Why Should Britain apologise for Slavery?

Question

Tony Blair has just apologised for Britains role in the slave trade. What right does he have? How many modern britons bear any responsibility for the slave trade? None! Surely its like asking the italian govornment to apologise to britain for the roman invasion of britain, and the mongolian govornment to apologise for Genghis Khan! Also, why does no one ever mention that african states and tribes grew rich selling their own people(or opponents) as slaves to the europeans, americans and arabs? Shouldnt west african nations and tribes apologise too? Shouldnt the arabs apologise? Black slaves were being transported to morocco, tunisia and algeria well into the 20th century? People forget that britain abolished slavery first, and used force of arms to fight european, black african, american and arab slavers throught 19thC! People should get over their hang ups! As an Assyrian i could demand an apology by britain for selling my people out to the muslim arabs after WW1 too!

Answer 1

Yes they should as a mark of respect. Fair point in black chiefs selling there own people off, but its the way the slaves were treated while on board the ships, they went through hell and suffered heavy abuse, torture etc..

Thats the reason why Britain should apologize.

Answer 2

Good question. In the United States we've already had this through President Bill Clinton on behalf of the nation, Rev. Billy Graham on the behalf of Christians, and tons of others like John Edwards either apologizing on the campaign trail or near enough to it. Many others have spoken along these lines as well. Yet despite all these men being white Southerners people still continue to hold this against many (white) Southerners for all this today even though this was long before the birth of any modern person and we couldn't have done anything about it even if we wished. So apologizing won't mean anything significant in and of itself.

However, most black people don't reallly care about all this- it's more of a theoretical subject popular with liberals and the like. If you want my opinion the whole meaning of the world "apologize/apology" has been messed up. What we should say is "issue a statement" because you cannot really APOLOGIZE for something that you didn't do - esp. that which occurred 100+ yrs. ago. The real meaning of the word 'apology' should be something meaningful- like, you know, when you actually do something wrong and you express regret for it. Maybe you were rude to the wife and are now expressing a change of heart- something meaningful like that. You just cannot apologize for some abstract issue- you can only issue a statement like I said however even there why are some so obsessed with this? Is it really better with all this political correctness to have people hide their (sometimes) true thoughts behind a big typed up statement so that I have no clue what they really think? As a female there was a lot of discrimination against women in the past but I don't wish men to "issue a statement" about something they have nothing to do with. My personal feelings is that people should just say whatever they really think because people don't act on their "statements" they act on what they really think so it's not good to encourage free speech for a faux front.

Of course I'm not saying they should allow all kinds of prejudiced people in the media or whatever to spread their views but yes, I do think average people should be allowed to at least express them. My way of looking at it is that even if you don't like me I want to know about it so that I at least know to stay away from you! There are so many things nowadays where I wish I knew what people really thought but am not quite sure because of political correctness. I still have no clue what so many like Bush and Blair think it's a good idea to wage war against the Iraqis but no doubt someone will issue statements in fifty years time on that as well.

Answer 3

Yes everyone involved should apologize if they have not done so as yet, even the Africn countries with guilty tribal leaders!

Slavery was not that long ago and the effects can still be seen today - who still controls a significant portion of the diamond mining in Africa? De Beers, a european company.

The British Empire got to where it is today BECAUSE of slavery and so white britons now have a quality of life thanks largely in part to back-breaking labour, horrible treatment and complete disregard for life when it came to slaves.

Yes Britain did abolish first, but not until there were serious rebellions and it was clear that the "slaves" far outnumbered the "masters" and were prepared to fight tooth and nail to win - Haiti and Jamaica are perfect examples.

Give the UK credit for that yes, the USA was quite different, BUT still apologize. You can ask for your apology as well, there is nothing wrong with that, however it seems that aryans haven't been tremendously affected negatively from a financial standpoint, and if they have, nothing even close to Africans.

If the holocaust, where 6 million Jews were killed, is important in history, then certainly the slave trade, which resulted in significantly more deaths, is worthy of constantly being promoted as a sad time in history. Anything less is merely placing the value of a jewish life above that of an african life.

The legacy of slavery still lives with us today even more than the holocaust - the millions that live in abject poverty, suffer under tyrants that came to power after european colonizers ran away, apartheid still fresh in minds, the concentration of african wealth among the elite with european backgrounds, so much that still shows today that even though slavery was abolished, slavery still exists in different forms precisely BECAUSE europeans felt it was ok to treat people as sub-human.

If your ancestors had been subjected to this and the effects were still alive today, you would want an apology as well, and more.

Alas, most white people fail to see this point.

Answer 4

I do think that Britain as a country should apologise. A lot of British people do not understand slavery and do not realise that if it wasn't for it the country would not be in the good state it is today. However some people may say that is isn't in a good state with all the immigrants coming over but I think that is time Britain gave back to all those they took from.

Answer 5

Indeed, but apart from the slavery aspect, Britain has never apologized to other nations they did irreparable damage to. I remember when I visited Berlin, Germany in 2002, they were erecting a monument to the " murdered " Jews during the war years.I do condemn what the Germans done, it was properly the worst travesty in history, however..
How come Britain has never apologized to Ireland for making slaves to produce crops for Britains income, which was a cause for the famine. (Before people say it was potato blight, it was , but because Irish has nothing else to eat, they starved). Also ,how come Britain never apologized to India and Pakistan ?
And ,why not South Africa ? Did ,or did Britain not set up concentration camps there during the Boer war ?
I think , among slavery , Britain has a lot of catching up to do with apologies.

Answer 6

Tony Blair was not apologizing for our actions, but for the actions of our ancestors. Nor is he claiming all of the blame. Many other nations were involved too. And I am told that, in some parts of Africa, it was local african leaders who rounded up people and sold them to foreign slave traders. It is good to expose that shameful history.

Such an apology is a very good thing to do. Slavery was very nasty. We need to make it clear to everyone, by this and other actions, that modern Britain wholly condemns slavery and the attitudes and laxity that allowed it to flourish.

Moreover, slavery has not been abolished in this world. Our condemnation of it is as relevant today as it would have been several centuries ago.

Answer 7

You are missing the point! Millions of West Africans were forceably taken against their will to work for nothing to create wealth for the British Empire. Yes, no-one alive today was involved in slavery, but there has been no formal acknowledgement by the British government of the day that this country (and numerous individuals) benefitted greatly from the abduction, selling and working of slaves. An apology by this or any other Prime Minister would show that history is an important part of a country's make up and that errors have to be owned up to.

Answer 8

It seems a bit strange that he is more than willing to apologise for something he had no control over but he will not apologise for lying to use about WMD and leading Britain into an illegal war which were all his own doing.

Answer 9

Britain should not apologise now for something which happened in a generation which the people are not responsible for , we had no say in it . Who will be apologising in the future? I agree with you . Every nation is or has been guilty of slavery of one kind or another

Answer 10

Britain shouldnt apologise