Final answer:
The significance of determining if Africans reached the western hemisphere before Columbus helps unveil accurate historical narratives, corrects misconceptions about Africa's past, and understands the root causes and justifications of slavery and racial discrimination.
Step-by-step explanation:
Exploring the question of whether Africans came to the western hemisphere before Columbus is relevant because it has profound implications for our understanding of history and the origins of civilization in the Americas. Dissecting these narratives matters because they can either perpetuate or dispel the "Myths of the Negro Past," which were historically used to justify slavery and racial inferiority by depicting Africa as primitive and backward.
During the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492, Western Africa was known to have technologically and intellectually advanced civilizations, which were economically powerful prior to European contact. Furthermore, population estimates in pre-Columbian America have been fraught with biases, often underestimating indigenous populations due to a presumption of their 'inferiority' compared to Europeans. Recent scholarship has challenged these views, thus reevaluating the impact of European colonization.
The role of slavery is central in this exploration, as the need for labor in the colonies led to the exploitation of African people, marking a transition to the racial and hereditary slavery that characterized the New World. This transition was fueled by dwindling labor options from Native Americans, who were decimated by war and disease, and from European indentured servants, who couldn't acclimate to the tropical climate.