History today remembers Ota Benga, a boy who was kidnapped from Congo, Africa, and transported as a slave to the United States, where he was put on display in American zoos, alongside monkeys.
The human degradation led to an outcry which drew more visitors to the zoo to see the “black monkey”, who was placed in a cage with an orangutan.
It was said that Benga was given a bow and arrow to protect himself from the orangutan if need be, but, he would sometimes use it on the visitors who mocked him.
After many appeals, Ota Benga was released from the zoo, but despite his plea to be returned to his home in Africa, it was denied because of the start of the First World War.
Depressed, Benga sadly committed suicide in 1916.
He was reportedly buried in White Rock Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia, United States.
According to history, many blacks were kidnapped from Africa and brought to be exhibited in human zoos, of which many of them died quickly. The last of the Human Zoo itself was shut down after WW II.
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