Some of the darkest chapters of human history were not written by war.
They were written in the delivery room.
Across different parts of the world, including parts of Africa, some children were born under circumstances considered taboo.
Twins in certain communities.
Babies born with unusual physical features.
Children associated with signs interpreted as bad omens.
Some were abandoned. Some were isolated. Some were even killed.
Not because they had committed any crime.
But because people believed their birth threatened the family or the community.
The part that disturbs me most is this:
Why was the innocent child sentenced while the adults who conceived the child often remained alive?
The mother carried the pregnancy.
The father impregnated her.
They made the decisions.
Yet the child…
Who had no voice.
No choice.
No understanding of customs or taboos.
Became the one condemned.
How can justice begin by punishing the only person who had absolutely no responsibility for what happened?
If a taboo had truly been broken, why wasn’t the punishment directed at those believed to have broken it instead of the child who merely existed?
Were these practices driven by cruelty?
Or were they born from a genuine fear that ignoring ancient taboos would bring famine, disease, death, or spiritual disaster upon the entire community?
Many of these customs have disappeared through changing beliefs, medicine, education, and legal protections.
But they leave behind a question that still refuses to die:
How many innocent children paid with their lives simply because adults feared the unknown?
History is not only about what our ancestors believed.
It is also about whether fear can become more powerful than compassion.
What do you think?
#History #AfricanHistory #Culture #Tradition #Anthropology #HumanRights #Debate #jollyonyeka
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