President John Dramani Mahama has said that the brutalities and enduring injustices of slavery were made possible because Africans were deliberately stripped of their humanity and treated as objects.
Speaking at a United Nations event on slavery at the UN Headquarters on Tuesday, March 24, President Mahama stressed that the foundation of the transatlantic slave trade rested on a systematic denial of human dignity.
“The atrocities that were committed against enslaved Africans, and the myriads of injustice that followed through successive social systems, took place specifically because those persons were considered objects, not human beings,” he said.
He explained that this dehumanisation was rooted in a fabricated racial hierarchy that falsely positioned Africans as inferior, creating a justification for exploitation, violence, and oppression.
President Mahama further noted that the consequences of this system extend far beyond the era of slavery, shaping social and economic inequalities that persist to this day.
He called for a deliberate shift in how slavery is discussed, beginning with the language used in historical narratives.
“Truth begins with language,” he said. “There were no slaves—only human beings who were trafficked and enslaved. Acknowledging this distinction is essential to restoring dignity.”
The President urged the global community to place African humanity at the centre of conversations on slavery and its legacies.
“When discussing slavery and its consequences, we must begin by reclaiming the dignity of Africans and the humanity of our ancestors,” he added.
