“God Made Me to Be a Slave”Fatma Mint Mamadou is a young woman living in NorthAfrica’s Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Asked her age, shepauses, smiles, and shakes her head. She has no idea whenshe was born. Nor can she read or write. What she knowsis tending camels, herding sheep, hauling bags of water,sweeping, and serving tea to her owners. This young woman is one of perhaps 500,000 slaves in Mauritania, which repre-sents about 18 percent of that nation’s population. In the central region of this nation, having dark brownskin almost always means being a slave to an Arab owner.Fatma accepts her situation; she has known nothing else.She explains in a matter-of-fact voice that she is a slave likeher mother before her and her grandmother before that. “Just as God created a camel to be a camel,” she shrugs, “he cre-ated me to be a slave.” Fatma, her mother, and her brothers and sisters live in asquatter settlement on the edge of Nouakchott, Mauritania’scapital city. Their home is a 9-by-12-foot hut that they built from wood scraps and other materials found at constructionsites. The roof is nothing more than a piece of cloth; thereis no plumbing or furniture. The nearest water comes from awell a mile down the road.In this region, slavery began more than 500 years ago, about the time Columbus sailed west toward the Ameri-cas. As Arab and Berber tribes raided local villages, they made slaves of the people, and so it has been for dozens of generations ever since. In 1905, the French colonial rul-ers of Mauritania banned slavery. After the nation gained independence in 1961, the new government reaffirmed theban. However, slavery was not officially abolished until 1981,and even then, it was not made a crime. In 2007, the nationpassed legislation making the practice of slavery an offensepunishable by up to ten years in prison, and the governmentnow provides monetary compensation to victims of slavery.But the new laws have done little to change strong traditionsand prosecutions are rare and serious penalties for thoseconvicted even rarer. The sad truth is that some societies stillendorse slavery or near-slavery so that people like Fatma stillhave no conception of “freedom to choose.”The next question is more personal: “Are you and othergirls ever raped?” Again, Fatma hesitates. With no hint ofemotion, she responds, “Of course, in the night the mencome to breed us. Is that what you mean by rape?”What Do You Think?1. How does tradition play a part in keeping people inslavery?2. What might explain the fact that the world still toleratesslavery?3. Explain the connection between slavery and poverty.
“God Made Me to Be a Slave”
Fatma Mint Mamadou is a young woman living in North
Africa’s Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Asked her age, she
pauses, smiles, and shakes her head. She has no idea when
she was born. Nor can she read or write. What she knows
is tending camels, herding sheep, hauling bags of water,
sweeping, and serving tea to her owners. This young woman
is one of perhaps 500,000 slaves in Mauritania, which repre-
sents about 18 percent of that nation’s population.
In the central region of this nation, having dark brown
skin almost always means being a slave to an Arab owner.
Fatma accepts her situation; she has known nothing else.
She explains in a matter-of-fact voice that she is a slave like
her mother before her and her grandmother before that. “Just
as God created a camel to be a camel,” she shrugs, “he cre-
ated me to be a slave.”
Fatma, her mother, and her brothers and sisters live in a
squatter settlement on the edge of Nouakchott, Mauritania’s
capital city. Their home is a 9-by-12-foot hut that they built
from wood scraps and other materials found at construction
sites. The roof is nothing more than a piece of cloth; there
is no plumbing or furniture. The nearest water comes from a
well a mile down the road.
In this region, slavery began more than 500 years ago,
about the time Columbus sailed west toward the Ameri-
cas. As Arab and Berber tribes raided local villages, they
made slaves of the people, and so it has been for dozens
of generations ever since. In 1905, the French colonial rul-
ers of Mauritania banned slavery. After the nation gained
independence in 1961, the new government reaffirmed the
ban. However, slavery was not officially abolished until 1981,
and even then, it was not made a crime. In 2007, the nation
passed legislation making the practice of slavery an offense
punishable by up to ten years in prison, and the government
now provides monetary compensation to victims of slavery.
But the new laws have done little to change strong traditions
and prosecutions are rare and serious penalties for those
convicted even rarer. The sad truth is that some societies still
endorse slavery or near-slavery so that people like Fatma still
have no conception of “freedom to choose.”
The next question is more personal: “Are you and other
girls ever raped?” Again, Fatma hesitates. With no hint of
emotion, she responds, “Of course, in the night the men
come to breed us. Is that what you mean by rape?”
What Do You Think?
1. How does tradition play a part in keeping people in
slavery?
2. What might explain the fact that the world still tolerates
slavery?
3. Explain the connection between slavery and poverty.
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