African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1221 - 230: The Homeward Journey of the Black Slaves

While the two engaged in conversation, they began heading in the direction of the pub. Even during off hours, the streets of the Falta new district were bustling with people, lively and crowded."Hey, look! That truck should be full of Black people!" Mars suddenly nudged Anton and said.

They saw an East Africa Pioneer brand car speeding across the street. This uncommon, large transport vehicle from East Africa naturally didn't have any grandfatherly figures, yet the people it carried drew particular attention.

Anton followed Mars' gesture and looked. Indeed, a truck carrying a group of Black people approached in their direction. No, it was actually a convoy of vehicles filled with Black people, and not far behind this vehicle were several similar cars.

"Speaking of, Blacks have indeed become rare in East Africa. I remember in my childhood, there were quite a few Black people in East Africa. But I've only heard about it from my parents. By the time we could remember things, the village already showed no signs of them. It was only when we moved west that we occasionally saw them at some construction sites along the railway." Anton remarked.

With time passing, Black people in East Africa have truly become a rarity. Nowadays, for many inexperienced East Africans, Black individuals are almost like legends.

Anton and Mars were fortunate to have previously encountered Black people due to the places they visited. The West was essentially the last gathering place for Blacks in East Africa. However, over the years, East Africa has also made Black people scarce species.

Mars sighed and said, "I recall that a few years ago, it was not uncommon to see engineering teams composed of Black people. This might be the first time this year we've seen Black people, and so many of them at that. Moreover, it seems they're not young any longer."

The Black people on the vehicles appeared visibly aged, with comparatively frail bodies that seemed malnourished, but was actually due to old age and over-exertion resulting in premature aging.

With the increase in East African productivity over the years, agriculture further developed, and the surplus in grain production had improved the diet of the Black people, strengthening it to some extent.

However, these dietary advances couldn't counteract aging and the demands of intensive labor, so it's natural that the physiques of the Black people didn't appear robust.

During this era, East Africans generally had good vision, allowing Anton and Mars to clearly see the white hairs on the heads of Black people on the vehicles from a distance of several meters.

Due to ethnic characteristics, Black people's hair, even when it grows long, tends to curl up, thus not appearing excessively long. The interspersed white hairs formed patches of white scars atop their heads, standing out against their black skin.

"From the looks of them, these Black people are clearly worn-out and being transported to Falta at this time, probably to be shipped overseas!" Mars speculated.

Though the East African Government deeply shuns its Black slaves, it doesn't block information from getting out entirely.

Thus, most East African citizens are well aware of how the government treats Black people, that is, leaving the land but not its people. Years ago, Black East Africans were one of the main supply sources for the international slave trade.

It's fair to say East Africa extended the timeline of the world's large-scale Black slave trade forcibly into the late 19th century, even when West Africa had already officially banned slave trade.

Of course, this relates to the transformation of world population dynamics. Over hundreds of years, the Americas have been extensively developed, and with no shortage of white population, there's naturally no need for large-scale imports of labor from Black Africa.

Bluntly put, the Black populations in the U.S., Brazil, and other American countries can already self-produce and self-market, eliminating the need for European slave traders as middlemen taking a cut.

Over hundreds of years, Black people have taken root in the Americas, proliferating over several generations, with populations reaching tens of millions, rivalling even West Africa, which now has the largest distribution of world Black people. Under these circumstances, selling Black slaves from Africa to the Americas is entirely redundant.

In the past century, the fundamental reason East Africa played the black slave trade was due to government subsidies to slave ships and traders, making East Africa's version of the slave trade outright unprofitable. This kind of "charitable" Black slave trade was unimaginable for profit-driven European slave traders.

Furthermore, the colonial focus of European countries has undergone significant change. Previously, Europe's main colonial focus was on the Americas, with several traditional colonial Great Powers having expansive colonies there.

Nowadays, Europe's colonial focus has shifted towards West Africa and Asia, which unlike the Americas centuries ago, have never lacked population.

The most typical example is India. Had the Native American population density been half that of India, Europeans likely wouldn't have needed to import Black slaves over long distances from Africa to American plantations, since the Black slave trade also incurs costs.

Mars said, "Although it is undeniable that Black slaves made significant contributions to the Empire's development, I also agree with the Imperial Government's firm stance. Retaining these Black people in East Africa would only cause future threats, just like current U.S. society. Therefore, we must not follow the American path."

In discussions about the fate of Black people, the East African Government often takes the United States as an example, since the U.S. is now the world's largest Black nation, and unrestrained Black people have already caused numerous social problems in American society.

Though due to their low status, Black issues haven't affected the interests of white Americans, the trend is increasingly apparent.

The shadow cast by Black people is deepening in American society, with large gangs recruiting grassroots members from Black groups. As time progresses, Black people will certainly become a major societal issue in the U.S., unless the government changes its attitude toward them, which seems unlikely.

Anton said, "In sum, I certainly don't wish for our country to retain Black people. I don't desire to hold an equal stance towards domestic Black individuals, and most likely others feel the same way. Consequently, the hatred between the Empire and the Black community is naturally insurmountable. If we were to emulate the U.S.'s post-Civil War methods, granting them citizenship would only foster internal threats."

The exploitation of Black people in East Africa runs deep, meaning it's impossible for East Africa to peacefully coexist with Black communities. Anton couldn't see himself breaking free from narrow-minded thinking, placing Black slaves at the bottom of the social hierarchy on an equal footing with himself.

Mars also remarked, "I support your perspective. Educating Black people is extremely difficult, since they inherently lack a history of civilization and cannot integrate into modern society."

"Observe the current conditions of Blacks in the U.S. and other American countries to understand this fact. Presently, American Blacks are almost synonymous with criminals. For these Blacks, the most suitable place is to return to the plains to compete with wild animals, rather than being lost in modern society."

Anton said, "Although the slave trade has completely ceased, and these aged Black people clearly cannot be sold as slaves to the Americas anymore, the government's handling of them probably aligns with what you mentioned—they will be returned to the plains, but those of West Africa."

East Africa's methods of handling Black people are traceable. If they haven't perished on native East African soil, their fate is to be exiled to other regions globally, having been America and West Africa before, and now only likely West Africa.

As Anton said, most current East African Black people's ages preclude the possibility of them being traded as slaves to other countries for labor. East Africa also wouldn't be responsible for their retirement.

Thus, the final destination for these Black people is predictable: they can only end up in the somewhat chaotic West Africa region, where European countries' colonies exist, but they no longer have the energies to manage the "population trash" casually tossed by East Africa.