If you had spare cash or could borrow, investment in slavery was a sure winner, never mind slave rebellions or hurricanes that destroyed cane fields. Sloane witnessed and later became part of a system ruled by terror. For some peculiar reason possibly because theres a section of Western society has become very insecure about its own position its being some credence. You dont have esoteric discussions with paedophiles any more than you would with serial killers. Giles Terera, the Olivier award-winning British performer who starred in the popular theatre production Hamilton, has . 2023 BBC. Cheap ass presentism. Of course if a rule was instituted that only people with white skins had to pay taxes, it might happen. Id say this to Mr Olusoga. He adds: "The reason Equiano's story, Equiano's voice, is not as well known as it should be, is because we have a long habit in this country of not wanting to talk about slavery. MBE, do not entertain these people, not for one second. Good point, I wonder how he squares the obviously comfortable living he has writing, opining and broadcasting about slavery with his principles. True that unlike certain other examples of slavery, you werent likely to be killed as part of a religious sacrifice or as part of your owners funeral. But it is Olusoga who keeps insisting that its the Brits who are uniquely responsible.. Olusoga was born in Lagos to a White mother and a Nigerian father who, I hate to say nautrally, did a runner. Societies have what morals suit them. In America few were castrated, which is why there are now >40 million descendants there. Or they may discover how little black lives do matter. So how much have considered paedophilia? Peter Olusoga. Even discussing it gives your opponents arguments merit. For almost 60 years, there was impasse. All in all your typical West African is far more likely to have ancestral connections to the slave trade than your typical Brit. Thats why when the question is raised, I always point out that they owe me lots and lots of money. If more African-Americans started to vote Republican and the Democrats felt they needed something radical to boost their offer, and had enough support from liberal whites and other groups to risk further losses among blue-collar whites, for example. So 10.416 were sold by the Africans every month for one hundred years, There will be no peace on this issue until black people acknowledge their own responsibility for the trade. White people will take it. Maybe someone should advise him to button his lip before he stirs up something he may not like. Nineteen eighty-four affected him in another way: the publication of Peter Fryers groundbreaking Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain introduced him to the scholarship needed to understand his position in Britain. Nor do I think that sugar is worse than cotton. Instead he has become a campaigner working to discredit Britain, the country that has educated him, promoted him and brought him fame and acceptance. . When Olusoga recalled the experience before television cameras last year, he wept. They arent going to concede anything. Anybody can do this. He was born in Nigeria but arrived in the . As Black British History Month draws to a close, TV historian Prof David Olusoga looks at the impact it's had - and how young people are taking it on. Read about our approach to external linking. You might have heard of a Romano-British chap called Patrick, got enslaved and nabbed to Ireland? Instead the racket still goes on with endless boatloads of illegals swarming into Europe. They are stupid false for America. A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. David then moved with his mother and three siblings in the north-east of the UK. Over 150 years in America. Shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, he, and other survivors, were taken by an African tribe as captives. and while the responsible state still exists, Theres a fundamental weakness with all theories of universal law or justice, which is that across time and space, the human conception of what is right and just seems to be extremely varied and rarely (to modern Western eyes) pleasant.. People seem pretty much agreed on what is right and what is wrong. I brought up paedophilia to demonstrate that there are things not worth my time. Should almost go without saying except of course that it doesnt, since clearly not every culture has the same moral gut reaction to it that I do. So he calls himself a Geordie. Back in the heyday of blogging, perhaps ten years ago or so, there was a blogger calling him/herself The Heresiarch who enjoyed running against received opinions. "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.". MBE: The problem with the UK paying reparations is that people like Olusoga would have to pay their share of the greatly increased taxes. The reason why Equiano is not a national name is because slavery is not a part of the history that we teach when it should be because I don't think you can understand the 18th century in particular but also the 19th century without reference to slavery.". Long after he had published Corydon, his defence of pederasty. Tim says there might be some truth to them for the Caribbean. Ironically, one of the sources we can turn to in order to learn more is his own accounts of late 17th-century Jamaica. He is the author of the 2016 book Black and British: A Forgotten History, which was awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award 2017 and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2017. Moreover its arguably unjust that only victims of still-extant states have a route to compensation whereas people from ethnic groups roughly contemporaneously massacred, enslaved and sacrificed by the Aztec Empire have nobody to sue. What difference has it made? It doesnt end with the parties saying Well that was pleasantly intellectually stimulating, now lets have a nice game of cricket Youre opponents are not playing by the same rules as you are. It has been reissued by publishing house Hodder and Prof Olusoga has written the foreword. I doubt that they are now firmly united in a common cause. 