Should the govt have to apologise for acts of slavery, even though, T blair was born about 130 years after its

Question

End. The arch bishop of york apparently is demanding he says sorry. About 7 generations have passed since the days of slavery, so whats it got to do with Blair? It surely would be a meaningless gesture.

Answer 1

no we cant be held responsible for what our fore fathers did if we are held responsible then will the Germans say sorry for starting the 2 world wars

Answer 2

It's a nice idea to apologize, but I see this as a meaningless gesture. Yes, it was wrong. The way women were treated was wrong, too. If they begin formally apologizing, Mr. Blair could be very busy apologizing for all the things Britain did when they had an empire. Should he apologize to the various colonies individually? This could go on and on. I would say that it would be a good idea to issue a statement saying how regrettable that part of the past is and offer to do something substantial about the slavery going on in the present, like in Darfur. The best atonement to people whom you can't make it up to would be to do a good act in their memory

Answer 3

No there should be no apology. It is not necessary. The slave trade had been going on in Africa and Asia for centuries and all that happened was that the Africans offered people to the British and other Europeans for use in the Caribbean. Strange isn't it that we are actually celebrating the BRITISH abolishing the trade and are now to apologise for that trade which continued with other countries for years after. We do not need to apologise because as always when the English found something was wrong eventually they put it right, and long before anyone else.

Answer 4

We want to worry about stopping the current slavery before we slag Blair off, for not apologising for something that happened over a hundred years before he was born. When are the Italians going to apologise for the invasion of Southern Europe and North Africa, or Gengis Khan for Asia or where ever etc...

Answer 5

I don't think so. There have always been slaves in human history although the way some people talk you would get the impression that only people from Africa were ever made slaves.

As an aside, how come no one ever mentions that African tribes sold each other into slavery as a way of getting rid of their enemies and making a profit?

In any case, let's move on.

Answer 6

I've heard similar things in this country(U.S) about slavery and making recompense. As half native american I would not take free college for my nationality because i don't believe today's taxpayers owe me for my ancestors fate. I also think back to my great grandfather who went to gettysburg with the maine brigade and came back one less leg after fighting for the freedom of slaves here(and am lucky he found a woman who took him 20 years later without a leg or i wouldn't be here). Many sacrificed to free slaves here and there so who owes who what? Why not take advantage of being in the greatest country in the world and do something great rather than demand something for nothing from those who work hard and pay tax?

Answer 7

An estimated 30 million were sold in the New World! The British were the first to outlaw it...Africans from African nations that were active in the slave trade itself, should hold their own heads down in shame for peddling their own, even to this day. They should also in turn sue themselves and apologize to African Americans and those sold in Central and South America. Spain, Portugal, France and the Netherlands are just as much to blame

Answer 8

If Blair apologises, that infers some sort of responsibility for it, and the claims for compensation will flood in.

The descendants of slaves should just get a life instead of using is as an excuse for their own failure.

Answer 9

I don't think we should ,we can sadly remember them it's in the past and that's where it should stay. Do we ask every German government since the 1940's to apologise for Hitlers regime ,of course we don't .I mean if this was the case governments would be apologising everyday for there history :)

Answer 10

It wouldn't do any harm to apologise. However I would prefer our Government's focus to be on the current appalling buying and selling of people in this day and age. Child soldiers, people traffickers, women and young girls sold as sexual slaves...all this is still going on in our so called enlightened era. We need another William Wilberforce to shame our Govt to take action to stop this terrible abuse of poor and vulnerable people.

Answer 11

In the seventeen hundreds the nAfricans went out in there ships and stole.over a MILLION white people to be sold as slaves,should we get them to apologize, and if they don't make war on them again as we did, when the Marines stopped this practice of theres did we sue them.?should i sue the africans for stealing whites and selling them,.maybe i should hunt down africans and hate them and bring them to justice,No, that was he past, i dont hate,
if there not satisfied with being here should we put them on ships to Africa,look at what kind of life they would have had,in Africa,now,war, aids,poverty, they have it made here,they can enjoy the freedoms now,i am all for anyone getting ahead .should we demand they pay peoples family's that had them as slaves, in appreciation of what they have now,should i apologize for all the people who owned there people, when my people helped them gain freedom? should we pay the native American for the eight million people killed my the whites, there were eight million natives, then at the turn of the century there were about 250,000 left.should the government pay my family for the destruction of our property and land taken by Yankee carpetbaggers,and the yankee invaders. should all blacks pay me for when i was robbed and beaten and almost died when I was robbed.a rib punctured my lung and God the pain .should i be paid for all the times they have hurt me.one of them caught my home on fire after he broke into it it to steal,Lincoln said he was going to colonize ALL blacks after the war, he got killed before implementing his plan.should we put them on ships.NO. we should have a giving,careing, govenment, thats for all people.and forget the past,should we also sue the british for war crimes, and we southerners sue the Yankees, how about we give something back to the indians, also, Yes.sure. let them have money ,then they can pay me for what blacks have done to Me.The japs boiled white women to see how easy it woud be to pull off there limps, should we sue them?what about the 1000 blacks murdered by New Yorkers during the war of northern aggression, shoudnt the blacks sue the city, of new york?blacks owned slaves in america, should they sue themselfs?
My people never owned one slave, my family doesnt owe anyone a dime.
and the american flag flew over slavery since the beggining of this country, why isnt it considered a slave flag,the northerners had a populace that owned 4% blacks. the southerners 6% .they owned slaves. we owned slaves, but that war was over slavery? No I dont think so.