Was there ever a black holocaust?

The Black Holocaust Museum was founded in 1988 in the city of Milwaukee, in the American state of Wisconsin.  Financial difficulties forced it to close in 2008, but it has since been relaunched as a website.

The late James Cameron - who founded the museum - was sometimes told by sceptics that there never was a black holocaust.  It is nevertheless true that around five thousand black people were murdered in the USA in lynchings by white people, and Cameron knew this only too well as he survived a lynching in the city of Marion in 1930.  He is widely reported to have been the only survivor of a lynching in the USA.

The holocaust was not confined to lynchings, however.  Huge numbers of Africans - the museum estimates at least ten million - were taken as slaves to North America.  Many of them died in the horrendous conditions of the slave ships, and many more died as the result of being forced to work long hours on plantations.

In short, yes there was a black holocaust.

Nevertheless, I feel obliged to point out certain facts.  First, the victims of lynchings were not always morally innocent.  James Cameron for example took part in an attack on a white boy and his girlfriend, in which the white boy was fatally injured.  Cameron's two accomplices were hanged by a lynch mob before they could be brought to trial, and Cameron was spared the same fate only because his involvement in the attack was limited.

I have no problem with the fact that Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith were hanged for the murder of Claude Deeter, except that they should have been given a fair trial first.

The treatment of black slaves in North America was cruel, but in many cases the perpetrators were Jews or free blacks.  Slave takers were usually black, and slave traders and slave ship captains were often Jews.  In the USA, Jewish families and free black families were more likely to own slaves than white gentile families.  Nevertheless I cannot find any mention of these facts on the museum website.  If anyone else can, please leave a comment.

It is also fair to point out that it was not only slaves who were worked to death prior to the abolition of slavery, and neither was it only black people.  White people in Britain and elsewhere often had to work hard for very long hours, and often in unsanitary conditions.  Life expectancy was low, and those who did live a long time often had to watch their children die of preventable diseases.

There was indeed a black holocaust, but by the same logic there was also a white holocaust - but one which as yet has no museum.

Related previous posts include:
Racism at the movies
The Jews are afraid, but what about the rest of us?
A very British holocaust