Reflections on Arab-led slavery of Africans

The Arab-Led Slavery of Africans predates the Atlantic Slave Trade of the West by about a millennium. At source, it was by far more extensive in geographical spread than the Atlantic Slave Trade. However, generally little is said or known about it. Also, its effects on the social fabric and history of Africa is generally underestimated. As we penetrate the twenty-first century, the interrelated issues of racism and the legacy of African slavery as lingering historical and sociological phenomena constitute for Africa and the world one of the most vexatious problem areas on the conscience of the human community. At a time when people of African descent, particularly in the Diaspora, are calling for reparations for the chattel slavery of Africans in the western hemisphere and its effects, Africans on the continent are making similar demands for Ottoman and Arab-led slavery and its outstanding historical and sociological implications.