Why should we in the UK apologise for the slave trade?

Question

it happened over 200 years ago, why should we say sorry for something that somebody else did. when will all this s*it end?

more and more pressure is being put on us to say sorry, they seem to forget that, it was the english people that abolished the slave trade.

Answer 1

Things that happened are not just history; they affect things here and now. The results of slavery, like colonialism, are still being felt today. To deny national responsibility would be like Germany saying it owes nothing to the people victimized by the Holocaust or American denying responsibility for the invasion of Iraq. You personally have done nothing but events have consequences, and that doesn't absolve people from the necessity for putting things straight.

I also find it rather amusing at how very QUICK people are to be *proud* of their country for anything good it has done and try to take credit for that as though they themeslves played a vital role in accmomplishing it, yet tend to distance themselves from anything negative that their coutnry has done. That is to say if you are not ashamed or apolgetic for the evil your country has done, I see no reason why you should feel pride in anything your country has done, either. Both form part of your collective history.

Answer 2

This is a recurrent debate.
Should former colonial powers apologise? Should countries that benefitted from slavery and the triangular commerce apologise? And so on...
It is true that the world of today is the result of what hapenned in the past. But the actors of those events are now all dead, aren't they? Then what real credit to get from an apology?
Would it not be much better to aknowledge those facts in history classes. Yes Western Europe was for slavery, yes they did have colonies and treated the local badly, yes America and Spain almost exterminated the native american indian........but that is HISTORY and we must live in the present. Now people are free, with similar rights and able to be succesful.
So my answer is NO. But we could try and promote peace and justice worldwide and fight against all forms of slavery

Answer 3

We shouldn't have to, yes these things happen, but it makes no difference to the history of the slave trade whether we apologise for it or not.
What people need to remember is that slavery has always been and still is, a part of African culture (it doesn't make it right), slavery was always seen as a part of tribal warfare, if you lost, and you survived, you were more than likely going to be captured by fellow Africans, and sold to men who dealt in slavery. The only thing that change when the British came along was that the market expanded.

Answer 4

I couldn't agree more. Why should I apologise for something which is not my responsibility?
You're quite right - Britain did abolish the slave trade and enforced this against other nations too.
What's more, don't forget there was also an Arab slave trade -
started before the European one, finished later -
not freely abolished, but abolition forced on them -
most of the boys were castrated, and it was thought that "Allah had been very merciful" if more than one in ten survived -
AND DO YOU HEAR ANY ARAB EXPRESSING GUILT ABOUT THIS???

Answer 5

Not as individuals, of course we don't need to apologise.

I think it all depends on whether or not you see yourself as an individual, and that's the end of it, or if you accept that you're part of something bigger than you. If the latter, then you are part of your country and it is part of you, and as much as you enjoy the highs of winning a Gold at the Olympics, you have to accept the lows too. If you take pride in the achievements of something that you associate yourself with and see yourself as part of in some way (a football team, a social group, whatever) then you take the flip side too.

I'm sure most people take pride in past achievements (like England - Germany World Cup 1966), refusing to accept responsibility for or acknowledge the negative past in the same way is just selective convenience.

I am not personally responsible for slavery, but as a British citizen and a person, I am sorry that it happened.

Answer 6

No one can be held responsibile for things done in the past by their family, their race, their religion, or their country.

The whole reason why history is taught in school is not to torture kids, but to let us learn from the past's mistakes, and make sure that we move forward and don't repeat the same things. We take the lessons learned, and apply them to the here and now.

You shouldn't say you are sorry for something you had no part in. It would be insane for me to ask you as a citizen of Britain to apologize to me for trying to stop us from having our independence here in the US!

You aren't responsible. And, I haven't seen anyone asking the African tribes to apologize for being involved in the slave trade...

Here in America... our country may have never made a formal apology, but I think freeing the slaves, amending the Constitution to make sure it never happens again, giving equal citizen status - is about the best form of an apology. The government tried to make it right. Not to mention the half of the country that fought so hard against slavery... half of America was trying to help end that horrid practice! As for me, I'll say I'm sorry when someone tells me thanks for my ancestors (7 that I know of) that fought for the Union, and fought against slavery.

Answer 7

It depends I guess, do you happen to be a multi-millionare living off of the inherited wealth that was passed on to you by slave-owning exploiters?

Personally I'm not, so I don't apologize. I also don't go looking for recompense because my great-great-grandparents were kicked off the Scottish coast.

I think there are cases where recompense or apology are appropriate however - if some guy is cruising in his yacht while the descendants of his great-great grandfather's slaves are born into wretched 3rd world poverty right in the centre of his highly advanced country he could at least open a decent community centre, library or school.

Just my 2 cents.

Answer 8

I think the Romans had slaves 2000 years ago. Are the Italians going to apologise? They also enjoyed people being eaten by lions for their enjoyment.

Answer 9

yes and do people realise that the UK abolished slavery before America and that slavery is still going on in some parts of the world. we have to apologies for the slave trade then america should apologies for there rebellion as it cost many lives and they would have got there freedom from the crown in future years anyway. (taxation in america under British rule was less than in Britain its self)

Answer 10

The government banned it by act of parliament. There were many British citizens involved in the running of slaves, making money out of misery. These however were individuals. We as a country have no apology to make. We should however never forget the wrongs done to hundreds of thousands of people who were forced into slavery. History needs to remember them so that it cannot happen again. Just as it needs to remember any atrocity that happens by one set of people against another.

Answer 11

You stepped on someones's foot in crowds.It so happened that the victim had its foot bruised.
Naturally you said ,"Oh, sorry.excuse me." (S)he said ," it is not sorry , it hurts. what do you do for this?" "I said I am sorry " Such incidents are more than likely to occur in our everyday life. When this comes to historical happening, scope of people involved and surrounding situation widens greatly ,which complicate things badly. The things our generation have nothing to do with is what we grudge most.And typical one. So let me think this way. First ,morally wrong is morally wrong . It's supreme Law of God. So we have to admit we committed a kind of crime . But the way we apologize is up to us. We have to do something even now . Like Are not we discriminative towards African-descendant citizens and the like. But some of us or part of myself sometimes feel fed up with those all the same "we were wrong " classical performance slavery march. So let's take it as some form of issue raising activity that may aim to arouse to soul-search inside us if we are building up an ideal society where no discrimination is .