Blair: Britain's 'sorrow' for shame of slave trade

[Ger]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Als het meezit in 2006

Ger
----- Original Message -----
From: "Henk Vreekamp" <vreek72 at hetnet.nl>
To: "Henk Elegeert" <HmjE at Home.nl>; <D66 at nic.surfnet.nl>
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 12:21 AM
Subject: Re: Blair: Britain's 'sorrow' for shame of slave trade


> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>
> Ook hier hebben onze voorvaderen een kwalijke rol gespeeld. De Engelsen
> waren de eersten die begin 19e eeuw de slavenhandel verboden, ook voor
> derden. Ze hielden dan ook regelmatig Hollandsche schepen op weg naar de
> Caraiben aan om die te controleren. Maar ja, de toenmalige Zalmpjes wisten
> de zaak voort te zetten tot ook het houden van slaven in Suriname werd
> verboden. Decennia later.
>
> Heeft iemand op dit forum vroeger op school ook geleerd in welk jaar deze
> slavernij werd verboden?
>
> hv,u
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Henk Elegeert" <HmjE at Home.nl>
> To: <D66 at nic.surfnet.nl>
> Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2006 6:55 PM
> Subject: Blair: Britain's 'sorrow' for shame of slave trade
>
>
>> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>>
>> http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1957278,00.html
>> Blair: Britain's 'sorrow' for shame of slave trade | Politics | The
>> Observer
>>
>> "
>> Blair: Britain's 'sorrow' for shame of slave trade
>>
>>
>> · Historic statement condemns 'crime against humanity'
>> · Critics say Prime Minister has fallen short of full apology
>>
>> David Smith
>> Sunday November 26, 2006
>> The Observer
>>
>>
>> Tony Blair is to make a historic statement condemning Britain's role in
>> the transatlantic slave trade as a 'crime against humanity' and
>> expressing 'deep sorrow' that it ever happened.
>>
>> The Prime Minister plans to go further than any previous leader in
>> seeking to distance himself from the actions of the British Empire,
>> nearly 200 years after the 1807 legislation that led to slavery's
>> abolition. However, he will stop short of making an explicit apology
>> despite years of pressure from some black campaigners and community
>> leaders.
>>
>> Article continues
>> 'It is hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity
>> was legal at the time,' the Prime Minister will say. 'Personally I
>> believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly
>> shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly and
>> praise those who fought for its abolition, but also to express our deep
>> sorrow that it ever happened, that it ever could have happened and to
>> rejoice at the different and better times we live in today.'
>>
>> The ground-breaking remarks will appear in the black community newspaper
>> New Nation, which has been campaigning for an apology for slavery, and in
>> a statement to Parliament tomorrow.
>>
>> Blair was praised last night for breaking decades of official silence to
>> acknowledge the grievance and resentment still felt by many towards the
>> empire's exploitation of Africans. Paul Stephenson, a black activist in
>> Bristol, said: 'It's historic for a British Prime Minister to say this
>> and it is to be welcomed. It shows a recognition of the importance of
>> human rights and challenges the deniers who don't admit that the British
>> Empire caused so much social, physical and psychological damage.'
>>
>> The Prime Minister's decision to make a statement on the issue will
>> reignite the debate on the role of apology in modern politics. He was
>> criticised when, in 1997, he said he 'reflected' on the deaths caused by
>> the Irish Potato Famine. The move will be seen by some as an attempt by
>> Blair to shore up his legacy both domestically and on the world stage.
>>
>> According to notes seen in the possession of Baroness Amos, the Lead of
>> the House of Lords, earlier this month, the Prime Minister wanted to make
>> a bold gesture that will be 'internationally recognised'. He will back a
>> United Nations resolution by Caribbean countries to honour those who died
>> at the hands of international slave traders.
>>
>> The notes suggested that Blair was willing to accommodate the requests of
>> many campaigners and is 'prepared to go further than [he is] being asked
>> to' on the issue of an apology.
>>
>> The slavery issue has come to a head in the build-up to the bicentenary
>> next March of the parliamentary Slave Trade Act. Estimates vary that
>> between 10 and 28 million Africans were sent to the Americas and sold
>> into slavery between 1450 and the early 19th century. By then Britain was
>> the dominant trader, transporting more than 300,000 slaves a year in
>> shackles on disease-ridden boats.
>>
>> An advisory committee chaired by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime
>> Minister, whose Hull constituency was once represented by anti-slavery
>> campaigner William Wilberforce, has been planning the 200th anniversary
>> commemorations and addressing the problem of how Britain should
>> acknowledge its past. It was reported that Whitehall advisers had warned
>> that a full apology could open the door to claims for reparations from
>> the descendants of slaves. Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, who
>> has been campaigning for an annual slavery memorial day, welcomed the
>> statement as ' major step forward. It says that slavery is a "crime
>> against humanity". It uses the word "shameful". It entirely disassociates
>> all of us from what happened.'
>>
>> The Observer revealed the campaign for an apology two years ago when
>> Rendezvous of Victory, a group which seeks to combat the legacy of
>> slavery, said it would call on the Queen to issue an apology. Its joint
>> co-ordinator, Kofi Mawuli Klu, said he was disappointed by Blair's
>> suggestion that slavery is a thing of the past: 'He's missed the point.
>> They do not understand contemporary enslavement. There is nothing in this
>> statement about the enduring legacy of slavery in terms of racism and
>> global injustice.'
>>
>> Klu criticised the absence of the word 'sorry', claiming: 'It's adding
>> insult to the lingering injuries of the enslavement of African people by
>> the European ruling classes. The message is that if you commit crimes
>> against African people you cannot be held responsible; even when you
>> acknowledge that you have done wrong, you do not feel it necessary to
>> apologise.'
>> "
>>
>> Kan VOC-Balkje nog wat van leren ...
>>
>> Henk Elegeert
>>
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