Gidan kula da namun dawan da ya sanya wani bakar fata cikin keji
Asalin hoton, Library of Congress
An sace Ota Benga daga ƙasar da yanzu ake kira Jamhuriyar Dimokradiyyar Kongo (DRC) a 1904 kuma an tafi da shi Amurka domin a yi tallansa. Wata ƴar jarida mai suna Pamela Newkirk ta yi rubuce-rubuce masu zurfi kan batun, ta duba yadda aka yi ta ƙoƙarin ɓoye halin da aka saka shi cikin gomman shekarun da suka gabata.
Fiye da shekara 100 bayan da tallan wani matashin baƙar fatan Afirka cikin wani kejin ajiye birrai ya ja hankalin duniya, a ƙarshe gidan kula da namun dawa na Bronx da ke birnin New York ya bayyana nadama.
Haƙurin da Ƙungiyar Wildlife Conservation Society ta yi saboda tsare Ota Benga a wajen wani baje-koli a 1906, wanda aka mayar da shi tamkar wata dabbar dawa, ya biyo bayan zanga-zangar bayyana bacin rai da yadda aka nuna kisan Ba'amurken nan George Floyd cikin wani bidiyo, lamarin da ya ƙara bayyana matsalar nuna bambancin launin fata a Amurka.
Yayin wani taron yin waiwaye na kasa, shugaban kungiyar ta Wildlife Conservation Society ya ce abu ne mai muhimmanci "a yi nazari kan tarihin ƙungiyar ta WCS, da yadda nuna bambancin launin fata ya ƙi shudewa a ƙungiyarmu."
Ya yi alkawarin cewa kungiyar da ke kula da gidan kula da namun dawa na Bronx za ta mayar da hankalinta wajen bayyana gaskiyar abubuwan da suka faru wanda ya jan hankulan kafofin yada labaran duniya musamman a Turai da Amurka daga 9 ga watan Satumba 1906 - kwana ɗaya bayan da aka fara baje kolin Ota Benga - har zuwa ranar 28 ga watan Satumbar 1906, ranar da aka sake shi daga gidan kula da namun dawan.
Amma wannan alƙawarin ya biyo bayan wasu shekaru masu yawa da ƙungiyar ta shafe tana kauce wa yin abin da ya kamata.
'Ma'aikacin gidan kula da namun dawa ne'
A maimakon su yi amfani da abin da ya faru ya zama darasi a gare su, kungiyar WCS ta shafe shekara 100 tana ɓoye gaskiyar abin da ya faru, har ta kai ga ta riƙa sauya ainihin tarihin abin da ak yi wa Ota Benga.
Amma tun farkon 1906 wata wasiƙa da aka gano cikin daɗaɗɗiyar ajiyar gidan kula da namun dawa ta tabbatar da cewa jami'an ƙungiyar sun riƙa yin ƙarya cewa Ota Benga ma'aikacin gidan namun dawan ne. Kuma abin mamaki shi ne jama'a sun yarda da ƙaryar na tsawon wasu gomman shekaru.
Wane ne Ota Benga?
- Samuel Verner, wani ɗan kasuwa Ba'Amurke ya sace shi a watan Maris na 1904 daga yankin da ake kira Belgium Congo. Ba a san shekaruns ana haihuwa ba, amma yana iya kasancewa mai shekara 12 ko 13 ne.
- An tafi da shi birnin New Orleans domin nuna shi a wani taron baje koli da aka yi a St Louis tare da wasu matasa takwas.
- An ci gaba da baje kolin har cikin yanayin hunturu inda aka bar Ota Benga da sauran matasan babu wadatattun kayan sanyi da wurin kwanci.
- A watan Satumbar 1906, an nuna shi ga jama'a na kwanan 20 a gidan kula da namun daji na Bronx da ke New York, matakin da ya janyo dubban ƴan kallo.
- Bacin ran da wasu malaman addinin Kirista suka bayyana ya sa aka sake shi kuma aka mayar da shi wani gidan kula da marayu mai suna Howard Coloured Orphan Asylum da Rabaran James H Gordon, wani malamin addini ke kula da shi.
- A Janairun 1910 an kai shi Lynchburg Theological Seminary and College, wata makarantar koyar da addinin Kirista ta baƙaƙen fata zalla a Virginia.
- A can ne ya kika koya wa yaran unguwarsu yadda ake kamun kifi da farauta kuma ya rika gaya musu tarihin rayuwarsa a Afirka.
- An kuma ce daga baya ya shiga matsananciyar damuwa domin begen da ya rika yi na ganin gida, kuma a watan Maris na 1916 ya harbe kansa da wata bindigar da ya ɓoye. An yi hasashen shekarunsa na haihuwa sun kai kimanin 25.
Bayani daga: Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga
Bayan mutuwar Ota Benga a 1916, wani labari da aka wallafa a jaridar New York Times yayi watsi da cin zarafin da aka yi ma sa, wai tatsuniya ce kawai.
"Aikin da ya rika yi ne ya haifar da wani rahoto maras tushe wai an tsare shi a gidan kula da namun dawa kuma aka rika baje kolinsa a cikin kejin birrai," in ji rahoton.
Asalin hoton, Missouri Historical Society
Amma wasu labaran masu dama sun karyata wannan rahoton da irinsa da suka bayyana cikin shekarun da suka gabata a Amurka da Turai.
Jaridar New Times kaɗai da wallafa gomman rahotanni kan lamarin, na farkonsu an wallafa shi a ranar 9 ga Satumbar 1906 da kan labarin: "Bushman Shares A Cage With Bronx Park Apes".
Kana a 1974, William Bridges, wanda shi ne babban mai kula da gidan kula da dabbobin dawa ya yi iƙirarin cewa ba za a iya sani gaskiyar abin da ya auku ba.
Sai dai akwai wani rahoton da shugaban gidan kula da dabbobin dawan ya wallafa, ya bayyana a wata mujallar da ƙungiyar ta wallafa da kanta.
Asalin hoton, Getty Images
A karon farko, gidan kula da dabbobi na Bronx ya wallafa wani rahoto na intanet wanda a ciki ta bayyana rayuwar Ota Benga na yau da kullum da kuma mutanen da suka tsare shi a keji.
Yawancin wasikun da aka wallafa na cikin littafin da na wallafa cikin littafina mai suna Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga, wanda aka wallafa a 2015.
Kuma cikin shekaru biyar bayan da aka wallafa littafin nawa, ma'aikatan gidan kula da namun dajin sun ƙi bayyana alhininsu kuma sun ƙi amsa tambayoyin ƴan jarida.
Amma yanzu Mista Semper ya ce: "Mun yi nadama kan illar da muka yi wa mutane masu ɗimbin yawa a shekarun baya saboda gazawarmu a baya ta yin alhini a bainar jama'a kan ayyukanmu masu kyama."
Asalin hoton, Missouri Historical Society
Wasu mutane na ganin ya dace ƙungiyar WCS ta dora kan wannan alhinin da ta bayyana, wanda ba cikakke ne ba, da bayyana gaskiyar al'amuran da ta yi a sauran fannoni ba kan wannan batun na Ota Benga kawai ba.
Daya daga cikin shawarwarin da aka bayyana ita ce kungiyar ta sauya sunan cibiyar ta ta ilmantarwa zuwa sunan Ota Benga,, wanda rayuwarsa da ta gidan ajiye dabbobi na Bronx ba a iya rarrabe ta.
