The ''Maafa'', the African Holocaust, the Holocaust of Enslavement, or the Black Holocaust are political neologisms which have been popularized since 1988Barndt, Joseph. ''Understanding and Dismantling Racism: The Twenty-First Century''. 2007, page 269.Jones, Lee and West, Cornel. ''Making It on Broken Promises: Leading African American Male Scholars Confront the Culture of Higher Education''. 2002, p. 178. and they are used to describe the history and ongoing effects of atrocities which have been inflicted upon African people, particularly when they have been committed by non-Africans ( Europeans and

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

to be exact, specifically in the context of the history of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, including the

Trans-Saharan slave trade During the Trans-Saharan slave trade, slaves were transported across the Sahara desert. Most were moved from Sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa to be sold to Mediterranean and Middle eastern civilizations; a small percentage went the other ...

, the

Indian Ocean slave trade The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade or Arab slave trade, was multi-directional slave trade and has changed over time. Africans were sent as slaves to the Middle East, to Indian Ocean islands (including Ma ...

and the Atlantic slave trade) which continues to the present day through imperialism,

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

and other forms of

oppression Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power, often under the guise of governmental authority or cultural opprobrium. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. Oppression refers to discrimination ...

. For example,

Maulana Karenga Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author, and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holi ...

(2001) puts slavery in the broader context of the ''Maafa'', suggesting that its effects exceed mere physical persecution and legal disenfranchisement: the "destruction of human possibility involved redefining African humanity to the world, poisoning past, present and future relations with others who only know us through this stereotyping and thus damaging the truly human relations among peoples". The Canadian scholar Adam Jones characterized the mass death of millions of Africans in the Atlantic slave trade as a

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

due to it being " one of the worst holocausts in human history" because it resulted in 15 to 20 million deaths according to one estimate, and he claims that arguments to the contrary such as "it was in slave owners' interest to keep slaves alive, not exterminate them" are "mostly sophistry" by stating: "the killing and destruction were intentional, whatever the incentives to preserve survivors of the Atlantic passage for labor exploitation. To revisit the issue of intent already touched on: If an institution is deliberately maintained and expanded by discernible agents, though all are aware of the hecatombs of casualties it is inflicting on a definable human group, then why should this not qualify as genocide?"

History and terminology

The usage of the sw, Maafa, label= Swahili term, lit=Great Disaster in English was introduced by

Marimba Ani Marimba Ani (born Dona Richards) is an anthropologist and African Studies scholar best known for her work ''Yurugu'', a comprehensive critique of European thought and culture, and her coining of the term "Maafa" for the African holocaust. Life and ...

's 1988 book ''Let the Circle Be Unbroken: The Implications of African Spirituality in the Diaspora''.Gunn Morris, Vivian and Morris, Curtis L. ''The Price They Paid: Desegregation in an African American Community''. 2002, p. x. It is derived from a Swahili term for "

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

, terrible occurrence or great

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

".Harp, O.J. ''Across Time: Mystery of the Great Sphinx''. 2007, p. 247. The term was popularized in the 1990s. The Maafa represents a way to discuss the historic atrocities and impact of the African Slave Trade. The term ''African Holocaust'' is preferred by some academics, such as

, because it implies intention. One problem noted by Karenga is that the word ''Maafa'' can also translate to "accident" and in the view of some scholars the holocaust of enslavement was not accidental.

Ali Mazrui Ali Al'amin Mazrui (24 February 1933 – 12 October 2014), was a Kenyan-born American academic, professor, and political writer on African and Islamic studies, and North-South relations. He was born in Mombasa, Kenya. His positions included ...

notes that the word "holocaust" is a "dual plagiarism" since the term is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

and thus despite being associated with the genocide of the Jews, no one can have a monopoly over the term. Mazrui states: "This borrowing from borrowers without attribution is what I call 'the dual plagiarism.' But this plagiarism is defensible because the vocabulary of horrors like genocide and enslavement should not be subject to copyright-restrictions". Some Afrocentric scholars prefer the term ''Maafa'' instead of ''African Holocaust'' because they believe that indigenous African terminology more truly conveys the events. The term ''Maafa'' may serve "much the same cultural psychological purpose for Africans as the idea of the ''Holocaust'' serves to name the culturally distinct Jewish experience of genocide under German Nazism".Aldridge, Delores P. and Young, Carlene. ''Out of the Revolution: The Development of Africana Studies''. 2000, p. 250. Other arguments in favor of ''Maafa'' rather than ''African Holocaust'' emphasize that the denial of the validity of the African people's humanity is an unparalleled centuries-long phenomenon: "The Maafa is a continual, constant, complete, and total system of human negation and nullification"- The historian

Sylviane Diouf Sylviane Anna Diouf is a historian and curator of the African diaspora. She is a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Brown University and a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Coalition of Si ...

posits that, the terms "transatlantic slave trade", " Atlantic slave trade" and "slave trade" are deeply problematic because they serve as euphemisms for intense

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

and mass murder. Referred to as a "trade", this prolonged period of persecution and suffering is rendered as a commercial dilemma, rather than a moral atrocity. Diouf, Sylviane Anna. ''Fighting the Slave Trade: West African Strategies''. 2003, p. xi. With trade as the primary focus, the broader tragedy becomes consigned to a secondary point as mere "

collateral damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided ...

" of a commercial venture. However, others feel that avoidance of the term "trade" is an apologetic act on behalf of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

, absolving capitalist structures of involvement in human catastrophe.

References

* Anderson, S. E., ''The Black Holocaust For Beginners'', Writers & Readers, 1995. * Ani, Marimba, ''Let The Circle Be Unbroken: The Implications of African Spirituality in the Diaspora''. New York: Nkonimfo Publications, 1988 (orig. 1980). {{Pan-Africanism Political neologisms African slave trade Pan-Africanism European colonisation in Africa Historical revisionism Swahili words and phrases Nazi analogies vi:Maafa

History and terminology

See also

References