I reviewed "Scars of Slavery" by Rickter Mesadieu. Read it for yourself and share your insights.
Scars of Slavery, 1999
By Dr. Rickter V. Mesadieu
Reviewed by Manes Pierre, M.S.
A slave is a person who is under the complete control of a master or a slave owner. There are many scars or psychological damages that a slave inherits from generation to generation. Rickter V. Mesadieu shows through Scars of Slavery that the black slaves have endured the most trans-generational damages than any other slaves in human history.
The author has identified some key issues that affect the children and grandchildren of the former slaves. For example, the phenomenon of low self-esteem in the black communities are a direct result of slavery. Mesadieu contends that, in spite of the apparent academic achievement of many black professionals, there is a sense of powerlessness in comparison to a white professional with the same or equal academic background. It is the trans-generational effect of slavery that produces this phenomenon.
In addition, Mesadieu argues the trans-generational scars of slavery create a sense of fear in the minds of the descendants of the African slaves or the black individual generally speaking. Thus, he observes a black of long term goals from the blacks due to fear.
Not only do the trans-generational scars are manifest in the current conditions of the blacks, there is another phenomenon that Mesadieu describes as the “Take and Go” phenomenon. The latter is a situation where black leaders in black countries, copy the model of their former colonizers to exploit their own countries. For instance, they will empty their own treasury to go settle in foreign lands, often in countries being led by former colonizers.
Another symptom of the trans-generational scars of slavery is the constant search for identity. Mesadieu explains the danger associated with someone in search of an identity. People without a solid identity or group association tend to be detrimental to society at large and to themselves. The author uses an analogy through a Creole proverb to show the level of self-pity the blacks have grown to accept. “Pito nou led nou la,” or “ugly but living” establishes a clear tendency that blacks, generally, try to live in harmony with nature. By contrast, whites generally like to control nature with a passion.
The author contends that, even in today’s society, many whites suffer that some trans-generational attitude of superiority over the black race. For example, there are many professions today where blacks are excluded for some unknown reasons. The reason, Mesadieu asserts, is because of some unwritten laws propagated by the dominat group. He asks for all black to change that practice for accepting it is to consent to the institution of slavery.
Overall, this book is a wake up call to the black community. Mesadieu wants the black community to begin to change the slave attitude and do away with the slave mentality by showing appreciation toward one another. Too often blacks show respect to whites and disrespect other blacks. That phenomenon, he continues, is resulted from several years of being controlled by whites. He argues that a forgetful mind is an immature one. He feels that Black families do not teach enough black history to their own children. By forgetting the past, Mesadieu explains, it is difficult to come out of he slave mindset. If you are considering a good book this month, I recommend that you give “Scars of Slavery” some serious consideration. I recommend it!
For future studies or research, I would like to see how the traumatic effects of slavery on blacks affect their relationships to their own culture, religious beliefs, and linguistic development. It would be interesting to see what the results of such studies show. The assumptions that blacks are still traumatized by colonization are valid when one looks at post colonial Africa, The Caribbean, Central and South America, and even the conditions of most blacks living in North America. Many of those countries are marked by political instability, are relied on foreign aid from their former colonizer, are often ridiculed by the colonizer’s media, and are still control, to a great extent, by the post colonial powers through direct or indirect military or political intervention. Some of those countries are not necessarily inhabited by blacks only, but the conditions and the scars, of those countries were blacks are in the majority, are much more manifest. I agree with Mesadieu’s argument that blacks are the most affected by slavery.
Mesadieu presents several useful concepts in his book, such kinlessness or the separation of the family, the mulatto dilemma or privileges given to light skin blacks over darker ones, among other things. This book is definitely a must-read to both blacks and whites, and is a wonderful addition to the black archives. If you have not read the writings W. E. Dubois on Double Consciousness, Mesadieu has summarized these concepts well in his book in a very detailed fashion.
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