Blacks That Suffered Inhumane Behaviours II

SARAH BAARTMAN.

Sarah from south africa was cruelly exploited in Europe, by being exhibited as a freak show attraction because of her protuding butts. After her death her body was displayed in a paris museum for over a 100 years.

Sarah's life was of hardship, she was born in 1789 in the camdeboo valley in the eastern part of the cape colony in south africa. It is commonly thought she was born in the Gamtoos valley, but she moved there with her family only years after her birth.

Her mother died when she was two and her father, who was a cattle driver died when she was an adolescent. she got into domestic services in cape town afteer a Dutch colonist murdered her partner, whom she reportedly had a baby for but died.

In October 1810, although illitrate, sara allegedly signed a contract with English surgeon William Dunlop, and mixed race enterpreneur Handrik ceasers, in whosehousehold she worked, saying she would travel to england to take part in shows.

The men who promised her a life of pride in sharing her culture with the world tricked her, and though she was given pay, she often was at the expense of verbal, sexual and physical abuse.

Apparently, the contract terms were thst she she would travel with Hendrik and Dunlop to England and Ireland to work as a servant, and exhibited her for entertainment purpose, she was to recieve a portion of earnings from her exhibition and be allowed to return to south africa after five years.

Two reasons made her signings appear dubious. The first is that she was an illitrate and came from a background that didn't write or keep records, secondly, the craser's families experienced finicial woes and it was suspected that thay used Sara to make money.

Sara's butocks and colouring made her object of fascination by the colonist who presumed they were racially superior. She was then bought to London, where she was didplayed to english audience to view her half naked body, displayed in a cage that was about a metre and half high.

During her time with Dunlop and ceaser, the campaign against slavery in Britain was in motion and as a result, the treatment of sara was called to question. Her ''employers'' were brought to trial but none faced no real consequences.

They produced a document that had allegedly been signed by sara, and her own testimony which claimed she was not being mistreated. Her contract was however amanded and she became entitled to better conditions, greater profits shsre and warm clothes.

She was made to wear a coloured tight skinned outfit, revealing what was to be a ''Naked black woman'' for the paying public to inspect, view, and allegedly at times for extra coin.....Have a ''private'' showing.

In 1814, Hendrik ceaser, took her to paris where he sold her to a show man'' Reaux '', a man who showcased animals. After being sold to Reaux, she was raped and impregnated by him, the child died at Five years of age of an unknown disease.

He exhibited her around Paris, and reaped finicial benefits from the public's fascination with sara's body. He began exhibiting her alongside a baby ''Rhinoceros''. March of 1815, she was examined by a commission of zoologist and psysiologists and was also painted nude, they concluded that she was a link between animals and humans. Thus sara was used to help lay emphasis the stereotype that africans were oversexed and a lesser race.

Her health declined and she died penilessat the age of 26, of unknown causes. Within hours of her death, french scientists ''Georges Cuvier'', was granted permission to dissect her. He paid special attention to her buttocks, private parts and brains.

She was to be later handed off to medical professionals, who drew the details of her body. Her body had a moulded cast made, her brain and pelvicbone put in preserving jars for display at a museumin france, with her flesh and corpse being discarded.

President Nelson Mandela in 1995, requested that the french government return the remains of sara, so she could be laid to rest. The process took eight years,as the french had yet to draft a carefully worded bill, that would not allow other countries to claim treasurestaken by the french.

Finally on the sixth of march 2002, Sara was brought back home to south africa, where she was buried. On 9th of August 2002, women's day, a public holiday in south africa, Sara was buried at Hankey, in the Eastern cape province.