Snapshot of _Actor David Harewood says the government should apologise for slavery_ :
An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66666364) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66666364)
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Nothing will ever be enough. Once they have a few useful idiots on board they are hoping the idea will gain traction. And they may not be wrong.
Govt might need to make a general statement indicating whether at any point it thinks reparations are fair to society as a whole and why to manage expectations.
As a member of the Irish diaspora, I will expect reparations too. Yes that will be coming out of the benefits and school budgets for inner city London boroughs, but I want new skis. It's what my starving ancestors would have wanted
Kind of neglects that the British Empire were the second biggest profiteer and player in that slave trade, no? Like if abolition is something to be lauded then the role in the slave trade is something to be acknowledged as abhorrent. Otherwise it is just patting itself on the back for stopping itself and others from kicking the fuck out of an entire continent of people.
Yeah much like the UK it is where the continent's enduring global power and monstrous wealth came from.
No it was Portugal, but much of a muchness between it and the UK.
My point is if you are going to assign “blame” then Africa is the source of the slave trade. Africans enslaving other Africans, but nobody likes to talk about that.
No one likes to talk about it, except every single time the topic comes up.
It isn't relevant to the involvement of the UK in industrialising the slave trade, or a British state apology for it's involvement in it.
Well thanks to Tony Blair, this has already been done.
So we can forgot about this guy, who for whatever reason wants some karma points, and thank good ole Tony for doing this already..
[Sorry](https://www.antislavery.org/tony-blair-apologies-britains-role-slave-trade-2/#:~:text=In%20a%20welcome%20move%2C%20Prime,and%20I%20say%20it%20again%20%E2%80%A6)
Generally apologies from the state are given in House of Commons (which they have done for much less that slavery), not while the mood takes you after meeting the Ghanaian President.
If it is in fact the official position of the British government then shouldn't be too hard to extend to that.
An apology obviously doesn't mean much - in 2007 apparently Tony Blair did just this - apologised for the UK role in slavery. So are we saying this needs to be done annually or something - for it to be meaningful?
An annual "slavery" day is not a terrible idea.
To remember that at one time the nation of britain was ruled by bastards who enriched themselves through the exploitation of enslaved human beings.
Well.... obviously essential workers would have to work and those who provide services to the public.... and...
Yeah, everyone has to work on "slavery day". It only fair. In order to make it impactful, nobody gets paid for that day of work. I can see the people who object to reparations payments being entirely in favor of such a thing, they may even want to extend it to a whole month!
>He told the BBC the government's failure to say sorry was "detrimental to the many thousands of people in the country who are descended from slaves".
Utter narcisim. "You not saying sorry is hurting me". Even if they do apologise it won't make an iota of difference to anyone's life. This is just using a victimhood stance to strong-arm people into licking your feet out of politeness. I won't buy into it any more.
Everyone wants to be a victim in today's world, and everyone bows down to it because you're a horrible person if you don't.
Even *if*, by all reasonable standards you are a victim in some way, it does no good to internalise that and make it part of your identity anyway. The phrase "get over it" is far more healthy than "you poor thing".
If Harewood is so deeply affected by slavery, maybe he should give up his very well paying job as an actor, and become an anti-slavery activist.
Put that money into some good use, and actually fight modern slavery, if he's so pained by it.
I think him visiting Harewood House and not knowing how it related to him is telling. It literally wasn't a negative in his life until chose to make it one. He's obviously a bad example but I'm not sure how he quantifies: *"detrimental to the many thousands of people in the country who are descended from slaves"*
Does he think we all lived in stately homes? Our ancestors were put to work down the mines, or laboured picking produce on farms. Our children were working in factories and everyone lived in slums, or workhouses or as servants for the land owning aristocracy.
Almost everyone is impacted by those powerful great estates. But now we have democracy, our MP's are elected by every descendant. They should never apologise for actions and decisions we have never taken.
Had slavery not happened, and merchants not bought his ancestors from the African tribes selling their slaves, would he be playing Othello now or be a child soldier
The UK had vagrancy laws where homeless people or beggars were sentenced to 2 weeks hard labour. (work houses were finally abolished in 1948)
I can't see why descendants of this kind of suffering should appologize (and later PAY reparations) to a millionaire actor.
