Statement of regret not enough, say anti-slavery groups

Preeti Jha
Wednesday September 27, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

Statue of slave
Detail from a statue of chained slaves by sculptor Bernard Jackson. Photograph: Mike Derer/AP

The government has said it will consider issuing a "statement of regret" over Britain's role in the slave trade on the bicentenary of slavery's abolition in March, despite refusing earlier this year to make a formal apology.

The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, is due next month to chair a meeting of the advisory committee overseeing preparations for commemorating the bicentenary of the bill outlawing the slave trade in the British empire on March 25.

However, many anti-slavery groups have said that a statement of regret is insufficient and they are campaigning for an apology that both acknowledges Britain's role in the slave trade and addresses its impact on society today.

A spokeswoman for Anti-Slavery International, Beth Herzfeld, said that nations that had benefited from slavery had "a moral duty" to address the legacies of the slave trade, which include racism, discrimination and the underdevelopment of both countries and communities.

Ms Herzfeld said it was necessary that society "be reconciled with its own history, that the truth concerning slavery and the slave trade be taught in all schools, publicly acknowledged and better understood".

She added that material compensation could take the form of debt cancellation, development assistance or trust funds, or a number of other measures.

The director of National Museums Liverpool, David Fleming, agreed that a statement of regret did not go far enough, but said that it would nevertheless "encourage debate and understanding about the slave trade".

Dr Fleming, who is currently developing the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, asserted the importance of education and transparency. "What we would really like to see is that the subject of the slave trade becomes compulsory on the national curriculum," he said.

At the World Conference Against Racism in South Africa, five years ago, 11 European Union countries said they were prepared to offer an apology for the transatlantic slave trade. However, Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal said they were willing only to express regret about the slave trade, without any specific recognition of responsibility. Division over the wording of an apology stems from the legal and financial implications that a claim of responsibility might entail. Many groups have argued that reparations are necessary to compensate for the crimes of the past.

In 2001, a group of African Americans filed a lawsuit against three major United States corporations, accusing them of profiting from the slave trade before it was abolished. The suit sought compensation for the abuses suffered by the ancestors of the plaintiffs. The case was later dismissed, but the campaign for compensation continues through Millions for Reparations, an umbrella organisation for like-minded activist groups across the US. In a similar appeal for compensation, Holocaust survivors secured $4bn in reparations from firms that made use of slave labour during Nazi rule in Germany.

Although the British government has not made a formal apology for its part in slavery, others in the UK have issued public apologies. Liverpool, from where about 1 million west African slaves were transported to America and the Caribbean, issued an apology in 1999. The Church of England, which made significant profits from plantations in the West Indies during the slave era, followed suit in February this year.

France passed a law recognising slavery as a crime against humanity in March 2001. Earlier this year, President Jacques Chirac declared that France would hold a national day of remembrance for the victims of slavery every March 10. However, no public apology for France's role in the slave trade accompanied the commemoration.

Debate continues as to whether a present-day government can apologise for the actions of a former one. Ms Herzfeld argued that a formal apology would be one step towards addressing the legacy of the slave trade for present-day communities.

Contemporary forms of the slave trade are not prominent in the public eye, but it is estimated that at least 12 million people across the world are bound to work in slavery.
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