He saw how enslaved people who had risen up were burnt to death, castrated or mutilated, punishments he regarded as merited. I brought up paedophilia to demonstrate that there are things not worth my time. How would Nigeria treat a foreigner like him? and while the responsible state still exists, Theres a fundamental weakness with all theories of universal law or justice, which is that across time and space, the human conception of what is right and just seems to be extremely varied and rarely (to modern Western eyes) pleasant.. Required fields are marked *. Olusoga has benefited from and added significantly to the work of Fryer and other historians such as James Walvin. That involved killing the adult men. 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. 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. Tull played professional football for Northampton but instead of signing up for Glasgow Rangers, he enlisted. In 1796, a bill was defeated by only four votes: a group of abolitionist MPs went to the opera and missed the vote. Shouldnt Olusoga be writing in Ubangi bantu-language? Rather the constitution banned the slave trade and so it become economically worth it to make sure slaves lived longer. Pretty much everybody in the West is against slavery. The historian and producer said he wanted to. Reckon they found commenters guessing which parts of a hypothetical argument were meant all part of the fun, In many respects youre one of the posters here whose views on morality Im closest to our personal moralities probably being quite far apart, but I recognise mine as very much the product of my upbringing and surrounding society and know enough about other places and times to realise just how contingent that makes them. Fought to STOP southern independence. ), Who is fundamentally right about reparations for slavery? But Ill tell you what, slavery and human sacrifice, still awful. Make sure it doesnt happen in the least costly way. White people will take it. First launched in London in 1987, it aims to highlight and celebrate what black people have achieved in Britain throughout history. I think a case could be made. TV historian David Olusoga claims it is "palpable nonsense" to say that removing controversial statues "somehow impoverishes history". Not sure how sick this makes me. You lost those two. You know, entirely ignoring lifetime effects? You dont have esoteric discussions with paedophiles any more than you would with serial killers. I havent said anything about my personal sense of guilt or responsibility. What difference has it made? The world has seen more slavery since its abolition than before. You can pay all the reparation for historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary, you want. It does not take people long to starve to death and slaves were paid for. Hey, we do not even have to go that far. By this logic, we ought to sue the African American community. 5 quotes from David Olusoga: 'On a peninsula protruding into one of the great highways of the Atlantic slave trade, a few hundred refugees from British slavery in North America were attempting to recreate the social structures of Northern Europe in the Middle Ages.', 'Time and again events and phenomena that we think we know and understand contain within them lost or camouflaged connections to . They did not care much for adult males. And tolerance is not a given. He presented the recent series of A House Through Time on BBC 2, and Black and British: A Forgotten History. Particularly as nowadays anyone who dares even look at someone a few days below the age of consent is believed to be an incorrigible nonce who deserves hanging, castration, or castration by hanging. But there have been other societies with slavery where slaves had more autonomy and a greater chance of buying their freedom. That someone did something 200 years ago means double ought nothing. This is nothing to do with slavery or as with black lives matter, blacks being shot, and everything to do with a shakedown of the white man. Olusoga unloads all sorts of characterizations. Shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, he, and other survivors, were taken by an African tribe as captives. David Olusoga Read about our approach to external linking. And even if you personally disagree with it, what would be the strongest argument for some form of legal settlement? I have that estimate saved and ready to be critiqued as part of a larger project. A fifty quid note in the hand of the first black bloke you encounter. Just as how in the 16th century the anti-slavery voices in Europe were overwhelmed, and in the 19th century the abolitionists won out. Olusoga is making an appeal to white guilt. And, of course, being half white, he is only entitled to half the reparation payment. Anybody can do this. You might have heard of a Romano-British chap called Patrick, got enslaved and nabbed to Ireland? Get back to me in seven years, when youre ready to order. The New Statesmans weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. Supported by African authors of slave narratives such as Olaudah Equiano and Ottabah