Slavery Was Wrong Then and Remains Wrong Today – Mahama
President rejects historical justifications for slavery, calls for global recognition and reparatory justice
- Mahama insists the transatlantic slave trade was wrong in the past and remains wrong today
- He emphasises the need for global acknowledgment of slavery as a crime and supports ongoing calls for reparatory justice
- Mahama highlights that the slave trade was rooted in false racial ideologies that dehumanised Africans and denied them their dignity
President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed claims that historical injustices such as slavery should be assessed based on the social norms of their time, describing such arguments as misguided and unacceptable.
He emphasised that the forced removal of Africans from their homeland to serve as slaves in foreign lands was a grave crime that must be acknowledged and addressed.
Mahama made these remarks at a High-Level Special Event on Reparatory Justice held at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday, March 24. The event focused on seeking justice for the trafficking and enslavement of Africans and addressing its lasting consequences.
According to him, attempts to justify past actions using historical context do not hold moral weight. He insisted that wrongdoing remains wrong regardless of the era, stressing that slavery was unjust both in the past and today.
He further pointed out that, even during the height of slavery, there were individuals who opposed the practice, proving that it was never universally accepted.
Mahama also highlighted that the transatlantic slave trade was deliberately structured to strip Africans of their humanity, built on false racial ideologies that elevated one race over another without any scientific basis.
