Portugal’s Slavery Past. Discovery of sunken ship off African coast could spark debate over elusive memory
Slaves remain to the Makua people, originally from Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony. The Smithsonian says that the discovery of this ship cannot be undervalued, since, despite being the first ship discovered after having sunk with two hundred slaves, the Institute’s researchers say there are many more examples to be discovered and that will clarify doubts. about the transatlantic slavery that enslaved more than 12 million African women, men and children.
Lonnie Bunch, of the Smithsonian, recalled that for decades the search for ships that could contain treasures was much more attractive than those that resulted in humanitarian disasters.
Thus, the project was created Project Shipwrecks of Slaves in partnership with various organizations in Africa and the United States.
“People they talk about slave exchanges, they talk about the millions of people that were transported but it’s hard to imagine the whole situation and so we wanted to reduce the discovery of this ship, the people who were on the ship and the story about the ship to a human scale. So we have a way to “humanize” the situation”.
The idea is to show people that “finding your slave past is as important as finding treasures like the Titanic”.
For in addition to having found Sao Jose Paquete de D’Africathe project Slave Shipwrecks developed programs to train apprentices in other locations such as Mozambique, Senegal, South Africaalso having diving programs in the Caribbean and conservation projects for museums.
“We have to start thinking deeply about these themes that seem lost but that are ahead of us to be found and to change the perspective of how the world suffered”, he explained to the Guardian Paul Gardullo, curator and project director Slave Shipwrecks.
“This search is connected to something much bigger than the discovery of a ship. It is a search for ourselves and an attempt to understand how we relate to the world and how we can make it a better place”.
Lonnie Bunch and Paul Gardullo remained in Lisbon to take part in a symposium on slavery, museums and racism. The choice of the Portuguese capital, shall we say, was no coincidence. Portugal is one of the countries with a very long historical involvement with slavery and like other nations, Portugal has difficulties in confronting its own past.
Last year, the European Council on Human Rights has urgently asked Lisbon to rethink the way it teaches colonial history in schools.
“Portugal shows great pride in its past and maritime heritage but tries not to talk about the connection that this heritage has to slavery and colonialism”, said Paul Gardullo. Both the director of Slave Shipwrecks like Lonnie Bunch hope that the symposium will lead Portugal to redouble its efforts to continue to reflect on its past.
“We are often prophets without honor in our country and when someone from outside comes and talks to us about these important issues, suddenly it can stimulate many people to think. It’s okay to say there are difficulties in dealing with the subject – it’s normal, but it’s crucial and important “.
In the last month of December, Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands has issued a formal apology for the country’s role in slave activity.saying that the country “allowed, encouraged and profited from slavery” and that it did things that “cannot be erased, only confronted”.