktok ... on this subject.
Re: Slavery in Ethiopia, until 1974
... continued
The polarised environment has made it harder to discuss issues such as slavery. A teacher in Addis Ababa, who did not want to be named, says he grew up with “zero knowledge” that slavery was once so widespread.“People are too preoccupied with ethnic-based politics,” he says.
“If you talk about slavery, you are accused of trying to divide your group.”
He says: “I see a lot of posts online about George Floyd, talking about how racist America is, and of course that’s an issue. But we also need to talk about inequality here. There are still ethnic groups looking down on others.”
A new generation of historians are starting to piece together the history of Ethiopia’s slave trade, but discussions remain confined to academic journals and seminar rooms. Last year, there were no public events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of abolition, and most local oral histories are still hidden.
This saddens Zerfe in Dalbo, who says she has passed the stories she heard about slavery on to her children and grandchildren. “As a history, it has to be told to the next generation,” she says. “What they think of it, that is up to them. But they should learn it to help them see injustice.”
Also read an important thread in Mereja:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=371719
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The polarised environment has made it harder to discuss issues such as slavery. A teacher in Addis Ababa, who did not want to be named, says he grew up with “zero knowledge” that slavery was once so widespread.“People are too preoccupied with ethnic-based politics,” he says.
“If you talk about slavery, you are accused of trying to divide your group.”
He says: “I see a lot of posts online about George Floyd, talking about how racist America is, and of course that’s an issue. But we also need to talk about inequality here. There are still ethnic groups looking down on others.”
A new generation of historians are starting to piece together the history of Ethiopia’s slave trade, but discussions remain confined to academic journals and seminar rooms. Last year, there were no public events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of abolition, and most local oral histories are still hidden.
This saddens Zerfe in Dalbo, who says she has passed the stories she heard about slavery on to her children and grandchildren. “As a history, it has to be told to the next generation,” she says. “What they think of it, that is up to them. But they should learn it to help them see injustice.”
Also read an important thread in Mereja:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=371719
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Re: Slavery in Ethiopia, until 1974
Why are we afraid and hiding to talk about this historical facts in history books and university? Why are we hiding this history from national museums and university curriculum?
Ethiopia may have been one of the last African nations to forbid the institutionalized Ethiopian Slavery legally.
Records show that by the end of the second world war, 25% of the population of Addis Ababa was in slavery. The irony is that Ethiopian upper classes or the upper caste were owning other Ethiopians.
Mengistu Haile Mariam's mother herself was born in slavery, in the household of Deja. Kebede Tesema. The people of Ethiopia will learn more about Ethiopia, by studying the history of slavery more than by studying about dead dukes and kings.
Ethiopia may have been one of the last African nations to forbid the institutionalized Ethiopian Slavery legally.
Records show that by the end of the second world war, 25% of the population of Addis Ababa was in slavery. The irony is that Ethiopian upper classes or the upper caste were owning other Ethiopians.
Mengistu Haile Mariam's mother herself was born in slavery, in the household of Deja. Kebede Tesema. The people of Ethiopia will learn more about Ethiopia, by studying the history of slavery more than by studying about dead dukes and kings.