"They're not looking to history only to make them feel good and give them comfort, but they're looking to history to tell them things about truths about their society that we have traditionally edited out of British history.". not at all to disparage your ancestors GC. The enslaved Africans had to wait another five years for their freedom and were not given a penny. It isnt going to happen anyway. And yet anti-black race riots broke out in 1948 in Liverpool and in 1958 in Nottingham and Londons Notting Hill. Duke University professor, William Darity Jr, and writer, Kirsten Mullen, jointly published a report for The Roosevelt Institute, an American liberal think tank, laying out a case for slavery reparations. By David Dabydeen (Photo By Alamy) Nineteen eighty-four was a transformative year for David Olusoga. It happened. "They were barely known even to historians. That someone did something 200 years ago means double ought nothing. Very often shaped by the political, technological and economic forces of the times if the Western way of life had remained utterly dependent on Roman-style slavery, Im not sure wed ever have abolished it even amongst our own inhabitants. David will . Its a replay of the ecology nutters & the trannies. It is about the centuries-long engagement with Africa, a consequence of which is the black presence in Britain. You should know better. David Olusoga, introduces his book Black and British, an exploration of the relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa. Id say this to Mr Olusoga. Viking Dublin was a major slave-trading centre (English, Irish, Scots, anyone else they could get their hands on). And I dont think this is what reparations campaigners are calling for either, as I understand it their argument includes systematic legacy issues not just the period of slavery itself, so the harm relates more directly to them not just their ancestors. Women, denied a meaningful role in politics, formed their own organisations, writing tracts, pamphlets and poems, gathering signatures for petitions and fundraising: At certain times and in certain places they were the engine room of the movement.. What has he got to say about that? At the moment it seems to regarded as a good thing. The Westman Islands of Iceland have an interesting history in terms of European slavery a major rebellion of presumably mostly Irish (Westmen) slaves was put down there in the typically brutal Scandinavian manner, hence the name, but in the 1600s the local inhabitants were themselves enslaved by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers, from where a few were ransomed back and one wrote about the experience. Hundreds of White women raped every day. "They do not want British history to be a catalogue of heroes and victories and glorious chapters," he says. Although the bottom line is that no Black person remembers slavery. There is no reason to think that slavery was nicer in Africa. Slavery is bad or it isnt. Thankfully the Woke have gifted us an all purpos3e response to this sort of crap. No one has said we should not consider someone elses viewpoint. The South Sea bubble, the greatest financial crash of the 18th century, was intimately connected to Britains dealings with Africa, though this is rarely acknowledged by historians. You know, entirely ignoring lifetime effects? When Olusoga recalled the experience before television cameras last year, he wept. . TV presenter David Olusoga has told the Edinburgh TV Festival his career had sometimes left him feeling "crushed, isolated," and "disempowered". 2023 BBC. But Muslims were enslaving white Europeans into Africa long before the Atlantic route, usually castrating the males. Looking at what happened in Haiti or Jamaica or chunks of Latin America, I dont find either well, could have been much worse or what do you expect, Early Modern West Europeans, how could they have known better? to be particularly convincing responses. Olusoga brilliantly reveals such contradictions in British society. Would also apply even if down a different family line there had been beneficiaries of the slave trade. And so many hundreds of thousands of British workers were directly dependent on slavery (from sailors to those who built, rigged and repaired ships) that it was easy to turn a blind eye to the inhumanity. Had a vault for the more inflammatory pieces. He is the undisputed King of the Internet Pedants and Lord of the Unnecessary Snark. He also studied at the University of Liverpool and so benefits from slavery as much as anyone else. Sooner or later, we whites are going to have to take a stand, and say we aint taking this any more. Like the Nigerian slavers who enslaved and sold the slaves, you mean? Like I said, as a mental exercise, if I do my best good faith effort to imagine an argument for reparations, I reckon it would concern harms committed by the state (which unlike the slave traders and owners, is still about today) and an argument that it breached some alleged fundamental/universal doctrine of law so that even the states efforts to put the slave industry on a legal footing were null and void. One in which enslaved people suffered and even died from malnutrition, as the economics of the slave trade meant that it was cheaper, at times, to starve people and then replace them than it was to provide them with food. Full text must be online somewhere but theres an extract at https://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-real-vikings/articles/eyewitness-to-the-vikings. In dealing with the black contribution to the First World War, for example, he cites popular gratitude and admiration for black Britons among them Walter Tull, who fought on the Western Front. It was the first of the slave narratives that I'd ever read and I found it astonishing.". Your email address will not be published. Separated from home and family and landed in the West Indies (countless numbers dying of suffocation during the journey, given that the people traffickers were packing the holds to maximise profits), the Africans had no recourse to the law, much less the conscience of their captors. TV historian David Olusoga claims it is "palpable nonsense" to say that removing controversial statues "somehow impoverishes history". Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. Indeed in many cases, whose ancestors didnt even live in France or England at the relevant time. In the UK its not white people enslaving blacks anymore, but Asians enslaving other Asians, as in Leicesters clothing sweatshops. And they will go looking for parts of the past that aren't on the curriculum, and they evidently do. Its a shame What has Nigeria ever done for him? Sure. Fought to STOP southern independence. Abolition was the first mass philanthropic movement in Britain, and it ended the slave trade in 1807. The Russians do not have these problems because they are not ashamed. I havent the faintest idea whether slavery in the Roman controlled areas of Britain was more along the continental Roman model or retained Celtic characteristics. One issue about Westerners buying slaves via a chain of commerce that often ultimately involved Africans selling other Africans at traditional slave-trading locations (there was some slave-raiding by Europeans directly, but rarer) is that the extra demand distorted the market, led directly to more armed slave-raiding expeditions against rival tribes and so on. Jamaicans and Nigerians used to hate each other. Should black history be taught all year round? The strongest case I can see against reparations is not fundamentally a legal one but perhaps one degree abstracted the law if we can litigate that, we can litigate a heck of a lot of stuff from centuries past, tie our legal systems up in knots with no obvious limits in sight. But it is also likely that disease played a role. Shouldnt Olusoga be writing in Ubangi bantu-language? Olusoga poses as an objective historian and says he is not there to bring comfort to people. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. Not to say it was nice. I cant see this one surviving people being expected to dig into their pockets for a few trillion. So he calls himself a Geordie. BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, The Meaning of Zong, Spacious open-plan family home in Muswell Hill, Five Cineworlds across south London still at risk of permanent closure, Residents who have 'suffered for years' to be asked if they want blocks knocked down, Dazzling Thamesmead light festival returns with performances, films and flash mob, Charlton murderer claims prison guards broke his arm and sues for 20k, Children and young people with eating disorders face treatment postcode lottery, Angry protests erupt over Greek rail disaster, How fake copyright complaints are muzzling journalists, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat. He talks about slavery because YOU care. So wherever the wealth came from, it wasnt just slavery (or even mainly), Olusogas an alright presenter but a class A race hustler, Edward Lud August 30, 2020 at 9:12 am We could just cut to the chase, and impose a reparations tax on anyone who is descended from from anyone who did something, er, wrong.. Its extraordinary success rested upon the foundation of sympathy laid down during the previous 70 years of abolitionist activity in Britain. Instead the racket still goes on with endless boatloads of illegals swarming into Europe. Not a big fan of the odd human sacrifice Im afraid, even though I might just be of very partial Scandinavian descent myself. West Indians fought with the Allies more than a hundred were decorated. I do not see what is different between a plantation in Africa and a plantation in Virginia. You lost those two. The government has said the "flexibility within the history curriculum means that there is the opportunity for teachers to teach about BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) history across a spectrum of themes and eras" so it did "not believe it was necessary to change the curriculum". We do not know how great the demand for women was. Would, say, Huguenot-descended South Africans suing France over the 1572 St. Bartholomews Day massacre, or Cornish people suing HMG for the suppression of the 1497 Rebellion, deserve compensation? Young people - such as Lavinya Stennett who founded the Black Curriculum campaign group - have been calling for change. Equiano is also mentioned in Incomparable World, a novel by SI Martin, which was selected by Booker award-winning author Bernardine Evaristo for her Black Britain: Writing Back series. How does it benefit anyone to make an issue about particular events? Theres probably more mileage in my country, or at least its historical incarnation, fought against it because unlike the actual people involved, the state is still around. Or anything to do with slavery. But any planter who deliberately starved his slaves to death would quickly go bust. In the case of slavery the answer is clear. There is an alternative argument that it is their ancestors who were wronged hence deserve compensation and as descendants theyre entitled to an inherited share (so their portion depends on how many slaves at what position in the family tree) plus interest, regardless of how well theyre doing now. BurningEars August 30, 2020 at 3:07 pm Theres a flaw in arguments of the form frankly you should be glad I murdered your sister. That needs to change, The autonomous future is nearly here with Wejo, The need to grow Londons EV infrastructure at speed and scale, From royal trumpeter to chief diver, Miranda Kaufmann uncovers the Africans of Tudor Britain, The big consultancy con, with Mariana Mazzucato, The rise and fall of Nicola Sturgeon Audio Long Reads, Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance, HR, Training and Organisational Development, Information and Communications Technology, Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives, Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities, Science and Technical Research and Development. Ought nothing guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman 's politics.... Of heroes and victories and glorious chapters, '' he says answer is.... Great the demand for women was they do not want British history be... Before the Atlantic route, usually castrating the males race riots broke out in 1948 in Liverpool and in in... 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