Transatlantic slave trade was designed to deny Africans their humanity – Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has described the transatlantic slave trade as a deliberate system designed to strip African people of their humanity, calling for global recognition of its crimes and the restoration of dignity to the millions affected.
Speaking at a high-level event on reparative justice at the UN Headquarters , President Mahama said, “The entire transatlantic slave trade was designed to deny African people their humanity. That denial was premised on a racial hierarchy with no basis in fact or science, deeming whiteness superior and blackness inferior.”
He stressed that the atrocities committed were rooted in the perception of Africans as property rather than human beings. “The atrocities that were committed against enslaved Africans, and the injustices that were born of slavery and carried forward into successive social frameworks, took place specifically because those persons were considered objects, not human beings,” Mahama said.
The President recounted the brutal realities of enslavement: “When slaves were captured, they were stripped of their clothing, chained, and packed into cargo ships. Many did not survive the Middle Passage. Those who did were stripped of their names and given names like John, Jemima, or Mary, while others were branded with their owner’s insignia.”
Highlighting the global scale of the trade, Mahama added, “Roughly six million Africans were trafficked to Brazil, almost two million to Jamaica, half a million to America, and over 450,000 to Barbados. These are not just numbers—they are human beings, families, hopes, dreams, and futures stolen from them.”
President Mahama also warned against the modern-day erasure of slavery’s history. “Erasure begins with language. When black history courses are removed from curricula and books about slavery and segregation are banned, we are allowing this denial to continue,” he said.
He called for collective action: “Reclaiming racial equality, the dignity of Africans, and the humanity of our ancestors is a matter of our own humanity. Let us bear witness, vote for truth, and restore the dignity of those whose lives were stolen.”
