Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in local newspaper to say how "profoundly shameful" the slave trade was and expresed "sorrow" that it ever happened but stopped short of giving an apology or some kind of compensation for descendants of those victimized by it.
Black activists and Human rights groups say Blairs careful language reflects UK governments fear of payiing large amount of reparation.
" It is no longer justified to ignore this question. Those who do so are complicit in the genocide and covering up of the crimes against African people and her descendants worldwide" - Esther Stanfield, vice chair of pan-African Reparations Coalition in Europe
Malcolm... should -I- apologize for the United State's role in slavery? I wasn't even alive during that time. I'm sorry that it ever happened... but, I don't need to apologize for something that I didn't do.
Tony Blair didn't cause slavery in the UK... why does he need to apologize for something that OTHERS have done?
You have a bone to pick, with the entire world... and you're really going about it the wrong way. Take the advice that Sierradaddy has taken time out when he's been on here, to give to you, multiple times, and learn from it... because he gave you some great pearls of wisdom. You just don't seem to listen. It's to the point where I believe one of two things about you... and I don't know that I care which one it actually is.
1 - You are a black man who hates the world, and everyone in it. You blame everyone for what has happened to black people, from YEARS past, whether they are "guilty" of it, or not.
2 - You are some punk kid, who's getting his lonely kicks off out of trying to pretend to make up issues that seem to bother you, just to see if you can stir up problems.
I wonder what other boards you attend and post all of this same stuff, to see what sort of a rise you will get out of others.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
It says a lot that it was a local newspaper not a national one because in the main people of all colurs don't bleive that compensation is a worthwhile thing to do. Also how old is this stroy I only ask because the PM has been on holiday since December and has been busy with Iraq, Afghanistan, cash for honours scandel and illgal bungs to S.Arabia and N.Ireland devolution problems before he went away.
Anyway what this has to do with US foreign policy is beyond me but Malcolm have you even looked at the UK's current policies regarding the countires that they took slaves from? and have you looked at the history of the abolition of the slave trade? because if you did you might change your tune.
A lot of slaves did not actually come from Africa some came from the Carribean and Pakistan and India and yes there was a number that came from some West African states. Anyway reghardless of that after the collapse of the Empire and the abolition of the slave trade it would hve been very easy to wave goodbye to these countries but we did not in fact Malcolm to this day former UK colonies recieve economic, political and trade benefits with the UK that most countries could only dream of. In fact it was these trade benefits that led to the UK having a major arguemnt with the USA and Brazil over the so called banana wars in the 90's an arguemnt which almost led the UK from being excluded from the WTO. These countries also know that if they were attacked ( with the possible exception of Pakuistan and India) then the UK would be the first country to send troops to help. So while you are screaming about wanting a big pay day for anyone who may have been a slave think about the benefits that the countries wqe took slaves from receive and ask yourself does that not coiunt in any way as an apology. I thinkn it's better that a whole community thrives as opposed to a few hundred people who have not suffred in any way.
Also as we have been through this many times before Scotland ( part fo the UK) led the way in the abolition of slaves and treatment of former slaves so does that makes us exempt or do we pay less because we assisted former slaves when we had no obligtion to?
Then there are the other issues with these slave payments firstly it's is going to be difficult to prove that you were a descendent of a slave, seceondly even if you could how much are we talking per person what if you were only a slave for 2 years then slavery was abolished do you get less?
More controverisially if you are the descendent of a slave living in the UK and you feel compelled to sue the UK then as far as I am concerned you should pay the UK back for all the things you have got for free so that would be healthcare, education, public sector jobs ( where applicable) social security payments etc etc You know all the stuff you are entiltled to as a UK citizen.
Now because after all you are only here because of a cruel twist of fate your ancestors never wanted to be here and if you are suing the country your family have made home for generations then I assume you don't want to be here either so maybe when you get your cheque ( worth a big fat zero after our expenses in fact we would probably hit you with a bill) we could arrange that you can fly back to your country of origin as far as I am concerned if you have the brass neck to sue your own country for an issue which you have never suffered from in fact in some ways maybe have benefited from then you are as good as a traitor and the UK has no place for you.
