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. "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.". Not sure theyd do that with modern sensibilities mind you. His exposure to Nigerian culture seems quite limited. What difference has it made? No doubt life expectancy of a slave was shorter than that for a free man. Oh man. Had a vault for the more inflammatory pieces. I cant see this one surviving people being expected to dig into their pockets for a few trillion. Olusoga is just getting even because he was attacked by the right when he was a teenager. His black half can get the half-payment direct from his white half. 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. Both of these need proof. I havent said anything about my personal sense of guilt or responsibility. Maybe someone should advise him to button his lip before he stirs up something he may not like. Whitey bad, give me cash? They all get it from White people inciting violence. 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. And the fact youre moved to tears by discovering for the first time a great-great-great-grandmother of yours was a prostitute single-mum with seven kids or a great-x5-uncle you had never heard of was imprisoned for murder, well, your utter lack of knowledge simply reveals how little youve been influenced by them, so youre hardly discovering a new facet of yourself at all. Thousands of petitions were presented to parliament. Rather the constitution banned the slave trade and so it become economically worth it to make sure slaves lived longer. The stars are out as Dr Pete Olusoga explores the psychology of stage and screen with the wonderful British actor (and Coronation Street veteran), Shobna Gulati. 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. Anyway, I digress, we did have at some point, a gang of pedos turn up and put their case, reasonably, and were tolerated and conversed with. Video, 00:02:30Should black history be taught all year round? Shouldnt matter whether some long-dead relative fought long ago for or against (not at all to disparage your ancestors GC, who all sound very sound) in terms of whether somethings your fault. 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. Long after slavery ended in the British colonies, British people continued to lobby the American government to free their slaves. What do you think their stongest argument is? How could Britain, a civilised and Christian nation, indulge in rape, torture, killing and the forced labour of Africans over two centuries? They arent going to concede anything. It has been reissued by publishing house Hodder and Prof Olusoga has written the foreword. That was a bad experience but he should know that you cannot judge a whole country by what happened when he was young. Forbes magazine's extraordinarily arrogant contributor Tim Worstall Jeremy Corbyn. Shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, he, and other survivors, were taken by an African tribe as captives. Full text must be online somewhere but theres an extract at https://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-real-vikings/articles/eyewitness-to-the-vikings. Guess wed have to print it. Pope Nicholas V gave his blessing, so long as the Vatican benefited. Two men managed to escape and were rescued, but not before my great, great, grandfather was beaten, starved and worked to death, his body thrown into the jungle for the animals and insects to dispose of. People seem pretty much agreed on what is right and what is wrong. Peter Pan & Wendy is a live-action reimagining of the J.M . The best and brightest minds in the UK defended Stalins slavery. His dad met his mom at the city's university in the 1960s. Support 100 years of independent journalism. It was far too real to her. In the USA? Some were sold to other African tribes and the rest kept as slaves. Cest de la trs bonne dialectique conomique. David Olusoga Historian, broadcaster and film-maker. Rapidly promoted to sergeant, then second lieutenant, he led white British troops into action and died in 1918, having been mentioned in despatches and recommended for the Military Cross. David Olusoga, 49, is a television presenter and historian. Nevertheless, we live in a society that generally regards slavery as an absolute and eternal wrong, and a grave one at that, yet which has historically (at least certain people and places, and including the state itself) benefited from imposing slavery on others. Obama had none. Video, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat, BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3: The Meaning of Zong, BBC Bitesize: The Zong 1781-1783 - The triangular trade, during a debate on Black History and Cultural Diversity in the Curriculum, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Fungus case forces Jack Daniels to halt construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Fire knocks out half of Argentina's power grid, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, Starbucks illegally fired workers over union - judge. No member of my family ever owned slaves. White people are unique in ending slavery across the world*. 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. I had a girlfriend whose mother was a Nazi. So this race baiter can try his guilt trip on someone else. And he might not find the society withdraws it nearly as comfortable for him to live in. Cotton was a completely different slave economy. I just dont really get what Olusoga is saying. This is a moral argument. 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. Check out the trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy, an upcoming live-action movie directed by David Lowery. The German survivors of Stalingrad were sent to camps and most of them worked to death. But maybe they did not. Writing in english is cultural appropriation so STFU. Prof Olusoga says statues, such as those of slave traders . Im not even saying thats a convincing argument, it has some very serious weak points, just that I reckon its a stronger one than a general appeal about current inequality. As he states, The oral history of 20th-century racial violence has never been collected or collated, but it is thereand it is shocking.. Over 150 years in America. For some peculiar reason possibly because theres a section of Western society has become very insecure about its own position its being some credence. I suspect that whether records could prove it or not, its overwhelmingly likely to be true, especially since high-status individuals tend to make a bigger contribution to the gene pool. He was Chairman of Moneysupermarket Group from 2014 to 2019 and Senior Independent Director of Close Brothers Group plc from 2006 to 2014 and is a Past President of the Chartered Management Institute. 