France Marks Slavery Abolition, Voices From Former Colonies Reflect Painful Legacy

PARIS (KI) – Almost four million men and women lived as slaves in the French colonies until the abolition of the slave trade in 1848. Thousands of French citizens in those former colonies are the descendants of people that were enslaved.

France has two days to commemorate slavery: 10 May memorializes the slave trade, slavery and abolition, while 23 May marks a national day for the victims of colonial slavery.
In 2001, on 10 May, parliament adopted the Taubira Law recognizing the slave trade of African, Amerindian, Malagasy and Indian populations from the 15th to 19th centuries as a crime against humanity.
It was tabled by a Socialist lawmaker from French Guyana, Christiane Taubira, who went on to become France’s first black justice minister.
Three years later a decree was signed to turn 10 May into a national day of remembrance.
RFI asked citizens of French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion Island what the day means for them.
It’s important as it marks a painful chapter of our history. We must not forget.
The law tabled by Christiane Taubira makes it mandatory to teach the history of slavery during the French colonial empire. It also serves to remember the suffering of our colonial past through memorials and museum exhibitions.
In Guyana, we commemorate the abolition of slavery on 10 June – the day it was officially announced in 1848. However, 10 May has its importance in ensuring that the future generations learn about the slave trade. More and more research on the topic is helping to uncover aspects of slavery we didn’t know about.
Personally I celebrate 23 May to honor the memory of my ancestors, as well 27 May – a public holiday in Guadeloupe that marks the official abolition of slavery.
The duty of remembrance is most important for me. Jean-Charles Salin, the grandfather of my own grand-father, was born a slave. On 23 May, 1998, I marched along with 40,000 French Caribbeans in the streets of Paris, silently demanding that the victims of slavery, our ancestors, be remembered.
The French state “remembers” the abolition of slavery and the end of the slave trade on 10 May – it’s a sort of pat on the back for what it did.
Why can’t it be the same for the millions of victims of an inhumane slave trade that lasted over three centuries?
I’m not saying that 10 May shouldn’t exist, I’m saying that the French should know what happened. When I was at school, we didn’t learn about slavery. I had to do my own research up until university.
What I do hope is that the stigma attached to being descendants of slaves one day disappears – you know, being ashamed of our skin colour and being of African origin.
This is because centuries of enslavement conditioned us to see ourselves like the slave owners did.