Is there any art from Africa that clearly shows slavery was already in place before the Europeans found the Americas/there was a boom in demand for African slaves? (Learned that there was already existing slavery in class, wondering if there's any evidence)

Uh…what? Why do you need art from Africa specifically for that? You could just like, read the bible or google it?

Slavery existed as a human institution all over the world for millennia before the United States existed. You’ve sent me questions before, so I assume you read this blog…we’ve discussed many forms of enslavement from serfdom to indentured servitude to Roman slavery.

Everything about this question is really weird. Is this some kind of Tea Party-style “Sunny Side of Slavery” history class? Saying “slavery was already in place [in Africa]” implies that somehow the continent of Africa invented slavery and Europeans just like, what? Borrowed it?

Combined with language like “African slaves”, this seriously just replicates the dehumanizing language that’s too frequently used to describe the indescribably horrific things that happened to these people, who were real, and human, and had lives. Not only that, the distancing language like “a boom in demand” dodges accountability for the people who created and furthered this system of colonial enslavement.

For a short statement on this, here’s Catherine Ancholou for PBS on the matter (speaking in relevance to her research on Olaudah Equiano, a Black British Abolitionist).