Church of England Considers Slavery Payments; London's Mayor Apologizes for Slave Trade
by Michael Ireland
March 30, 2007
LONDON, ENGLAND (ANS) -- The Church of England is considering whether it should pay reparations for its role in the slave trade, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said, and London's Mayor has apologized for the city's involvement in the slave trade, says a report on the BBC website.Dr Rowan Williams told BBC Radio 4's Trade Roots program there was "no quick solution" but the Church was beginning to ask and "work at" the question. The Church, which owned slaves on plantations in the Caribbean, apologized for its role in slavery last year.
Sunday was the 200th anniversary of UK legislation abolishing the slave trade and Dr Williams and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, led a procession through London on Saturday to mark the bicentenary, the BBC said.
The slaves owned by the Church were eventually freed in 1833 -- 26 years after the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. The Church received government compensation for the loss of slave labor of almost £9,000 ($18,000 USD).
Dr Williams told Trade Roots that the Church needed to consider whether it should make reparation. "While it sounds simple to say all right so we should pass on the reparation that was received [when the slaves were freed], exactly to whom?" he said.
"Exactly where does it go? And exactly how does it differ from the various ways in which we try to interact now with the effects of that in terms of aid and development and so forth? So I haven't got a quick solution to that. I think we need to be asking the question and working at it. That, I think we're beginning to do."
He said Anglicans needed to acknowledge that they belonged to an institution partly shaped "by terrible things that our forbears did," the BBC article reported.
Meanwhile, Dr Sentamu has called on Britain to make a formal apology for the slave trade.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Sunday the country's role was a "matter of deep sorrow and regret." But his statement appeared to fall short of demands from campaigners who say he has not gone far enough, the BBC said.
London Mayor 'Sorry' For Slavery
Mayor Ken Livingstone has formally apologized for London's role in the slave trade. He called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to follow suit by issuing an official apology on behalf of the UK, the BBC reported.
"The government's refusal of such an apology is squalid," he said, on the eve of the bicentenary of legislation to abolish the slave trade.
Livingstone urged fellow Londoners to join him in apologizing for this "monstrous crime." He said France, the US state of Virginia, the city of Liverpool, and the Church of England had formally apologized over slavery.
"By apologizing, we begin the process of reconciliation and addressing the legacy of this gross act of inhumanity. It will be infinitely better for our country's reputation if that apology is made now justly, frankly and openly," he said, and added: "Delay demeans our country."
Blair has previously expressed "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in the slave trade, a Downing Street spokesman said. In an article for the New Nation newspaper in November 2006, he said it had been "profoundly shameful."
But Blair apparently stopped short of issuing a full apology, which some commentators have demanded.
Simon Woolley, the director of Operation Black Vote, said London's mayor had made a "bold but undeniable statement."
"By apologizing, we begin the process of reconciliation and addressing the legacy of this gross act of inhumanity," he said. "It is important because the legacy of slavery remains with many black people on a daily basis."
The Bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery Act, which banned the British trans-Atlantic slave trade, was on March 25, 2007.
© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.
