God made me to be a slave

God made me to be a slave

Fatma Mint Mamadou is a young woman living in North Africa’s Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Asking her age, she pauses, smiles, and shakes her head. She has no idea when she was born. Nor can she read or write. What she knows is tending camels, herding sheep, hauling bags of water, sweeping, and serving tea to her owners. This young woman is one of perhaps 90,000 slaves in Mauritania.

In the central region of this nation, having dark brown skin almost always means being a slave to an Arab owner. Fatma accepts her situation; she has known nothing else. She explains in a matter-of-fact voice that she is a slave like her mother before her and her grandmother before that. “Just as God created a camel to be a camel,” she shrugs, “He created me to be a slave.”

Fatma, her mother, and her brothers and sisters live in a squatter settlement on the edge of Nouakchott, Mauritania’s capital city. Their home is a 9-by-12-foot hut that they built from wood scraps and other materials found at construction sites. The roof is nothing more than a piece of cloth; there is no plumbing or furniture. The nearest water comes from a well a mile down the road.

In this region, slavery began more than 500 years ago, about the time Columbus sailed west toward the Americas. As Arab and Berber tribes raided local villages, they made slaves of the people, and so it has been for dozens of generations ever since. In 1905, the French colonial rulers of Mauritania banned slavery. After the nation gained independence in 1961, the new government reaffirmed the ban. But such proclamations have done little to change strong traditions. Indeed, people like Fatma have no idea what “freedom to choose” means.

The next question is more personal, “Have you and other girls ever been raped?” Again, Fatma hesitates. With no hint of emotion, she responds, “Of course, in the night the men come to breed us. Is that what you mean by rape?”

REFERENCE:

From the book : Sociology (Chapter 12 Global Stratification, page 311)

Author : John J. Macionis

 Questions: 

answer each items below in 2 to 3 sentences:

1.Describe your reaction to this article.

2.a. What other forms of slavery are you aware of?

2.b. Why do you consider them slavery?

3.a. Complete the phrase “I’m practically a slave to…

3.b. What do you intend to do about this?