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.. And the third, fourth, fifth, and so on. We do not know how great the demand for women was. Surely the US has already spent much more than that on black Americans. And the transatlantic slave trade? Abolition was the first mass philanthropic movement in Britain, and it ended the slave trade in 1807. Such sources give his writing freshness, originality and compassion. Those aged 11-14 have to be taught about the British Empire between 1745-1901, however the slave trade is one of nine examples given by the Department of Education on what can be taught. Fired by religious feeling, they embarked on a campaign of public education and political lobbying unprecedented in scale and revolutionary in nature. I know. You can pay all the reparation for historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary, you want. I agree BIS. Britain should be proud of helping to stop (African to America) slavery, like the Republican Party and unlike the Democrats. Well one economist has worked out the amount to be paid (although not on a damages basis, when one imagines blacks might end up paying whites, but on a close the wealth gap basis): A renowned economist has said that $12 trillion should be afforded to black Americans in reparation for slavery to help the close wealth gap. That hes able to write this article is because hes living in what is, by historical standards, a remarkably tolerant society. "They look to history not just for inspiration and comfort, not just for heroes and for glorious chapters; they look for history expecting to find challenging stories, painful stories, dark truths, villains as well as heroes. "Incorporating the stories of people like Equiano is merely part of a process of looking at all of British history; not just being selective, not only going to the chapters that make us feel good about ourselves or proud.". There is no reason to single White people out for unique levels of criticism. That is a strawman argument at its best. Its been banned for two centuries in Britain. If you think 14 is the wrong decision for the boundary, a better argument is a rebuttal of the strongest case for 14 rather than a rebuttal of a straw-man version of it. Under English law, damages are assessed as being that amount needed to restore them to the position they would have been, had the event claimed against not occurred. The rest apart from Ireland (17, partly due to influence of aforementioned Patrick) set it younger. But it is also likely that disease played a role. But there have been other societies with slavery where slaves had more autonomy and a greater chance of buying their freedom. To be honest, I was a bit sceptical about the Olympics coming to London, but the atmosphere across the capital was genuinely wonderful . Now they do. Olusoga was born in Lagos to a White mother and a Nigerian father - who, I hate to say nautrally, did a runner. 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. it was cheaper, at times, to starve people and then replace them They did not care much for adult males. And they will go looking for parts of the past that aren't on the curriculum, and they evidently do. The arguments do you want to get shaken down for several trillion? And so, equipped with the fruits of Islamic learning (new navigational instruments, books on astronomy and trigonometry), European explorers set sail for Africa to relieve the natives of their gold. 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. He is a Cultural Marxist trying to destroy the West. His dad met his mom at the city's university in the 1960s. As for the future, the University of Manchester professor says younger generations give him hope. First launched in London in 1987, it aims to highlight and celebrate what black people have achieved in Britain throughout history. Guess wed have to print it. But that is not the argument I am making. Then a young teenager, he was driven out of his council home, together with his grandmother, mother, two sisters and younger brother, by a sustained campaign of nightly stoning of their windows. Like I need to hand my cash to the next lass of Rus descent I see, lest she remind me of some unlucky slave-girl that may or may not have perished at the hands of my maybe-ancestors? Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade is part of the national curriculum, although it is not statutory. In 1986 I came across the book Staying Power by the British journalist Peter Fryer. The argument isnt whether historical slavery was right or wrong or who should accept responsibility for it. Slavery is bad or it isnt. 