However if we are going to start suing everyone for the past then these people are going to have to get in line because I think we will be suing Italy for the slaves the Romans took from England however England won't have it long because Scots that were enslaved or descendentsof those that lost everything during English invasions will no doubt sue for those damages. Undetrred The UK will find the money and go to the UN and demand that Germanies post WW2 guilt clause is reactivated and cher ching we are back in the money now that we have paid off all the Scots, Irish and Welsh descendents of slaves we can also pay off the familes of past slaves sadly howevere that means that our aid to these African and Carreibean countries has to stop because we can't afford both which results in Children dying from sarvation and adults being refused the aid packages we give which in turn leads Malcolm to come back on Inreview and bemoan that fact that UK is not helping African nations.
That's a whole lotta post you put on malcolm's plate, lodgebo! I wonder if he can digest all of it given that he usually seems to reiterate the same points: the world is against Black people and it's everyone's fault! I say stop dwelling on the past and the wrongs of our ancestors and make a positive change for yourself & the future. Rise above it and it won't hold you back, move on & be a positive, proud person no matter your skin colour and history. No offense to malcolm, you are entitled to your opinion and I don't believe you have ever posted anything supporting African Americans who are reaching out to other African-Americans who truly make a difference each & everyday to improve race-relations and develop understanding and forgiveness. Try a different approach for a change, you may be surprised at the effect.
Lawless said this in post #2 : Malcolm... should -I- apologize for the United State's role in slavery? I wasn't even alive during that time. I'm sorry that it ever happened... but, I don't need to apologize for something that I didn't do.
Tony Blair didn't cause slavery in the UK... why does he need to apologize for something that OTHERS have done?
You have a bone to pick, with the entire world... and you're really going about it the wrong way. Take the advice that Sierradaddy has taken time out when he's been on here, to give to you, multiple times, and learn from it... because he gave you some great pearls of wisdom. You just don't seem to listen. It's to the point where I believe one of two things about you... and I don't know that I care which one it actually is.
1 - You are a black man who hates the world, and everyone in it. You blame everyone for what has happened to black people, from YEARS past, whether they are "guilty" of it, or not.
2 - You are some punk kid, who's getting his lonely kicks off out of trying to pretend to make up issues that seem to bother you, just to see if you can stir up problems.
I wonder what other boards you attend and post all of this same stuff, to see what sort of a rise you will get out of others.
This thread comes from an article whose headline that says Blair's Comments On Slave Trade Fall Short. How does this make me the angry Black man? Black people want restitution not for only the 246 years of unpaid labor but for the unimaginable cruelties -lychincing,rapes, beatings,whippings,castrations..etc.
They were never paid and their is no statue of limitatitions for money.
YOU weren't alive then. YOU don't deserve to be paid for something that YOU didn't go through.
I know that what happened to slaves, and many others (and it's not just blacks) is WRONG! But, stop complaining about it. Get off your ass, and talk to your local politicans. Bang on their butts until they do something. But, sitting around the net, whinning about something that YOU think that you're due, isn't helping. You don't deserve a dime. You didn't suffer what they did. None of us did.
And, if blacks should get restitution... how about all the jews, and homosexuals that were locked up, had medical practices on, beaten, killed, etc... because of Hilter? Shouldn't they, and those since, also get restitution? Should I post article after article about homosexuals, and how we've been treated since creation, and demand to have something given to me, that is special? It's not going to happen. Join life, and maybe you will actually find a life.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
This whole thing about money fot the family of slaves seems desperate verging on the pathetic. There is not a person alive who deserves compensation for what happend hundreds of years ago to people they know nothing about.
Lodgebo... unfortunately, there are people who think because they "belong" to a certain group, race, religion, etc.... they should be compensated for something. Hell, then all Christians should be compensated, from the jews, for Christ's death, right? Where does this crap end? It will only end when people start taking responsibility for themselves, and stop pointing a finger, and blaming others.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Lawless said this in post #6 : YOU weren't alive then. YOU don't deserve to be paid for something that YOU didn't go through.
I know that what happened to slaves, and many others (and it's not just blacks) is WRONG! But, stop complaining about it. Get off your ass, and talk to your local politicans. Bang on their butts until they do something. But, sitting around the net, whinning about something that YOU think that you're due, isn't helping. You don't deserve a dime. You didn't suffer what they did. None of us did.
