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Blimey...a bit before he was born I think. I would never blame Blairikins for such a thing. Though I'm sure some black people may find small victory in this I really cant see the point. Especially since a lot of youngsters these days will have multi coloured question marks above their heads thinking: Wot! We were slaves!!!!!?

Its all a bit silly innit..What prompted that then? besides, theres a lot more things he should be apologising for...Like following the US into Iraq for one...Oh yeah and letting Ken Livingstone get away with that bloody congestion charge. lets keep it real and keep it now eh?

And the point of mentioning the dates is apart from demonstrating i couldnt be bothered to use google is what?

no seriously i did think for a moment that someone might want the dates correctly put in but i thought to myself no i wouldnt want to take away the feeling of smug satisfaction from somebody who would like to point them out.

We're still waiting for the US to apologize for the african slave trade but I hate to say it, it ain't forth coming EVER! Me as an african american man here in the US I'm sick and tired of racism upon blacks and really it's getting worse. I have my own way of dealing with it.

Blimey brains and ego what a combination.

I don't know why people still go on about the slave trade.

As some have already stated, 'it was accepted as normal behaviour'. 9 out of 10 white explorers to Africa were killed in ways other Europeans found disgusting. Those that escaped with their lives came home with stories so frightening that a lot of expeditions were cancelled. Quite unjustly, because of these murders, Africans were classed as brutish, uneducated beings that weren't human in the same way we thought of ourselves. Europeans had met a people they thought 'backward', and it was something they'd never encountered before. This was after over a thousand years of war. It was a time where 'if you didn't look after yourself, someone was going to tread on you'. We did what was best for our nation, and so did every other country.

Looking back, I think Britain comes out of this better than any other nation. If it wasn't for the war with the French, the British would have concentrated on the American war and easily won. We were killing them 20-1 but we pulled out due to the French providing assistance, and they were causing trouble nearer to home. Americans paid 25 times less tax than an Englishman and life was fantastic. The war was just over representation in parliament, and the parliament messed up by not giving it them. If we'd have won that war, we'd have saved another 100 years of slavery, as we stopped it around the 1780's , and it was officially abolished around 1807 I think?

Britain also shipped Black Africans back to Africa and set them free (those that wanted to go). Sierra Leone's 'Freetown' is named exactly because that was where British ships set slaves free. Britain also tried to blockade African ports to stop French, Spanish and American ships from taking Black slaves to the new world. We'd done wrong, but were at least trying to make amends.

Though we conquered half the world, it was merely for trade & tactical reasons, rather than pure slavery. Indians are some of the most educated people on Earth 'even more so 100 years ago) and we were the ones that set up the first colleges there.

We could have kept out of the 1st World War, but Germany & the Turks were planning on taking the whole of the middle east & Africa to enslave the whole region. Britain -along with this evil Empire we'd built- nearly bankrupted itself doing the right thing. Again in the 2nd World War we could have ignored Hitler but we bankrupted ourselves to do the right thing. We had nothing left, but was fighting a war on 3 fronts -with the Empires nations helping-. America, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland didn't help. What did America do for the hundreds & thousands of Brits, Australians & Dutch troops that were tortured & worked to death by the Japanese in Korea?

It was only Eisenhower's fear of fighting the Nazi's on one coast, while the Japanese on the other coast that made America start aiding in the war effort, and they made sure Britain begged before providing aid too. It was only after Britain had won the 'Battle of Britain' and gained air superiority did America start sending troops to Europe. Yep, they dealt the final blow on the Nazi's and took all the glory, but they made sure Britain was on it's last legs before helping. A clever tactic that Britain has never recovered from.

So my friends, without Empire there would probably have been more slavery than what actually happened. Without Empire Germany would probably taken the whole of Africa & the middle east, leaving them in a very very strong and influential position, and without Empire, the Nazi's & Japan would have enslaved the world.

I'm sorry Empire happened, but maybe if you were an alien observing our planet for the last 500 years, would you think that the inhabitants were kind of lucky Empire 'did' exist when it did? That maybe Empire helped to save the planet from a far worse & evil threat?

Who knows where we'd be without the Empire, because it really did shape the world -for good or bad- and I doubt the Nazi's would have made a better job.

Sam, Blacks where ever we are should NEVER stop talking about slavery and furthermore we as blacks in the diaspora should take the shackles off our MINDS still in this 21 first century because no doubt slavery still affect and effects us today and if you don't understand?, I ain't gonna TRY to explain it because I run into prejudice and racism everyday and THAT'S A SHAME!

c.j.

It's a shame ANYONE suffers from racism in a multi-cultured society in the 21st century. We should know better these days. We cannot use the 'didn't know any different' excuse that our ancestors could.

I don't think that slavery has anything to do with being black though. It just so happened that the only 'free' workers Europeans came across just happened to be black. Believe me, if these Africans had been yellow, red or white, they'd have been enslaved just the same. It was because they were classed as uneducated, and that they were easy targets, that they were used as slaves. I don't think it was much to do with the colour of their skin.

I never said Black people should forget slavery either. What I meant was people should stop 'going on' about it, if all they're doing is looking for someone to blame. The fact is, the white people of today are in no way to blame for what 'some' white people did 300-200 years ago. Most white Europeans were just poor people trying to earn a living. Probably 95% of the white people at that time never had anything to do with slavery.

As you've already told us, you are black correct?

Were your ancestors slaves or enslavers? Do you know for certain that none of your ancestors ever caught & sold another Black man, to be sold to a white buyer? And as for you telling me about slavery.........well you can't unless you've been enslaved yourself. Being Black doesn't mean you can pull rank on me about this subject unless you're some sort of historian, and slavery just so happens to be your speciality.

I'm not arguing racism c.j..........just slavery.