How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Though all he had named were slaves, he said, they were all respected people, as Kunta well knew. (16.10)
In West Africa, as with most societies of the world at the time, slavery had a decidedly different function and practice than in the Americas. This is a great example: though it might be detrimental, status as a slave was not necessarily a limit to one's social status.
Quote #2
"Grandmother Nyo Boto also is a slave," said Omoro, and Kunta almost swallowed a mouthful of palm fruit. (16.21)
This is so shocking to Kunta because Nyo Boto is the toughest, most outspoken woman in the whole village. Who could own a person like her? This is yet another indication that slavery functioned differently in Africa and America.
Quote #3
"You must know what [...] I saw happening to those who had been stolen. It is the difference between slaves among ourselves and those whom toubob takes away to be slaves for him." (16.49)
Omoro has witnessed the reality of the slave trade firsthand, and what he sees horrifies him. This isn't indentured servitude or the imprisonment of criminals—it's a borderline industrial system of mass incarceration. Slavery's inhumane in any context, but the suffering Omoro witnesses is enough to convince him of the toubob's unique evil.