"Using history to make slavery history": the African American past and the challenge of contemporary slavery

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

This article argues that contemporary antislavery activism in the United States is programmatically undermined and ethically compromised unless it is firmly grounded in a deep understanding of the African American past. Far too frequently those who claim to be "the new abolitionists" evince no interest in what the original abolitionist movement might have to teach them and seem entirely detached from a U.S. history in which the mass, systematic enslavement of African Americans and its consequences are dominating themes. As a result contemporary antislavery activism too often marginalizes the struggle for racial justice in the United States and even indulges in racist ideology. In an effort to overcome these problems, this article seeks to demonstrate in specific detail how knowledge of the African American past can empower opposition to slavery as we encounter it today.

Object Details

• ISSN: 2183-2803
• Extent: Seite(n): 125-135
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Social Inclusion, 3(1)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Geschichte ; Soziale Probleme und Sozialdienste ; Sozialgeschichte, historische Sozialforschung ; soziale Probleme ; historische Entwicklung ; USA ; Sklaverei ; Rassismus ; Auswirkung

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Stewart, James B.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (when): 2015

Further information

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v3i1.143
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:26 PM CEST