Sorry seems to be the hardest word

2007 marks the bicentenary of the passing of the British Act of Parliament that outlawed the Slave Trade in the Empire. Glad for the rare chance to simulate a beating heart, and in true Third Way Clinton-ian style, Tony Blair this week saw it fit to address the matter of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade.

I have never much liked the tag "African", when used in dealing with issues between states; not just because it is a very general term, and therefore leads to events like Clinton’s Ugandan slavery ‘regret’ speech, but also because it is laden with profoundly racist undertones. Predictably, such entreaties as Clinton’s when served to the wrong audience elicit cold responses, like Museveni’s riposte that the regrets were not in order as Africans had sold themselves into slavery. Eastern Africa had very little experience of slavery, nothing much more for example than that experienced by the British at the hands of the Moroccans for example.

Back to Tony Blair: Deflated, limping and lame, with the blood of thousands of Iraqis and Lebanese staining his hands, he looks for all the scents of Africa to expiate himself. So he gives an interview, in a UK black magazine-New Nation; and in the words of the papers, expresses deep sorrow for the UK’s involvement in slavery. He - however they report - falls short of expressing an out and out apology, like he did in the case of The Irish Potato Famine. Sadly, this deft act of subterfuge on the part of the papers went largely unnoticed. Here are his actual words,

'I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition - but also to express our deep sorrow that it could ever have happened and rejoice at the better times we live in today.'

Remove the Bliarite© blather in the subordinate clauses, and all you are left with is a crocodilishly soggy, ’I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance to express our deep sorrow.’ No regrets, no apologies, the chance was there, but it has not been taken. Again, nothing is said about slavery itself, which for all those who survived the boat ride across the Black Atlantic, not to mention the auctions and the branding was another level of hell altogether. So it is the end of the trade that we are looking to celebrate with Blair, even though black people continued to live in his value laden world under oppression for more than half a century after that.

So 450 years of hard and unpaid work by black people, and the bloody proceeds of the triangular trade underwrote not just the Industrial Revolution, but also the foundations of much of the Western world. The cruelty and dehumanisation of those dark days may have passed, and doubtlessly we are all indebted to those who bravely fought for abolition of the trade. Men like Wilberforce, Pitt, Fox, and Burke‘s examples could hardly be more exigent than they are in our fear-filled days.

Many argue that an apology would do more harm than good, as it would be seen as an admission of guilt and therefore open the floodgates to inordinate, unchaste calls for reparations. But, that is not what this is about; in the best words of Derrida the meaning of forgiveness must be predicable ‘on the ground of salvation, atonement, reconciliation and redemption.’

That the descendants of the slaves and the nations they left behind, perhaps vicariously even all black people, are still suffering the effects of the devastation wrought by this great cruelty, is not in question. To reach out and lend a brotherly hand, seeking forgiveness, would set Britain and these peoples along the way to a better relationship, and could set the tone for a new disposition on trade and international politics.

The Church of England, which also grew wealthy from slavery has for its part apologised, as have the Japanese to the Koreans for the atrocities of World War II. Germany every day bears the burden of the Shoah and beats itself up about it. The Catholic Church has apologised for the Church’s errors during the days of fascism and for its ugliness towards Galileo.

Will the extreme atrocity of slavery never be addressed? Are Africans less worthy of the empathy of their fellow men?

The two finger salute has different meanings, depending on how it is displayed. This week Tony Blair had an opportunity to make peace, and extend a healing hand of friendship to the descendants of those who suffered the cruelty of slavery. Instead he chose to stick-it-up to them.