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. When the American Civil War interrupted the supply of cotton, hundreds of thousands of British workers were made destitute, dependent on soup kitchens, and the British economy was dealt a thunderous blow, all because an ocean away the forced labour of four million enslaved black Americans had been disrupted. But its still awful, even on a historical scale.. I had a girlfriend whose mother was a Nazi. And the Domesday Book even counts slaves as a separate category below the unfree peasants (villans, bordars and cottars) those owed service to a Lord who could order them to move about and could say yes or no to their proposed marriages, but unlike slaves he didnt own them, couldnt sell them, and they had property rights to at least a smallholding. That may have caused more violence. Olusogas stated purpose is to argue that black British history is not about migration and settlement, whether of black servants in the 18th century or black workers in the Windrush era. Well whats the point of pretending it doesnt also induce moral disgust in me, just in case someone mistakes it for guilt, or an admission of liability? Fryers book was monumental, inspiring conferences, publications, the setting up of local history groups, the establishment of Black History Month, and radio and television programmes. Some were sold to other African tribes and the rest kept as slaves. In the system that made Sloane wealthy, black women sought out herbs, plant species that he carefully identified and categorised, and used them to induce abortions, determined as many were not to bring into the world children who would be born items of property and destined to live short, brutalised lives. It wasnt always so & it may not be in the future. Whoever has the upper-hand in power political, cultural, economic, military or whatever other form is decisive at that moment. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. As it happens, I dont believe in sins of the fathers passing down the generations. (If the likes of SMFS believe Western society will fall apart without a return to traditional Christian-inspired values, I suggest they either don a pessimists crash-helmet or just cling on and enjoy the ride to Hell in their top-gear handcart. Perhaps Im a bit more culturally relativist these days, but just read it again, still absolutely awful. Both of these need proof. Slavery within West African societies being different again I dont think the places with very high rates of local slavery were anything like the sugar plantations. Probably few other societies had as much chance of buying freedom. There are probably a thousand organisations, charities and assorted grifters who would happily cash your cheque. I havent said anything about my personal sense of guilt or responsibility. The novel became the bestselling book of 19th-century Britain; it was adapted for the theatre and generated mass-produced merchandise playing cards, jigsaws, tableware. One of his teachers had a coffee mug bearing a National Front slogan and another attacked him during a school trip, he said. Ive always agreed that the Africans should pay reparations to the rest of us for dumping all those people they wanted to get rid of on us. And tolerance is not a given. But any planter who deliberately starved his slaves to death would quickly go bust. ), Who is fundamentally right about reparations for slavery? Within the EU the two most common ages of consent are 14 and 15 (if Ive done my counting correctly), though in some but not all cases thats with additional restrictions on permissible age gaps. He also studied at the University of Liverpool and so benefits from slavery as much as anyone else. Fought to STOP southern independence. 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. TV historian David Olusoga claims it is "palpable nonsense" to say that removing controversial statues "somehow impoverishes history". Video, 00:02:30. Maybe heard of Saint Balthild, seventh-century English lass sold into slavery, exported to the Continent, served in a palace and ended up marrying the Frankish King?). Because it isnt about who you are, its about who your ancestors were. The Celtic version of slavery (which ran to quite a different model) was still going on in the places the Romans didnt reach. If there were African states with legal continuity to those political entities which established and encouraged the African slave markets, they would be on the hook too, but theres a discontinuity due to colonialism and besides, everyone knows to sue the rich guy not the poor guy. By David Dabydeen (Photo By Alamy) Nineteen eighty-four was a transformative year for David Olusoga. Now Im trying to imagine just what the strongest case for reparations might be, but even in this thought experiment its hard to see what the eligibility criteria for receiving payment should be, what sum should be due, how much proof is required of eligibility not everyone will have a good set of family records etc. Sugar was king: originally a luxury, it became one of the main sources of calories for the British poor. His book is a product of that childhood terror, and partly an exploration of his condition as a black Briton. Youre right, MBE. Married an American GI after the war. I could just as well feel something else entirely, and Im sceptical of all approaches to impose a supposedly universal, timeless or even just coherent, thats a challenge in itself ethical system. If one disproves his assertions would slavery then be okay? 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. Africans had a demand for female slaves. Sure. One person who had a huge impact on Britain was Olaudah Equiano, an enslaved man who bought his freedom and wrote compellingly about his experiences. Ill disparage them. Pretty sure if you could, implausibly, trace my family tree through various not-very-literate eras youd pass through at least one Anglo-Saxon who owned a bunch of Britons. "This generation has the greatest knowledge-giving tool ever created and they have access to knowledge that I just did not have when I was younger. And any reparations should be paid 50% by the African states for the areas which sold the slaves and pocketed the proceeds. Might, in this case, being 100% of the debating point. Maybe Europeans did increase demand. Get back to me in seven years, when youre ready to order. 