Obama Devalues the Legacy of Slavery – Amanuel Biedemariam
CONTRIBUTOR: ADMIN <
http://eastafro.com/Post/author/admin/> / SEPTEMBER
28, 2012
There is nothing more disturbing and frustrating than to see the legacy of
blacks and slavery evoked incorrectly or to see someone using it for cheap
PR point and demean its importance. But when it is the president of the US
doing it against people of an African nation on a global stage it is
outright shameful.
In a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), President Barack Obama
raised the issue of human trafficking as a scourge that needs serious
global attention. In his speech, President Obama likened the current global
human trafficking situation to slavery. President Obama said that he does
not evoke the word slavery lightly but to underscore the importance his
administration places on human trafficking he is compelled to do so.
Human trafficking presents great challenges to humanity and is a subject
that requires urgent attention. However, President Obama’s attention to it
is dubious, ill hearted and misleading designed to evoke actions against
targeted nations. President Obama said,
“I recently renewed sanctions on some of the worst abusers, including North
Korea and Eritrea. We’re partnering with groups that help women and
children escape from the grip of their abusers. We’re helping other
countries step up their own efforts.”
President Obama is a legal scholar that understands the laws. Moreover,
President Obama took his family to the coasts of Ghana on a tour to
understand the legacy of slavery. As an Eritrean African American, it
offended my sensibilities for American president to throw a statement of
this magnitude and sally the image of people and nation for political
expediency. It is outright blasphemy and wrong.
President Obama has used democracy, terrorism and humanitarian causes to
further his interventionist agendas in many parts around the globe
particularly Africa. This is the first time he evoked slavery.
It is outrageous to demean good humanitarian causes by using it pursuit of
geopolitical agendas unrelated to the causes. It is also bad for the US
long term because it keeps stripping away any moral high ground on related
causes thus strip its leadership role.
President Obama’s mention of Eritrea has nothing to do with human
trafficking. The sanction he mentioned are based on fabricated grounds. The
US has targeted Eritrea for a long time. The Bush administration tried very
hard to place Eritrea on the List of Countries that Support Terrorism and
the late Congressman Donald Payne stopped them for it was groundless. In
2009, on Christmas Eve US ambassador to the UN Ambassador Susan Rice
pressured a sanction measure against Eritrea and placed an arms embargo and
denied Eritrea the right to self-defense based on fabrication and by
creating unfounded connection between Eritrea and a militant group in
Somalia. Tens of thousands of Eritreans came out to express their outrage
against Obama’s decisions. In 2011, they fabricated yet another story this
time relating it to Djibouti based on fabrication in the most lopsided
process making a mockery of the UN.
There is no government-sanctioned slave trade in Eritrea. There is no
slavery in Eritrea. Furthermore, President Obama has never been to Eritrea.
But, if he is to take his family to Massawa the port city of Eritrea, he
will not find Cape Coast Castle; he will see beautiful pristine beaches
populated by Eritreans from every corner around the globe. President Obama
will not see the legacy of slavery as he saw in Ghana. Instead, he will see
a legacy of Eritrean gallantry unmatched by any. He will see a country
reeling from colonialism, World War II and, Cold War legacies that
debilitated the country. He will see Eritreans rebuilding their
infrastructures and rehabilitating communities that were devastated by
decades of US sponsored hardships. He will see Africans that have taken
ownership of their destiny.
The human trafficking President Obama is referring to is not unique to
Eritrea. To single out Eritrea is wrong because it diminishes the cause and
overlooks the millions displaced and seeking refugee escaping from
brutality by regimes the Obama Administration props up. If the Obama
Administration truly wants to address human trafficking all he has to do is
encourage the people of Africa to build their countries and, encourage the
youth to remain in their countries by educational exchange programs,
economic and cultural cooperation and bring the people close to Americans
genuinely. If President Obama wants to curb on human trafficking genuinely
he needs to stop his hyper-aggressive Africa policy that is terrorizing
Africans and work for justice, stability and economic stability of the
region.
It is wrong for President Obama to use slavery as a cause celebre to
further his aggressive Africa agenda. When one talks of slavery, the
thoughts that come up are the hundreds of thousands traded in the Port of
Alexandria, the men, women and children torn apart from their families
hunted by White slave traders. What President Obama is doing should
outrage Black Historians and Blacks all over. President Obama would not
dare compare anything to the Holocaust but he concluded that the Eritrean
American communities in the US will not be a threat to his election bid so
decided to brazenly mention in passing and incriminated a nation and people
brazenly.
Human rights, freedom and democracy are not values espoused by the West
only and should not be exploited for political expediency.
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Received on Sun Sep 30 2012 - 20:25:21 EDT
