The novel Feeding the Ghosts, by Fred D'Aguiar, exploits the terrible conditions black people were put through while being transported from Africa to the Americas. It examines the thought process of the captain, the crew, the captives, and the legal system of England. D'Aguiar clearly illustrates the hell that was forced upon the blacks and how even the highest court system of the time saw nothing wrong with it. The whites were the ones who made the laws; the laws were meant to protect the whites. The high court had laws in place about proper procedures on these voyages, but the law wasn't meant to protect the blacks, or stock as they were referred to, just the well being of the white people involved. The common conception is that a courtroom is where the truth comes out and justice will be served. It is a safe haven for the innocent and a prison for the guilty. But when the hearing of the investors of the Zong vs. the insurers starts, Lord Mansfield states, "As you know, gentlemen, this is not a criminal trial. It is a hearing" (p. 139). No, this would never be a criminal trial. It wasn't illegal to murder black slaves if there was good enough reason. Blacks didn't have human rights like the whites did. Laws weren't created to protect the black man; they were there for the well being of the white person. Anyways, the black person was stock in the eyes of the law so the treatment of stock was the question at hand."Which law did the captain break? None according to English statutes. What is being disputed here? Whether his actions were within the law that describes the treatment of slave stock." (p. 171)Whites made the laws, whites enforced them, whites benefited from them. Captain Cunningham isn't on trial for throwing 131 sick slaves overboard, the crew isn't on trial for committing acts of inhumanity, but rather this is a hearing of whether the actions taken were in protection of the remaining stock; whether some of th...
