The topic about to be discussed is one that the African-Diaspora community and Africans back home might shy away from. This is because it can hurt male pride. But the truth is that it must be discussed, for closure sake, and for history sake.

There are lots of dark stories about the 400 years of slavery, and beyond. Many of these dark tales are told with a little ease, but others are told with great difficulty. We at Liberty Writers Africa strongly feel that thousands more of such stories and accounts died with their victims. But for those who lived to tell their sad realities, we applaud their courage and we will do our part in telling the stories, with a heavy heart.

If there is one tool that was more brutal than whips and guns, during slavery, it was RAPE. Vicious and animalistic sexual violations of African slaves in America, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world where African slaves were sold to. The rape of women and girls by white slave masters and merchants, on ships and plantations, has been told in great length. But the degrading rape of African slave men has not fully been given account for. This was mostly because men did not get pregnant and give birth to bi-racial kids as proof.  Also, men were shy to speak of their experiences, so their accounts were hidden in the dark corners of their memories.

It is recorded that the raping of the men, was very popular in the Southern parts of America and Cuba. It was a huge part of the slave system and culture by the Spanish people.

Many of these men were raped on ships when they were transported and also at secret sex farms. There were also season plantations for homosexual slave owners which were very popular and common in the Caribbean. On many occasions, the enslaved men would resist and fight, but they get killed. Well, some men would rather die than get sodomized. 

Because of the great physique, strength, and stamina, many African slave men were forced by the slavers wives to have sex with them when their masters were away. The rape of enslaved African men was a well-known secret for many years during the slave trade days. Below we will outline some of the unpopular sexual exploitations of the men during slavery.

BUCK BREAKING

This act of “Buck breaking” or “Bot bursting” involves white slave owners and merchants raping a male slave in front of the public or entire plantation to embarrass him and cause him to feel less of a man. This heinous act became popular when there were increased cases of slave rebellion. The men would first be stripped naked and whipped in the presence of a crowd, and after that, raped by the slave owners or merchants as a warning to other slaves. The targets were mainly the brave men, who were leaders in the plantations.

To make matters more gruesome and unbearable, the slave owners make the African slave men with families to have sex with each other in front of their families. Or they were raped in the presence of their sons. Many of the men killed themselves or ran away after this.

Buck breaking started from ships and continued in plantations. It was a way of stripping the enslaved African male of their pride and power to protect their families. And it was also a way for slave owners to show dominance.

BREEDING FARMS

The breeding farms were a way for slave owners to replenish their Negro workforce, due to the abolishment of slavery in 1865. May slaves became confident and rebelled against their owners. Many of them escaped.

This caused damage to the slave trade and plantation owners did not have any human labor to meet the market demands for their produce. So, they invented the breeding farms that exploited the sexuality of the African slave men.

At the breeding farms, the strong and healthy enslaved African men were forcefully made to have sexual intercourse with enslaved African women to get them pregnant. The men could lay with six women in a day just to increase the probability of the women getting pregnant. The slave owners did not care if the women were mothers or sisters to the men. They just mated them. This was the origin of the word “Mother fucker.” Many of the men died on the breeding farms due to sexual exhaustion.

CASTRATION AND GENITAL MUTILATION

The castration of enslaved African men served as both a way of punishment and a form of emasculation. Many times, the ego, pride, and strength of a dominant African male slave became a threat to the slave owners, so he had to be wounded emotionally, physically and mentally.

When an enslaved man was found married or having an affair with a female slave that was desired by the slave owner or merchant, his sex organ was mutilated or castrated. Other times the enslaved man was caught with his master’s wife or a daughter who forced him to have sex with her.

Enslaved African men who were often the leaders of a rebel group of enslaved African on a plantation or ship was castrated and called "women" to show the white slave master’s dominance.

SEX FOR ENTERTAINMENT

The perverted sexual fantasies of the slave masters were so outrageous that they would use African slaves to any length to achieve them. Sexual entertainment was very popular among many white elites, wealthy merchants, and aristocrats. They used enslaved African men as a form of sexual entertainment. They were made to line up naked for their sexual organs to be scrutinized and mocked. On some occasions, they were made to dance or forcefully have sex with an enslaved virgin girl, for entertainment.

CONCLUSION

The historical accounts of these evils against the negro man remain a dark stain on their roles as fathers, brothers, and protectors of their women and children. Because most of the men were emasculated and later sold (separated) from their wives and children, a vacuum was created in the family structure of the African-American and African-Diaspora. Women learned to fend for themselves and their children without the help of men. Children grew up without a father figure, and this greatly affected how they saw life and how they reacted to issues.

There is no amount of apology or sympathy that would rewind the hands of time and undo these evils. So, this article is not trying to gain sympathy or apologies. This article simply contributes to the tank of knowledge on the dark experiences of slavery. It is meant to teach and also help in finding solutions to the many issues that plague the African-Diaspora community today.