Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation

Viac o knihe

The 1619 Project highlights how slavery has shaped every aspect of life in the United States. This work focuses on emancipation, revealing how the opportunity to correct injustices further entrenched the racial caste system rather than dismantling it. To grasp why slavery's shadow persists, we must examine not only the institution itself but also its incomplete conclusion. Emancipation is often viewed as a definitive end, ushering in human rights and freedoms, yet it was far from complete. The author, historian Kris Manjapra, identifies five types of emancipation, detailing their chronological development and lasting effects on formerly enslaved communities across the Atlantic. Spanning from the 1770s to the 1880s, these processes included the Gradual Emancipations in North America, the Revolutionary Emancipation in Haiti, Compensated Emancipations in European empires, the War Emancipation in the American South, and Conquest Emancipations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite a century of efforts to abolish slavery, systems of social bondage persisted and evolved. Each emancipation reenacted racial violence against Black communities and reinforced white supremacy. Manjapra emphasizes that none of these processes demanded atonement or restorative justice for the harmed. Amidst this unfinished history, grassroots Black activists have emerged as custodians of recovery and remedy, crucial for addressing both present and past injustices.