View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen During Visit
to Gorée Island in Dakar, Senegal
January 21, 2023

As Prepared for Delivery
I want to thank Mayor Senghor and everyone here for welcoming me to this Island. Today’s visit
holds a special significance.
Here at Goree Island, I can’t help but think about the unspeakable cruelty of those who engaged
in the slave trade. I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and pain thinking about those stolen
from their families, their deadly journey across the Atlantic, and the horrific circumstances
encountered by those who made it alive.
Ultimately, Gorée Island reminds us that the histories of Africa and America are intimately
connected. Gorée and the trans-Atlantic slave trade are not just a part of African history. They
are a part of American history as well. We know that the tragedy did not stop with the
generation of humans taken from here. Even after slavery was abolished, Black Americans –
many of whom can trace their descendance through ports like this across Africa – were denied
the rights and freedoms promised to them under our Constitution. In both Africa and the United
States, even as we have made tremendous strides, we are still living with the brutal
consequences of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
I think it is important not only to speak about the transgressions of those who engaged in the
slave trade, but also to tell the story of the enslaved people. And that story, while full of
suffering, is also full of perseverance and hope. In the United States, what is remarkable is how
many African American men and women overcame the odds, created better lives for themselves
and their descendants, and became central to our economy and democracy — building our
cities, powering our industries, and bending the conscience of the United States and the world
toward justice. All of this in the face of systemic social and economic injustice.
With remembrance, I believe, can come progress and renewal. And that is what we see here.
Today, there are signs of vibrant life around Gorée — a prominent art scene, a place of
education, and thousands who call this place home. And, inspired by America’s quest for racial

justice, in 2020 the island’s main plaza dropped its colonial roots and changed its name to
Freedom and Human Dignity Square. Gorée is now emblematic of what we all know well about
the African continent itself: a hub of culture and activity, a land with a painful colonial past but a
hopeful future, and a symbol of the enduring universal value of human dignity.
What I take from this place is the importance of redoubling our commitment to fight for our
shared values and principles wherever they are threatened – in the United States, in Africa, and
around the world. We have more work to do.
Thank you.

####