Slavery reparations - NOT amateur radio

The UK is in a difficult position over slavery centuries ago. 

The UK government at the time of the abolition of slavery in the 1800s paid compensation to slave owners but nothing to slaves.  

There is no doubt that many slave owners and their descendants years later gained benefits from this. I read somewhere that this loan was only finally paid off in 2015!

If we paid reparations now it would cost the UK trillions of pounds. There is absolutely no doubt about the moral nastiness of the slave trade. But these were in different times when our moral compass was far different. 

Should we be paying for the sins of those living in a different age?

White Gold - NOT amateur radio

In the 17th and 18th centuries, many Devon people were captured as slaves by Turks (Barbary Pirates). In all 7000 people were captured and sold in North Africa. Many never returned and died in captivity. 

About half of these came from coastal Devon, so it is highly likely that some of my fishermen ancestors were captured. At that time fishermen travelled thousands of miles to the rich cod banks off Newfoundland and were captured as they left port on their arduous journeys. It must have been a very frightening time.

A very good book was "White Gold" by Giles Milton. Until I read this I knew nothing about this.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_pirates .

Slavery - NOT amateur radio

In recent weeks there has been a lot of focus on how coloured people are treated. This all started with the death of a man in Minneapolis at the hands of policemen. Since then, the "Black Lives Matter" campaign has gathered momentum globally.

A little while ago, I heard that only quite recently has the British government finished debt repayments for a huge loan taken out centuries ago to compensate land owners who lost out when slavery was abolished. If this is true it means many of the wealthiest people in the UK are still living off this centuries later!  Frankly, this is immoral. 

Slavery was/is evil. If injustices still exist today as a result of skin colour this is abhorrent. Until all human beings are treated equally I can understand the festering resentment felt.

Now, I am sure many people today are quite different from their ancestors centuries back. However, it does make you question the human justice in all this.

At school, we hear of the valiant efforts of our brave leaders, but rarely do we get a balanced view showing their darker sides too. We all have darker sides I am sure, but it is wrong surely to put some people on pedestals as good and virtuous people when they have dark sides we never hear about.

I am not in favour of statues being angrily toppled,  but we need to venerate those who strove for a better world and not those who had a much darker side we never knew about. Quite a few we venerate had a very questionable darker side hidden from view. Some endowed great institutions so history would judge them differently. Some of these statues belong in museums with a plaque making clear why these people were seen as great, but also their other sides.

Teach us about the past, good and bad. We need to face up to our history in every nation. Some of our past was good.  Some of our past was not. What we all need is balance and fairness.