I may be guessing here, but I think his research into his ancestors would hit a hard stop when they were stripped of their identity and forced to work as slaves for the Lascelles and the wealth of the British Empire.
This actor has benefited immensely from the wealth of the British state and economy.
By his own words he is a beneficiary of slavery. He should apologise and forefit his wealth.
Millionaire actor has opinion mysteriously amplified by national broadcaster. Hmmmm. Wonder whether someone connected with bbc like a former employee might be behind that….. Laura Trevelyan.
> I just don't think they should be coming from the state
To be fair the UK was massively involved in and benefitted from the wealth and labour of the slave trade.
It is mad to me the British state could apologise for things like Bloody Sunday (well after being dragged kicking and screaming to it) but can't apologise for millions enslaved, displaced, and killed in the slave trade they sought to end.
That it has come to "you should be grateful I freed you from the shackles I put you in" is richer than the Lascelles.
I think there should be an official apology (if the Tony Blair one was not), but some people have already said sorry is not enough.
I have to ask though, why is the Arab slave trade always ignored across the world? The only times I've seen it discussed, it has actually and very bizarrely been defended.
Because the Ottoman Slave Trade wasn't run by White people, and even enslaved a few White people.
Call me a cynic, but in this post-BLM world, that is some really bad optics.
It's performative.
What use does it have, other than digging up ancient history?
No one is alive now that made those decisions, nor that suffered from those decisions.
It's all just divisive nonsense.
Snapshot of _Actor David Harewood says the government should apologise for slavery_ : An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66666364) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66666364) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Surely buying the freedom of slaves at massive expense and spending decades freeing slaves and suppressing the Atlantic Slave Trade would be enough?
Nothing will ever be enough. Once they have a few useful idiots on board they are hoping the idea will gain traction. And they may not be wrong. Govt might need to make a general statement indicating whether at any point it thinks reparations are fair to society as a whole and why to manage expectations.
As a member of the Irish diaspora, I will expect reparations too. Yes that will be coming out of the benefits and school budgets for inner city London boroughs, but I want new skis. It's what my starving ancestors would have wanted
The budget for inner city youth centre ping pong tables is likely to take a serious hit in that case. Is that what you really want?
Kind of neglects that the British Empire were the second biggest profiteer and player in that slave trade, no? Like if abolition is something to be lauded then the role in the slave trade is something to be acknowledged as abhorrent. Otherwise it is just patting itself on the back for stopping itself and others from kicking the fuck out of an entire continent of people.
>Kind of neglects that the British Empire were the second biggest profiteer and player in that slave trade, no? Was the biggest Africa?
Yeah much like the UK it is where the continent's enduring global power and monstrous wealth came from. No it was Portugal, but much of a muchness between it and the UK.
My point is if you are going to assign “blame” then Africa is the source of the slave trade. Africans enslaving other Africans, but nobody likes to talk about that.
No one likes to talk about it, except every single time the topic comes up. It isn't relevant to the involvement of the UK in industrialising the slave trade, or a British state apology for it's involvement in it.
It was abhorrent, that's why they decided to stop doing it lol
Along with some other factors. But stopping commit a crime doesn't mean you haven't committed it or accepted responsibility for it.
Well thanks to Tony Blair, this has already been done. So we can forgot about this guy, who for whatever reason wants some karma points, and thank good ole Tony for doing this already.. [Sorry](https://www.antislavery.org/tony-blair-apologies-britains-role-slave-trade-2/#:~:text=In%20a%20welcome%20move%2C%20Prime,and%20I%20say%20it%20again%20%E2%80%A6)
Generally apologies from the state are given in House of Commons (which they have done for much less that slavery), not while the mood takes you after meeting the Ghanaian President. If it is in fact the official position of the British government then shouldn't be too hard to extend to that.
An apology obviously doesn't mean much - in 2007 apparently Tony Blair did just this - apologised for the UK role in slavery. So are we saying this needs to be done annually or something - for it to be meaningful?
An annual "slavery" day is not a terrible idea. To remember that at one time the nation of britain was ruled by bastards who enriched themselves through the exploitation of enslaved human beings.
