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William and Kate’s tour of the Caribbean has brought this question to the fore.
Some believe we should say “sorry” and pay reparations for our ancestors part in the slave trade.imo “Express our sorrow” yes, not say “sorry” and definitely no reparations.
Saying “sorry” and paying money for what our great, great, grandfathers have done does not make any sense to me… And paying money to who?Before white on black slavery began there was black on black slavery in Africa. One tribe didn’t get on with another tribe and so if finding anyone from a rival tribe he /she would be taken as a slave. It was these slaves that were first sold by blacks to whites. Should the ancestors of those black slave traders say sorry and pay reparations?
“Free blacks” in the Caribbean also took slaves.
Soon after Britain’s involvement in the slave trade began huguenots were made galley slaves by the French. Should the French say sorry and pay reparations to ancestors of huguenots?
How far back should saying sorry and paying reparations for the sins of our ancestors go?
Back as far as Roman times Britons were exported to Rome as slaves. Should Italy say sorry to the British and pay reparations?Should slavery be the only thing we say sorry and pay reparations for? What about other atrocities?
Should we say sorry and pay reparations for The Crusades?
Or for what the British did in India and other countries of empire?Shouldn’t the fact Britain was the first major trader to ban slavery be taken into account?
Of course none of this makes slavery right.
It is rightly thought of as the worst thing Britain has done in its entire history.Value Is EverythingNo – from me as well.
Although, we were the most active European country involved and are top of the list:
England 41%
Portugal 39%
France 13%
Holland 5,7%
Denmark 1,2%Also, Liverpool was the largest European “slave” port.
I never knew what the problem was. I’ve seen those slaves in those old black and white films and they were all singing away on the boats. Seemed happy enough to me
“Although, we were the most active European country involved and are top of the list:
England 41%
Portugal 39%
France 13%
Holland 5,7%
Denmark 1,2%”Very true Matron. But important to point out – at that time – if any of those and many other countries were capable of taking more of the slave trade than England they would’ve done.
Britain was THE superpower of the time, therefore had a massive share.
Value Is Everything“I’ve seen those slaves in those old black and white films and they were all singing away on the boats. Seemed happy enough to me”
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old white films would show them as happy.
Value Is EverythingIn seriousness, the reason these requests shouldn’t be indulged is that they are pretty transparent attempts to deflect current problems and issues. It’s always “the others” fault.
Say sorry as an nation/institution etc? Yes, why not? Nothing wrong with acknowledging mistakes of the past. Pay up? Much more complex. If people today have to be held accountable for ancestral crimes there is potentially no limit. In certain circumstances, such as artefacts stolen during the Holocaust where the items are in private hands and the victims, or their very close descendants, are alive and can prove ownership, it makes sense but punishing innocent people is never a good look.
Nobody can deny the past happened, whether it’s right or wrong. When BLM was toppling the statues that had connections to slavery, it appeared to me that they would topple any statute without knowing fully what that connection was. Where I live there’s a statute of John Bright.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.All these imbeciles who topple statues and cry about our ‘imperial’ past should go live in some third world country with a less “shameful” past.
I’m sure they would be happier living in squalor working for peanuts, knowing they weren’t benefitting from their ancestors hard graft / sinful acts.
The set of absolute hypocrites.
BUY THE SUN
I don’t really understand it to be honest. I’m a wet leftie but unusual in that I like the Royal Family and I love pomp ceremony and traditional stuff. Many of my political friends are venomous about the Royal Family but are happy to visit castles and stately homes with their national trust membership and we wouldn’t have had any of them if it wasn’t for our (now outdated ) class system. Maybe they should all be pulled down. I also like statues and stuff and can’t understand why they can’t put plaques on such statues explaining the involvement with slavery and how it was wrong and how we ended it and now feel pretty bad about it. I don’t hate the Italians or the Scandinavians for coming here raping the women and stealing our gold. What is wrong is that I understand that people that owned slaves were recompensed and I believe some of those payments only ended recently (2015?). I’m more angry about the way that countries like America and Australia are still now treating the indigenous people of those countries. Enough trouble with things that are happening now that need sorting. My son did some work in Jamaica years ago and said some areas were incredibly poor but, given that the Caribbean is a holiday destination for many of the worlds rich shouldn’t they be helping them financially?
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