Cugoano, they held meetings all over the country, attracting huge crowds. Although I would expect the Germans, and perhaps even the Japanese, to be happy they lost the war. The masses who once supported black freedom now campaigned for the Deep South. Might, in this case, being 100% of the debating point. The answer is money. David Olusoga's Family David Olusoga, age 49 was born to a Nigerian father and a British mother. It has been reissued by publishing house Hodder and Prof Olusoga has written the foreword. Maybe someone should advise him to button his lip before he stirs up something he may not like. Country Star Kacey Musgraves: Voting for Trump Is an Act of Violence. MBE: The problem with the UK paying reparations is that people like Olusoga would have to pay their share of the greatly increased taxes. I agree BIS. They also ran a slave trade to the Ottoman empire and white slavery in the north without any help from Europeans. Ironically, one of the sources we can turn to in order to learn more is his own accounts of late 17th-century Jamaica. She had no interest in esoteric discussions of the war. If we look back history is just an unending series of atrocities. David Olusoga is a 49-year-old historian and presenter Credit: Getty - Contributor David Olusoga is a British Nigerian historian, broadcaster and writer. So he calls himself a Geordie. Yet American slave-produced raw cotton continued to feed the 4,500 mills of Lancashire. 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. The Royal African Company, established by Charles II in 1672, eventually enslaved and transported more Africans than any other company in British history. John Mandeville, whose travelogue (circa 1356) was one of the most widely translated books of the later Middle Ages, presented Africans as naked savages living amid heaps of gold to which they gave no value. One of the reasons why the American and Caribbean experiences were very different. But those were in those long-lost days when democrats and republicans could talk to each other and agree to disagree while both leaving the conversation a little the wiser. "I have," he admits, "a habit of . In that moment, his interest in history overlapped. A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. Its an interesting exercise to consider, given we live within such a system, how or whether that contradiction can be settled. Their cities, as well as their comfort, will rapidly decay. Societies have had a long history of treating minorities harshly. Even discussing it gives your opponents arguments merit. Id say this to Mr Olusoga. The UK, Norway, Benelux, Spain, Malta and Switzerland are, I believe, the only western European countries to set it at 16. Thats what I dont like about the angle of Tims header. Dr Peter Olusoga is a senior psychology lecturer at Sheffield Hallam university. I am of Ulster Scot heritage, who were originally John Knoxs Cumberland Presbyterians, VERY MUCH against slavery. Not many remember anything about segregation either. He was born in Nigeria but arrived in the . 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. Hes welcome to pursue his line of thought but he should bear in mind that tolerance is, by its nature, in the gift of the powerful. Fair point. Just how much should Olusoga receive? By a Senegalese author: The veiled genocide = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxc5ENT8ajg, MyBurningEars August 30, 2020 at 11:52 am Slavery within West African societies being different again I dont think the places with very high rates of local slavery were anything like the sugar plantations. Surely the US has already spent much more than that on black Americans. Why are these characterizations needed? Like Fryers book, Olusogas will inspire and will come to be seen as a major effort to address one of the greatest silences in British historiography. I am happy with Olusogo paying reparations to himself. There is no reason to single White people out for unique levels of criticism. Olusoga has written stand-alone history books as well as those accompanying his television series. They organised a boycott of sugar, produced more petitions and hosted meetings. To me personally, this is the thing. Duke University professor, William Darity Jr, and writer, Kirsten Mullen, jointly published a report for The Roosevelt Institute, an American liberal think tank, laying out a case for slavery reparations. But a group of 12 disciples of Christ set out to change things. "This generation has the greatest knowledge-giving tool ever created and they have access to knowledge that I just did not have when I was younger. The Celtic version of slavery (which ran to quite a different model) was still going on in the places the Romans didnt reach. And the Domesday Book even counts slaves as a separate category below the unfree peasants (villans, bordars and cottars) those owed service to a Lord who could order them to move about and could say yes or no to their proposed marriages, but unlike slaves he didnt own them, couldnt sell them, and they had property rights to at least a smallholding. Now they do. If black