African slave traders were willing to sell their own people into slavery because the concepts of “Africa” and “Africans” were invented by Europeans. When they went to war, they made captives. And when they wanted to sell those captives, they sold them to the highest bidder. It so happened that the highest bidders, from the 15th century on, tended to be these white-skin foreigners from far away. People who live on the same landmass don’t necessarily share any type of collective consciousness and vice-versa, before European colonization, Africans had no sense that there was something called “Africa” that they were a part of. They responded with common sense, with the incentives they had in front of them: not only could they suppress their enemies, but those enemies could be sold and carried far away, never to be heard from again. It was a good deal for them. This is why I think African slave traders were willing to sell their own people into slavery.
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Because the concepts of “Africa” and “Africans” were invented by Europeans.
Africa is a land mass. Land masses don’t have consciousness. People who live on the same landmass don’t necessarily share any type of collective consciousness. And people of the same complexion who live on the same land mass don’t necessarily share any type of collective consciousness.
People who live in Namibia are Africans. So are people who live in Egypt. But the latter have much more in common with the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia than they do with the people of Namibia.
Before European colonization, Africans had no sense that there was something called “Africa” that they were a part of. They had no sense that they were supposed to feel solidarity and brotherhood with other people, simply because those other people happened to have the same complexion.
When they went to war, they made captives. And when they wanted to sell those captives, they sold them to the highest bidder. It so happened that the highest bidders, from the 15th century on, tended to be these white-skin foreigners from far away. And so, it is to them that the captives would be sold. In time, the fact that there was such a ready market for slaves would itself induce people to start wars, but it was always war against some other tribe. These tribes had no sense that someday, there would be a country called Senegal or another called Nigeria, and that they were weakening those future countries by depleting their manpower. They responded rationally to the incentives they had in front of them: not only could they suppress their enemies, but those enemies could be sold and carried far away, never to be heard from again. It was a good deal for them. They took it. The different tribes that thus warred were no more related to one another than were the French to the Poles. Their customs were different. Their languages were different. All they shared were some superficial phenotypic features. And even then, Africans can often tell differences that escape outsiders.
The Dutch don’t look like the Portuguese.
And the Wolof man below does not look like a Fulani.
