Abeed, is a term in Arabic meaning "slaves". The name has been explained as an allusion to the submission that Muslims owe to God. Meyer dismisses this as "efforts by propagandists explain the term away at the least, disingenuous". The term is widely used in the Middle East and North Africa by Arabs in reference to black people, this is due to the historical legacy of the Arab Slave Trade wherein black people from East Africa were captured, enslaved and sold by Arabs.
Usage in Sudan
There have been instances of Northern Sudanese using the terms "Abid" or "Abeed" to refer toSouthern Sudanese. In Sudan they're considered the "Slave tribe" because of the Trans-Saharan slave trade. This usage is considered derogatory and has fallen into relative disuse over the years. Southern Sudanese in turn refer to Northerners as "Mundukuru" and "Minga". According to Professor Mahmoud Mamdani however, conflicts in Sudan are not compatible with western pre-conceptions of "race". Francis Deng described the north-south division imposed by the British on Anglo-Egyptian Sudan as the British saying to the Northerners: "You Northerners are slave traders and you treat the Southerners like Abeed. Don't call them Abeed! They are slaves no longer." Jok Madut Jok argued that the Sudanese slave trade persists in the 21st century. He claimed that Southern Sudanese who work inNorthern Sudan at marginal and petty jobs are regarded as Abeed because of the social standing that is concomitant with such occupations. Dinkalabourers earning just enough to buy food are treated as the property of landowners and merchants. "Displaced Southerners," Jok states, "are at the bottom of the racial hierarchy in Northern Sudan." He explains that they depend upon patronage and exploitative relationships with power brokers, with relations ranging from servitude through bonded work to serving as attractants for resources from foreign aid agencies. "The lines dividing slavery and cheap labor", he states, "are blurred."
