Gerald Horne, Professor of History and African-American Studies at the University of Houston, has written written numerous books chronicling neglected epochs of colonialism and white supremacy, the most recent being The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in Seventeenth-Century North America and the Caribbean. Here, he speaks on Truthout.org with Chris Steele, host of the podcast Time Talks: History, Politics, Music, and Art.
“Chris Steele: Last time, we spoke about representations of resistance in the classroom with not having students see the first image of a person of color as someone enslaved. Can you speak about your teaching philosophy and how this relates to the work you do?
Gerald Horne: … I think that particularly with regard to students of African descent (but not exclusively students of African descent), it’s very important for them not to see Black people only in the role of slaves…. One of the many scandals of historiography in the United States is not dealing with that history, which I think leads to a misimpression that the slave population was inert, or as … Kanye West said, 400 years of slavery is “a choice.” Basically, I mean that kind of opinion comes clearly from this idea of presenting enslaved people as passive…”
Read/listen to the interview at Truthout
Copyright, Truthout.org. Reprinted with permission
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