Blair 'sorrow' over slave trade

[Ardesco]

nyah nyah na nyah nyah

I'm the best i'm the best, I won so i'm the best!!!

nyah nyah na nyah nyah

[snaw]

A black rights organisation said on Monday Prime Minister Tony Blair's declaration of "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade did not go far enough and failed to address the issue of compensation.

Hmm.

Wonder if there's an angle here to get some cash out of the royal family (And relations), for several hundred years of feudilism?

[Logie]

A black rights organisation said on Monday Prime Minister Tony Blair's declaration of "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade did not go far enough and failed to address the issue of compensation.

For god's sake, they were given a free trip, were fed and employed. What more do they want?

[snaw]

Mmm, a return ticket perhaps?

[Troll]

Mmm, a return ticket perhaps?

Lets make it so

[hattra]

Has anyone heard if the Nigerian, Ghanaian and other Slave Coast countries are going to apologise and stump up compensation as well?

I remember when the publicity for Mahommed Ali's "rumble in the jungle" used the publicity slogan "out of slavery to freedom" and had to withdraw it rapidly in Africa - it hadn't even occurred to them that the remaining black population of Africa were the ones who had sold the slaves in the first place. If there's one thing worse than being a slaver, it's enslaving and selling your own kinsmen!

As for the "abolition of the slave trade", it was only abolished within the British sphere of influence - due to the fact that we didn't really have the sea-power to police the entire planet. Portugal, for instance, continued slaving from the Congo and further South across to South America. And of course slavery existed for some time afterwards. It was still common in Nigeria, for instance through into the 1960's (and is still quite common in parts of the Middle East and Asia).

All our fault I suppose

[Troll]

Wasn't it Liberia that came into being as a nation for slaves to be returned to after the American civil war?

[hattra]

Wasn't it Liberia that came into being as a nation for slaves to be returned to after the American civil war?

I think several thousand went back initially, and about 300 survived the first 2 years. It wasn't a great success - they never had the resources to start from scratch

As a comparison, the British evacuated > 100,000 slaves (as free men) from the States after the American War of Independance. Most went to the West Indies (along with a group of American Indians, who ended up in Bermuda for some reason).

[Troll]

As a comparison, the British evacuated > 100,000 slaves (as free men) from the States after the American War of Independance. Most went to the West Indies (along with a group of American Indians, who ended up in Bermuda for some reason).

Didn't know that...were they grateful to us for doing this? or should we be expecting another compensation claim?

[hattra]

Didn't know that...were they grateful to us for doing this? or should we be expecting another compensation claim?

There must be a compensation angle somewhere - how about "wages are lower in the Caribbean. We were not made aware of this fact when you evacuated us, so we did not give informed consent. Ergo, you owe us compensation for several hundred years of lower pay, plus interest"