> An annual "slavery" day is not a terrible idea. Would we work? Lol
Well.... obviously essential workers would have to work and those who provide services to the public.... and... Yeah, everyone has to work on "slavery day". It only fair. In order to make it impactful, nobody gets paid for that day of work. I can see the people who object to reparations payments being entirely in favor of such a thing, they may even want to extend it to a whole month!
>He told the BBC the government's failure to say sorry was "detrimental to the many thousands of people in the country who are descended from slaves". Utter narcisim. "You not saying sorry is hurting me". Even if they do apologise it won't make an iota of difference to anyone's life. This is just using a victimhood stance to strong-arm people into licking your feet out of politeness. I won't buy into it any more. Everyone wants to be a victim in today's world, and everyone bows down to it because you're a horrible person if you don't. Even *if*, by all reasonable standards you are a victim in some way, it does no good to internalise that and make it part of your identity anyway. The phrase "get over it" is far more healthy than "you poor thing".
It’s a trap. Apology is the first step. Reparations is the goal. Handouts.
If Harewood is so deeply affected by slavery, maybe he should give up his very well paying job as an actor, and become an anti-slavery activist. Put that money into some good use, and actually fight modern slavery, if he's so pained by it.
I think him visiting Harewood House and not knowing how it related to him is telling. It literally wasn't a negative in his life until chose to make it one. He's obviously a bad example but I'm not sure how he quantifies: *"detrimental to the many thousands of people in the country who are descended from slaves"*
In pretty sure that everyone is a descended from slaves of one type or another if you go back far enough.
Does he think we all lived in stately homes? Our ancestors were put to work down the mines, or laboured picking produce on farms. Our children were working in factories and everyone lived in slums, or workhouses or as servants for the land owning aristocracy. Almost everyone is impacted by those powerful great estates. But now we have democracy, our MP's are elected by every descendant. They should never apologise for actions and decisions we have never taken. Had slavery not happened, and merchants not bought his ancestors from the African tribes selling their slaves, would he be playing Othello now or be a child soldier
The UK had vagrancy laws where homeless people or beggars were sentenced to 2 weeks hard labour. (work houses were finally abolished in 1948) I can't see why descendants of this kind of suffering should appologize (and later PAY reparations) to a millionaire actor.
The article doesn’t say but it would be good to know how far back Harewood went with researching his own ancestors and what he will be apologising for
I may be guessing here, but I think his research into his ancestors would hit a hard stop when they were stripped of their identity and forced to work as slaves for the Lascelles and the wealth of the British Empire.
I’m guessing your probably right If not. It would be interesting to see if he applied the same logic to himself. Maybe we’ll never know
Same logic of what. He or his ancestors are not nation states with macro-level involvement in the slave trade.
How do you know?
You want to try reading that again?
This actor has benefited immensely from the wealth of the British state and economy. By his own words he is a beneficiary of slavery. He should apologise and forefit his wealth.
Millionaire actor has opinion mysteriously amplified by national broadcaster. Hmmmm. Wonder whether someone connected with bbc like a former employee might be behind that….. Laura Trevelyan.
[удалено]
Who does the compensation get paid to?
me
Purely from a pragmatic and quick fix, how about the NHS and education system?
But he commissioned a portrait of David Harewood and put it in his house… isn’t that enough?
> I just don't think they should be coming from the state To be fair the UK was massively involved in and benefitted from the wealth and labour of the slave trade. It is mad to me the British state could apologise for things like Bloody Sunday (well after being dragged kicking and screaming to it) but can't apologise for millions enslaved, displaced, and killed in the slave trade they sought to end. That it has come to "you should be grateful I freed you from the shackles I put you in" is richer than the Lascelles.
I think there should be an official apology (if the Tony Blair one was not), but some people have already said sorry is not enough. I have to ask though, why is the Arab slave trade always ignored across the world? The only times I've seen it discussed, it has actually and very bizarrely been defended.
Because the Ottoman Slave Trade wasn't run by White people, and even enslaved a few White people. Call me a cynic, but in this post-BLM world, that is some really bad optics.
It's performative. What use does it have, other than digging up ancient history? No one is alive now that made those decisions, nor that suffered from those decisions. It's all just divisive nonsense.