Should the government apologise for the slave trade?

thats why we have a Democracy, he obviously feels strongly about the issue so fair play to him

This 'empty apology' you are referring to isnt empty to alot of people, I dont see why Blair/Liz cant just say it......its pathetic. If you work for a company and someone makes a mistake which you have to deal with, you apologise to the customer as a representative of the company.

If my father killed a 5yr old I'd feel no guilt at all. Ashamed, abhorred, cheated etc... but not guilty.

why would you feel ashamed?

it had nothing to do with you.

its more complex than that though andy, the luxourious lifestyle you lead is directly linked to the slave trade....

no, its merely a recognition of one of the wrongs we have commited as a society.

And there's a legitimate argument that the future generations of slaves prospored and lived a much grander life than they ever would of in africa... the slave trade may of ultimately worked to their advantage (unlike the jews who were killed in the holocaust - that reaped no rewards )

Stigma, tarred with the same brush etc.

But that's inapplicable for the slave trade, as it's so remotely connected to me as to be almost unrelated. And yes you might say I'm benfiting from wealth/empire built on slavery, but then so are a lot of young black people my age. Should they apologise for benefitting from it too?

you'd feel ashamed incase people tarred you with the same bursh? you're quite the caring individual.

I want the English and Campbell bastards to apologise for murdering and running my ancestors out of Scotland.

There are so many groups of people who have wronged and been wronged in the past. I dont think an apology years later from people who played no part in the events really does any good. Yes, regret can be expressed but i'm not going to apologise (or have someone apologise on my behalf) for events beyond my control and my ancestors probably played little part in.

Without wanting to sound unrespectful to people who obviously think its worthy, I cant help feeling that people who are searching for an apology are wasting their lives imo.

On the flip side, if an apology will give these people what they are looking for then maybe its worth it, but as said before, its probably a hollow apology.

Should we apologise to the Australian aboriginies for sending prisoners over there and virtually wiping them out?

Should we apology to the Native Americans?

Should every German apologise for WW2?



Did the Jews apologise for killing Jesus?



What a load of nonsense. If my father killed somone why would I feel guilt? I've done nothing wrong.:spangled:

I watched a programme about this black guy who was going around asking companies such as lloyds insurance for apologies about the slave trade. He wasn't getting anything back like. He also got in a team of people to try and calculate the compensation owed to the ancestors and it added up to a figure in the trillions.

what about the egyptians,the romans,the syrians,the turks ?? all are known for enslaving blacks & other poor nations way way before northern europeans had even seen a "black" person.

every country in the world has at some point in history attacked,killed,invaded and destroyed another nation....we are doing it now in iraq & afghanistan.

its called progress/growth and we small people will never have a say in any of it...wether we agree with it or not !!!

i dont think an apology will even make a difference.

fair enough feel regret but an apology coming from a generation of people who have nothing to do with it is pointless and as mentioned empty.

most nations have at some point gained wealth/power by enslaving others. its partof history and now we are much civilised we no longer for force people into slavery.... we give them 1p per hour and give them 12 hour shifts instead, so everyones a winner

I would feel more responsibility as I would wonder if there was something I could have done to prevent it. Which is not the case for the slave trade.