Yellen, at former slave port, sees path of renewal for Africa and U.S.

By Andrea Shalal

GOREE ISLAND, Senegal (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Saturday spoke of the “unspeakable cruelty” and enduring penalties of the trans-Atlantic slave commerce, however stated she was heartened by indicators of progress and renewal in each the US and Africa.

Yellen visited the Home of Slaves, a fort constructed within the late 18th century on Goree Island off the coast of Senegal as a transit level for human beings earlier than they had been shipped throughout the Atlantic, as she continued a three-country go to to Africa.

The location, now a museum, typically attracts high-level American guests, together with former President Barack Obama, the primary U.S. president of African ancestry, who visited along with his household in 2013.

“In the end, Gorée Island reminds us that the histories of Africa and America are intimately related,” Yellen stated after touring the island. “We all know that the tragedy didn’t cease with the technology of people taken from right here.”

Yellen, whose work in economics has targeted on ending historic disparities which have plagued Black Individuals lengthy after slavery was abolished in 1865, stated each Africa and the US had made large strides, however extra work was wanted to counter the brutal penalties of the slave commerce.

Underneath Yellen, the U.S. Treasury has arrange a racial fairness process power that has drawn the ire of Republicans, and the division has labored arduous to spice up the financial situations of communities of coloration.

It was crucial to inform the story of enslaved folks, which “whereas stuffed with struggling, can be stuffed with perseverance and hope,” she stated, citing the vital contributions of African American women and men to the U.S. economic system and democracy.

“With remembrance, I imagine, can come progress and renewal,” Yellen stated, highlighting what she referred to as “indicators of vibrant life round Gorée — a distinguished artwork scene, a spot of schooling, and hundreds who name this place house.”

She stated the go to and the place itself redoubled her dedication to “struggle for our shared values and ideas wherever they’re threatened – in the US, in Africa, and all over the world. We’ve extra work to do.”

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Enhancing by Toby Chopra)