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. And yet anti-black race riots broke out in 1948 in Liverpool and in 1958 in Nottingham and Londons Notting Hill. "They were barely known even to historians. It is about the centuries-long engagement with Africa, a consequence of which is the black presence in Britain. In that moment, his interest in history overlapped. Nobody will stop you, honest. Both groups today, especially the former, could reasonably claim historic persecution has reduced their present income and wealth. Its entirely possible to think something was awful without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt or personal responsibility. 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. The world has seen more slavery since its abolition than before. Then the adult men became profitable too. Would, say, Huguenot-descended South Africans suing France over the 1572 St. Bartholomews Day massacre, or Cornish people suing HMG for the suppression of the 1497 Rebellion, deserve compensation?. Olusoga was born in Lagos to a White mother and a Nigerian father - who, I hate to say nautrally, did a runner. 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. Not a big fan of the odd human sacrifice Im afraid, even though I might just be of very partial Scandinavian descent myself. Nineteen eighty-four was a transformative year for David Olusoga. Less flippantly, Western countries are not of one mind when it comes to the age of consent sex with a 14 year-old is legal in some countries, criminal in others (yes yes, paedophilia versus ephebophilia etc, you got me).. There is no reason to single White people out for unique levels of criticism. . 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. My first reaction, years and years ago, was thats awful. During the Second World War, thousands of black American soldiers stationed in Britain were befriended by white Britons who opposed efforts by the white military to segregate them. He also studied at the University of Liverpool and so benefits from slavery as much as anyone else. Sugar was king: originally a luxury, it became one of the main sources of calories for the British poor. TV presenter David Olusoga has told the Edinburgh TV Festival his career had sometimes left him feeling "crushed, isolated," and "disempowered". Exactly, bis. 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?). What has Nigeria ever done for him? MBE: The problem with the UK paying reparations is that people like Olusoga would have to pay their share of the greatly increased taxes. Not to say it was nice.. They are stupid false for America. He was born in Nigeria but arrived in the . (I suppose it makes a point about blame not being distributed homogeneously, or that a certain group of people shouldnt be guilted just because they share the same colour of skin with another bunch of people you do think are guilty. That involved killing the adult men. The economics of the slave trade may have meant that it was cheaper to work someone to death rather than allowing him a comfortable old age. Societies have had a long history of treating minorities harshly. It died out with the Romans leaving, and its non-legality repeatedly reaffirmed from the reign of the early Normans onwards. Later his parents separated from each other when he was just two years old. Once insignificant villages, great cities such as Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow sprang up on the profits of slavery. 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? Oblong, Indeed in many cases, whose ancestors didnt even live in France or England at the relevant time. And even if you personally disagree with it, what would be the strongest argument for some form of legal settlement? And the transatlantic slave trade? 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. The race obsessed Department of Education goes to considerable lengths to distinguish Caribbeans and West Africans. people like Olusoga would have to pay their share of the greatly increased taxes Their demands should simply be refused. White communities suffer huge losses from Black crime. many African tribes kept slaves. I imagine few do. Prof Olusoga is not the only person who has been drawn to Equiano's story. I generally reckon cant blame me, my distant relative was on your side arguments are pretty weak since relying on a doctrine of virtues of the fathers risks implicitly accepting sins of the fathers. Olusoga is making an appeal to white guilt. See, five years ago I wouldnt have written a crass comment like that, but hey, times achanging and as financially independent with some FU-money, I dont have to worry about cancellation culture, LOL. In the UK its not white people enslaving blacks anymore, but Asians enslaving other Asians, as in Leicesters clothing sweatshops. Maybe Europeans did increase demand. 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. Hes insisting that a household headed by a 21 year old black should have the average wealth of all white households. Britain should be proud of helping to stop (African to America) slavery, like the Republican Party and unlike the Democrats. I know there are posters on here who see stepping into their opponents perspective as a dangerous and pointless endeavour that gives undue worth to a viewpoint they despise, but purely as a mental exercise theres usually something to be said for examining your opponents strongest argument instead of their weakest. No? The Coldest Case in Laramie: yet another bleak true crime podcast, From Sophie Mackintosh to Stephen Moss: new books reviewed in short, Universal Credit falls short of covering the bare essentials. 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