And, if blacks should get restitution... how about all the jews, and homosexuals that were locked up, had medical practices on, beaten, killed, etc... because of Hilter? Shouldn't they, and those since, also get restitution? Should I post article after article about homosexuals, and how we've been treated since creation, and demand to have something given to me, that is special? It's not going to happen. Join life, and maybe you will actually find a life.
What have you are lodgebo read about the slavery of Black people? Anyone who has just an encyclopedia amount of knowledge of Our history couldn't have you or lodgebo's opinion.
Are you saying European Jews have not received any restitution ?
Why do you keep bringing up homosexuality in my post dealing with Black issues? We know youv had abusive relationship with Black man. Are your sure your over it? Recently Isreal warned homosexual jews from having parade downtown. Whhere was your anger?
Malcolm I gave you a whole arguemtn based on facts that are easily checkable and you ignored them what's wrong scared to have an adult debate about the issue or what maybe you should look for that encyclopedia you were talking about.
You talk about Jewsih restitution and that's fine but where is the restitution for the English who were enslaved by the Romans?
And what makes gives the gall to assumke that any Black person living in the UK desrves anything for something that may or may not have happend to thier ancestors hundreds of years ago. Thier ancestors are long since dead and those that are living know have not suffered in any way shape or form and as such dserve sweet FA in fact as I said in an earlier post if anything they have probably had a better standard of living than had they grown up in thier ancestors country of origin, in fact there is no probably about it.
Also consider this just as a side issue. When the salver act was repelled the laves were given two choices either stay in the UK or go home and a vast majority stayed in the UK why do you think that is.
Yes, I've done A LOT of reading, especially of HISTORY! That was my minor in college, and I LOVE it. But, you seem to think that if it happened to a black person, even if it was 300 years ago... and NO ONE related to you, that you deserve restitution.
Why do I bring up homosexuality, or anything else? To prove a point. But, you have blinders on! Truly, I give up on you. You're a lost cause, and I feel pity for you. Too bad that you don't see what EVERYONE else on here sees. That would tell me something, if everyone was saying one thing, but you just skip through the fields, in your own world.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Whyare you intent on trying to prove that Britain is a racist society?
First you attack the Scots for their role in the Slave trade and your belief of their behavour towards blacks in Scotland and now you seem to demand an appology from someone who's great, great grandparents weren't even alive when Britain was involved in Slavery.
What you fail to state is that Britain not only was one of the leading forces in the abolishion of slavery ((starting in SCOTLAND!!!)) but also was one of the first countries to end slavery as an instituion, in the 1830's.
Yes, you could argue that there are racist in Britain but the same can be said about every country aroud the world.
And, food for thought Macolm, Bigotry can be a form of racisim.
((Also,what the bloody hell is this doing in U.S. foreign policy?! It has nothing to do with U.S. foreign Policy!!))
"there's only one way to win a war: shout, shout, and shout again!" - The Duke of Wellington ((Blackadder - Stephen Fry))
I have warned Malcolm a 1000 times not to put stuff in here. In the past, I moved it to the right forum for him. But he wore me down. He wants to post stuff here, I can't stop him.
He never reads anything I write anyhow. Malcolm is more of a poster than a reader me thinks.
As for my laziness, I will try to roll in here this weekend and clean up the threads that have nothing to do with U.S. F.P. and move them to the right forums.
I think that I found THE perfect spot for this thread (and possibly many others that malcolm does in the future). Racism... Agree2Disagree. It seems that all he wants to do is argue that HE is right, and we (the world) are all wrong. And, they all (the threads he starts) seem to be about racism, and the wrong against, the entire black race (past, present, and future).
So, from now on, move them here, Whidden.... period.
BTW, white tiger, I just wanted to say that I liked your post. It was given with actual INFORMATION, which is more than I can say about the originator. But, I won't waste my time arguing with a closed person. I'm a history buff, and had history as my minor, with thoughts of teaching it to the college level. Still, the guy thinks that he is right, and we're all wrong.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
I want an apology from every middle eastern person I meet for that dude who mugged me when I was 13. I never quite got over that, and they're all to blame..... right? Or is that racist? Sorry, I'm still trying to work out the rules here.
"I'm for it so we can put Nuclear power plants up there, and then beam the power back to earth on a laser beam." ~ Whidden
01-05-2007 12:55 AM
It has nothing to do with U.S. foreign Policy!!))