lives really mattered these people would be protesting the 500 shot dead so far by predominantly black men in Chicago this year. And I dont think this is what reparations campaigners are calling for either, as I understand it their argument includes systematic legacy issues not just the period of slavery itself, so the harm relates more directly to them not just their ancestors. The problem with slavery is that it left us with their descendents and weak minded White populations. He has discovered new and exciting research materials in African archives, among them the Register of Liberated Africans in Sierra Leone, which list names, bodily details, ethnicity and origins, thus putting a human face on people otherwise treated as fodder and statistics. The Benin Dialogue Group announced it had brokered an agreement that will see "some of the most iconic" of the bronzes returned to Benin City, Nigeria, where they will be housed in the soon-to-be-built Benin Royal Museum. The arguments do you want to get shaken down for several trillion? We do not know for sure. The Barbados slave code of 1661 stripped Africans of all human rights, and set out ways in which they were to be punished, to exert control over their labour (mutilation of the face, slitting of nostrils, castration, execution). This ignorant fellow should study historical facts, rather than believing and repeating lies and half-truths. If you want to pay more tax, just write a cheque to HMRC and send it off. His book is a product of that childhood terror, and partly an exploration of his condition as a black Briton. If slavery really mattered theyd be campaigning for reparations from the blacks and arabs/moslems who were doing it long before the white man arrived in Africa and was far more devastating. By David Dabydeen (Photo By Alamy) Nineteen eighty-four was a transformative year for David Olusoga. Wrong ?!?! They did not pay for them and were going to kill a lot of them anyway. 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? Its entirely possible to think something was awful without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt or personal responsibility. Sure. And so, equipped with the fruits of Islamic learning (new navigational instruments, books on astronomy and trigonometry), European explorers set sail for Africa to relieve the natives of their gold. 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. What do you think their stongest argument is? Writing in english is cultural appropriation so STFU. Women such as Elizabeth Heyrick continued to lobby for the abolition of slavery. 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. "He was the voice of somebody who wasn't speaking about the past as a historian, but was living it. Prof David Olusoga has presented numerous documentaries including A House Through Time and Black and Black and British: A Forgotten History, Olaudah Equiano played a role in Britain's abolishment of slavery, Performer Giles Terera has written a play featuring Equiano, Prof Olusoga said when it was published, people did not believe the book was by an African as it was deemed so well written, Bernardine Evaristo (second left) has launched a series called Black Britain: Writing Back which features novels by black British authors that have been overlooked, Should black history be taught all year round? Purely speculatively, and as a matter of prediction rather than judging whats best, its hard to imagine large-scale reparations ever being adopted in Blighty because the ratio of losers to winners with the vote (presuming eg British Asians would be ineligible for compensation) is going to remain unfavourable and the cost of reparations across the relevant parts of the old Empire (if youre compensating British Jamaicans, presumably youre going to compensate all the Jamaicans in Jamaica once youve accepted the principle) would be considerable. Tim may be wrong about stuff, but ..that, ultimately, makes up for his beating squirrels to death for a hobby, Tim Worstall a horrid man who is anti-minimum wage among other repugnant things Socialist News. The Westman Islands of Iceland have an interesting history in terms of European slavery a major rebellion of presumably mostly Irish (Westmen) slaves was put down there in the typically brutal Scandinavian manner, hence the name, but in the 1600s the local inhabitants were themselves enslaved by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers, from where a few were ransomed back and one wrote about the experience. But it is also likely that disease played a role. "We are on a journey in this country and other countries are on similar journeys to try and reconnect to parts of our history that had traditionally been edited out," adds Prof Olusoga. There is no reason to think one system was more or less brutal than the other. As it happens, I dont believe in sins of the fathers passing down the generations. After decades of complaints, the Royal African Company lost its monopoly in 1712 and, Olusoga writes, Independent traders were turned loose upon the shores of Africa. 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