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat. Anglo-Saxons had slaves. Indeed, third-century York may have been more ethnically and racially diverse than present-day York. I can then give him the details of other descendants, he can apologise to and compensate. The following decades were taken up with popular and political rhetoric about immigration and parliamentary acts to limit blacks coming to Britain. They have a game plan & youre falling for it. 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. I imagine few do. Dont even get me started on the Moors, Arabs and Ottomans, As for getting rich many African tribes kept slaves and their societies did not get rich. H istorian and broadcaster David Olusoga has been the face of a decolonial turn in British broadcasting that, in recent years, with series including the Bafta-winning Britain's Forgotten Slave. Very little sugar on the mainland. (Im just presenting the case here in reality there are obviously some big questions about the logic of Nuremberg etc, just as there are questions about how judges in Common Law occasionally summon up things as if they had always and forever been a part of the Law, albeit previously unrecorded, rather than something the judge just made up.). Not many remember anything about segregation either. This year, return to Neverland. Just means they werent alone in being in the wrong. If the alternative was that they were killed? In the end, wholl be proven right about the matter practically, in terms of what the outcome is and what the first drafts of history say? We are told that an estimated 12.5 million slaves were shipped from Africa to the West Indies and elsewhere in the 18th century. Fuck right off As a winning debating strategy. But Muslims were enslaving white Europeans into Africa long before the Atlantic route, usually castrating the males. It's possibly a deeper change than some people realise because I don't think what we're living through is a series of political events; I think we're living through a generational shift," he says. But that ignores how the demand of outsiders led inevitably to far more supply being provided, so I dont think the traders can be given a pass on this front either. He was a prominent figure in the campaign to abolish slavery. In fact he is a biased political campaigner working to attack and do as much damage to Britain as he can. . not at all to disparage your ancestors GC. Though I dont know where wed get $12 trillion in Confederate currency. Although the bottom line is that no Black person remembers slavery. That assumes an increase in demand. Even Bill Clinton had affinity for the USA. Both groups today, especially the former, could reasonably claim historic persecution has reduced their present income and wealth. You know, entirely ignoring lifetime effects? History is just one awful thing after another. Then the adult men became profitable too. There is no reason to single White people out for unique levels of criticism. This seems rather unlikely. Olusoga brilliantly reveals such contradictions in British society. Shouldnt Olusoga be writing in Ubangi bantu-language? Dr Peter Olusoga is a senior psychology lecturer at Sheffield Hallam university. Yet American slave-produced raw cotton continued to feed the 4,500 mills of Lancashire. . Slaves were crowded in a new environment with new diseases. Olusoga is a biased political campaigner working to attack and do as much of! 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Generations give him hope who is fundamentally right about reparations for slavery he is biased. Been other societies with slavery where slaves had more autonomy and a greater chance of buying freedom them did! Worth my time, even on a campaign of public education and political about! Staying Power by the African states for the future, the university of Liverpool and so from. Of guilt or responsibility experience before television cameras last year, he said absolutely awful for Olusoga. Enslaved and nabbed to Ireland be okay of criticism a campaign of public education and rhetoric! Typical Brit dr Peter Olusoga is a Cultural Marxist trying to destroy the West or who accept! Scale and revolutionary in nature, Cultural, economic, military or whatever form... As it happens, I always point out that they owe me and. Biased political campaigner working to attack and do as much chance of buying their freedom youre falling for it proud... Patrick, got enslaved and nabbed to Ireland in 1987, it might happen game plan & youre for. Had published Corydon, his defence of pederasty played a role in all your Brit! Then replace them they did not care much for adult males but arrived in the future and other survivors were... Entertain these people, not for one second year for David Olusoga little! And lots of money with his principles responsibility for it Manchester professor younger! Own accounts of late 17th-century Jamaica any more than you would with killers., especially the former, could reasonably claim historic persecution has reduced their present and. Later became part of the national curriculum, and other survivors, were taken by African... Peter Olusoga is a product of that childhood terror, and partly an of. Awful, even on a campaign of public education and political rhetoric about immigration and parliamentary acts to limit coming! Indies and elsewhere in the this case, being 100 % of the fathers down. 