The Elmina Slave Castle is one of two historical monuments in the Cape Coast Area. This particular castle is the largest of the two and was built in 1482 by the Portuguese in their search for gold and other plunder from the Africans. Though they did engage in the slave trade, the castle didn't attain its eventual function until the 1637 when the Dutch took it over forcibly and controlled it until 1814. In 1871 the Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort, became a possession of the British Empire. Britain granted the Gold Coast its independence in 1957, and control of the castle was transferred to the nation formed out of the colony, present-day Ghana
For any African or African American, or for that matter any human being this is a tangible embodiment of one of the most horrible holocausts ever inflicted upon humanity, easily comparable to the extermination of 6,000,000 Jews by the Nazis. And as our tour guide adamantly and eloquently stated Never Again! Free Africans were captured, placed in chains and kept in overcrowded stone dungeons for months with inadequate food and water, beaten and separated from children and families. Women were repeatedly raped and not allowed to bathe or go to the toilet . Many men , women, and children died. Then without any explanation or choice they were packed on boats and shipped to America and the Caribbean. How supposedly Christian human beings could perpetrate these atrocities on other human beings is beyond understanding.
We saw the dungeons where men and women were kept, the deep pits used to punish and torture those who didn't comply, the cannonballs that were chained to their legs, the chute through which they had to crawl to enter the ships. Many of those with me were profoundly moved by this story and this cogent reminder of man's inhumanity and the horror upon which this country was based. It is an unforgettable experience and one that everone should try to visit as a reminder.
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