Saturday, May 5, 2012

Day 7- “Ugly legacy”


Leslie: Day 7, we had a stark reminder of the brutal legacy of slavery on Ghana. It was shocking to realize we’d almost forgotten about that period and its impact on the region until then. But when we toured the slave dungeons at Elmina Castle, learned about inhumane conditions for prisoners, heard stories of appalling mistreatment and mass murder (one shipmaster is known to have drowned hundreds of slaves to collect insurance money), and saw firsthand the ports where slaves used to walk toward waiting, menacing ships, that history felt more real than it had in any museum in the US South.











Andrew: After visiting the castles, we took the bus back to Accra.  Our hotel was beautiful and right next to the beach.  We met with Stanford alumni over a delicious buffet dinner, and most of us ended up calling it an early night.  

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