The state of Florida ignited a controversy when it released a set of 2023 academic standards that require fifth graders to be taught that enslaved Africans in the U.S. “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their benefit.”
As a researcher specializing in the history of race and racism in the U.S., I—like a growing chorus of critics—see that education standard as flawed and misleading.
Whereas Florida would have students believe that enslaved Black people “benefited” by developing skills during slavery, the reality is that enslaved Africans used skills they had already developed before captivity to contribute to the nation’s social, cultural and economic well-being. What follows are examples of the skills the Africans brought with them as they entered the Americas.
1. Enslaved Africans As Farmers
During the period between 1750 and 1775, the majority of the enslaved Africans that landed in the Carolinas came from the traditional rice-growing regions in Africa known as the Rice Coast.
Subsequently, rice joined cotton as one of the most profitable agricultural products, not only in North Carolina and South Carolina but in Virginia and Georgia as well.
Other African food staples, such as black rice, okra, black-eyed peas, yams, peanuts and watermelon, made their way into North America via slave ship cargoes.
African crops like peanuts and okra became central to Southern cuisine. Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images
Ship captains relied on African agricultural products to feed the 12 million enslaved Africans transported to the Americas through a brutal voyage known as the Middle Passage. In some cases the Africans stowed away food as they boarded the ships. These foods were essential for the enslaved to survive the harsh conditions of their trans-Atlantic trip in the hulls of ships.
Once on plantations in the land now known as the United States, enslaved people occasionally were able to cultivate small gardens. In these gardens, reflecting a small amount of freedom, enslaved men and women grew their own food. Some of the crops consisted of produce originating in Africa. From these they added unique ingredients, such as hot peppers, peanuts, okra
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