\nOXFORD,
\nMiss. \u00ad Mention the word “slavery” to the average American, and the
\nmind frequently jumps to images of black slaves picking cotton on a
\nSouthern plantation. To many, slavery is a distant but painful chapter
\nof American history that still haunts its citizens generations later.<\/p>\n
But to historian Paul E. Lovejoy, slavery wasn’t unique to the United States. To him, slavery isn’t even in the past.
\n
“Slavery was ubiquitous all around the world,” said Lovejoy, Distinguished Research Professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. “Not just in America. Not just whites enslaving blacks, but Africans enslaving Africans. Christians and Muslims. Slavery still continues today. That history belongs to all of us, and as human beings, we’ve got to come to terms with it.”<\/p>\n
Lovejoy, director of York’s Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, delivers the lecture “Comparative Plantation Systems: Conceptualizing the Role of Slavery in the Evolution of the Modern World.” Thursday (Nov. 20) at 7 p.m. in Johnson Commons Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public. A reception follows the presentation.<\/p>\n
“We’re especially glad that Dr. Lovejoy is visiting with us because the history of slavery is an area of strength in our department,” said Joseph Ward, chair of the Department of History. “His lecture gives students and faculty alike an opportunity to reflect on the important role that slavery has played in shaping our world.”<\/p>\n
It’s fairly common knowledge that plantations existed not only in the U.S., but throughout the Caribbean and Africa. Lovejoy’s research looks for common practices throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Among his findings? The lives of slaves are better documented than most realize.<\/p>\n
“There’s so much documentation that we can really trace individual Africans better than we thought we’d be able to do,” Lovejoy said. “We now have a lot of good biographical accounts of Africans who were born free and made into slaves. This happened in Jamaica and Brazil, as well as in Mississippi. There’s a common history of plantations across the Atlantic \u00ad more than most people realize.<\/p>\n
“We can really learn much more than we once imagined,” Lovejoy continued. “People looking into the history of Mississippi plantations might think that all the work has been done already, but it hasn’t. Scholars have already done a lot of good work, but we can really do a lot more now.”<\/p>\n
Lovejoy said that looking at slavery from a wider perspective helps people understand some of the societal ills that came out of the practice. More importantly, it can help shine a light on the modern practice of slavery, which is still going on around the globe.<\/p>\n
“Kids are still kidnapped and sold. There’s still sex slavery. And you can’t say it’s only in certain parts of the world. In Canada, people have been convicted of slavery \u00ad forced labor \u00ad as recently as the past few years,” Lovejoy said.<\/p>\n
“So we have to ask ourselves, in modern societies that aspire to justice and liberty, how is it that slavery continues? Why do we allow it to continue?” he said. “These are the issues that are relevant and that’s why it’s important to bring this history into the conversation.”<\/p>\n
For more information, including special accommodations related to a disability, call the Department of History at 662-915-7148.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"