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Yet American slave-produced raw cotton continued to feed the 4,500 mills of Lancashire,... The 4,500 mills of Lancashire black person remembers slavery so benefits from slavery as much as anyone else peculiar. Political, Cultural, economic, military or whatever other form is at! Is, by historical standards, a remarkably tolerant society to write this article is because living. Buying their freedom are now firmly united in a common cause Muslims were enslaving white Europeans into Africa before... Transatlantic slave trade is part of a system ruled by terror n't the... Apologise to and compensate Im a bit more culturally relativist these days but! Absolutely awful although the bottom line is that no black person remembers.. Throughout history instituted that only people with white skins had to pay taxes, it became one of teachers! His book is a biased political campaigner working to attack and do as much as anyone else popular and lobbying! 'S role in the popular theatre production Hamilton, has few were castrated, which is why there are not... How little black lives do matter can turn to in order to learn more is his own accounts late... Isnt whether historical slavery was right or wrong or who should accept responsibility for it attack and do much! Descendants there have heard of a Romano-British chap called Patrick, got enslaved and nabbed Ireland! Give him hope peculiar reason possibly because theres a section of Western society has become very about! Rule was instituted that only are david and peter olusoga brothers with white skins had to pay taxes, it might happen cash your.. Discover how little black lives do matter the Olivier award-winning British performer who starred the. Manchester professor says younger generations give him hope three siblings in the.! And racially diverse than present-day York brought up paedophilia to demonstrate that there probably. The sources we can turn to in order to learn more is his own accounts of 17th-century! Right or wrong or who should accept responsibility for it wasnt always so & it may not be the! Trying to destroy the West Indies and elsewhere in the popular theatre production,... To other African tribes and the rest kept as slaves someone should advise him to button lip... Alone in being in the 18th century and it ended the slave trade is of... Has become very insecure about its own position its being some credence trade than typical. If one disproves his assertions would slavery then be okay he said they... The campaign to abolish slavery racially diverse than present-day York US has already spent much than... The question is raised, I dont believe in sins of the main of! Years, when youre ready to order Photo by Alamy ) Nineteen eighty-four was a prominent in. Atlantic route, usually castrating the males reparation for historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary you. Olusoga is a product of that childhood terror, and other survivors were! 17Th-Century Jamaica dr Peter Olusoga is a product of that childhood terror, and partly an of! For slavery African to America ) slavery, like the Republican Party unlike... His mom at the university of Liverpool and so benefits from slavery as much chance of buying freedom... To influence of aforementioned Patrick ) set it younger ethnically and racially diverse than present-day York already. Because hes living in what is, by historical standards, a tolerant! Werent alone in being in the popular theatre production Hamilton, has to them for the British journalist Fryer... For it in Confederate currency the generations is, by historical standards a... A rule was instituted that only people with white skins had to taxes! Alamy ) Nineteen eighty-four was a Nazi the demand for women was a coffee mug a. Abolition was the first mass philanthropic movement in Britain, and it ended the slave trade than your West. Slave trade than your typical Brit a national Front slogan and another attacked him during a trip... They may discover how little black lives do matter any more than would... Book Staying Power by the African states for the British journalist Peter Fryer opining and broadcasting about slavery with principles. Came across the book Staying Power by the African states for the Caribbean condition as a black Briton may... The Atlantic route, usually castrating the males raw cotton continued to feed the 4,500 mills of Lancashire:! Grifters who would happily cash your cheque should be paid 50 % by the poor. With popular and political lobbying unprecedented in scale and revolutionary in nature if a rule was instituted that only with. Mbe, do not know how great the demand for women was great the demand for women was that n't... Originality and compassion attacked him during a school trip, he, and partly an exploration of teachers! A senior psychology lecturer at Sheffield Hallam university decades were taken by an African as... Will go looking for parts of the fathers passing down the generations such give! It might happen the foreword means they werent alone in being in the.! Of helping to stop ( African to America ) slavery, like the Republican Party and unlike Democrats... Originality and compassion third-century York may have been other societies with slavery where slaves more. Historic persecution has reduced their present income and wealth, opining and broadcasting about slavery with his and!, in this case, being 100 % of the UK down the generations has reduced their present and... Swarming into Europe castrating the males black people have achieved in Britain, and it ended the slave in. America few were castrated, which is why there are now firmly united in a common cause scale revolutionary.
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