Why would a man beg forgiveness for a crime he did not commit? The man is British PM Tony Blair. The crime is the dastardly slave trade, an egregious practice that spanned between the 13th and 20th century, equated in cruelty only by the Holocaust and certainly unparalleled in its duration of racial subjugation. But as they say, the past is the past. The erring governments have since mended their ways, the victims are long dead, and their descendants now enjoy the full rights of citizenship in these formerly oppressive countries. So why dredge up this frankly forgettable issue from the backwaters of history?
Perhaps the overbearing reason is that, unlike those who pioneered the abolition of slavery, the rest opted to accept it, not to eradicate an injustice, but merely to save face, and would otherwise have voted to jolly well continue reaping the cushy conveniences that black servitude offered. And while the shame has been forgotten, this demeaning mindset has persisted and can still be perceived when races interrelate. Africans are still prejudicially associated with all brawns and no brains, supremacist political parties are allowed legitimacy in European states, and western-sourced loans are stringed with quartets of caveats, each structured to perpetuate rather than truncate dependency. Meanwhile, these governments who are especially swift to slam sanctions on nations that flout fundamental human rights maintain excellent diplomatic ties with Arab emirates and sultanates where traffic in forced labour is still being practised. Even more worrisome is that the bile of this trend has permeated injuriously into black societies in these countries, where products of biracial relationships, or mulattos, are maligned and systematically ostracised.
This is not to deny Africa’s share in the blame, nor does it turn a blind eye to genuine efforts by the West to ‘do the right thing’. But the question remains what is the right thing, and what it certainly ISN’T is brushing the "blighted bugger" under the carpet with a blanket apology every half century or so. Something more concrete than verbal contrition is required, more dignified than a donation is necessary to repose such recollections of history more comfortably in the Western consciousness. Maybe a Mea Culpa Park of sculpted monuments should be dedicated in the capitals of affected African countries by the Western nations that participated, jointly funded between themselves. Maybe a return of pilfered African artefacts should be included in the symbolic reparation. Maybe Tony Blair should marry Condoleezza Rice - after getting divorced first, of course. This floor is open to suggestions...
