Tuesday, May 08, 2007
It's really not my fault
My post was pipped yesterday by Cliff writing about whether we should feel guilty for the slave trade. I’d been mulling over a blog about generational responsibility after chatting to American friends who, describing their trip to Ireland, told us how much the Irish hate us because of all the terrible things we did to them, especially allowing them to starve during the potato famine (actually, if that’s true they disguise it very well, but maybe they think the Americans expect a bit of Brit bashing and don’t want to disappoint).
For years I’ve tended to metaphorically hang my head in shame or silently squirm with embarrassment as various nationalities have accused me personally of the most heinous crimes against their people, but some of the rubbish being broadcast during the anniversary of the abolition of slavery celebrations has brought me, far too late I know, to the realisation that I don’t have to accept responsibility for what others have done.
It’s interesting that the most vociferous campaigners for justice often have their own agenda which has nothing to do with human rights, as I saw in an interview recently when a descendant of a slave was demanding compensation from the government, but when asked about the slave trade currently flourishing in Africa and carried on by fellow blacks, she retorted angrily that as far as she was concerned, the African slave trade was not an issue that needed addressing - the obvious conclusion being that it wasn’t so much the principle of the slave trade she was raging against but her own personal loss of culture and the fact that she carried an English name, so tough luck for the thousands of people still caught up in slavery.
And yes, the British Government’s treatment of the Irish was appalling but it can’t be judged by today’s standards. It’s likely that most people had only the vaguest notion of what was happening and there was no Bob Geldoff demanding ‘give me your fucking money’ to help.
But exploitation isn’t confined to race. It happens whenever there are people in positions of power with no laws to control them. As well as the slave trade, plenty of men got rich on child labour, child prostitution was rife in Victorian England, men could beat their wives with impunity, take their goods and deprive of them of their children just because there was no law to stop them.
And if in 50 years’ time the Iraqis feel justified in accusing an American or English person they meet of destroying their country, they’ll never know that a million people protested on the streets of London against the invasion and that Joe Public didn’t have much of a say in what his government did.
Incidentally, the couple mentioned above also suffer their fair share of American bashing. They are the gentlest people you could hope to meet, have lived a simple life on the Riviera for more than thirty years, constantly turn down offers from developers for any or all of their land in order to preserve the environment, but they’re often harangued by people who seem to think they are personally responsible for America’s carbon emissions.
For years I’ve tended to metaphorically hang my head in shame or silently squirm with embarrassment as various nationalities have accused me personally of the most heinous crimes against their people, but some of the rubbish being broadcast during the anniversary of the abolition of slavery celebrations has brought me, far too late I know, to the realisation that I don’t have to accept responsibility for what others have done.
It’s interesting that the most vociferous campaigners for justice often have their own agenda which has nothing to do with human rights, as I saw in an interview recently when a descendant of a slave was demanding compensation from the government, but when asked about the slave trade currently flourishing in Africa and carried on by fellow blacks, she retorted angrily that as far as she was concerned, the African slave trade was not an issue that needed addressing - the obvious conclusion being that it wasn’t so much the principle of the slave trade she was raging against but her own personal loss of culture and the fact that she carried an English name, so tough luck for the thousands of people still caught up in slavery.
And yes, the British Government’s treatment of the Irish was appalling but it can’t be judged by today’s standards. It’s likely that most people had only the vaguest notion of what was happening and there was no Bob Geldoff demanding ‘give me your fucking money’ to help.
But exploitation isn’t confined to race. It happens whenever there are people in positions of power with no laws to control them. As well as the slave trade, plenty of men got rich on child labour, child prostitution was rife in Victorian England, men could beat their wives with impunity, take their goods and deprive of them of their children just because there was no law to stop them.
And if in 50 years’ time the Iraqis feel justified in accusing an American or English person they meet of destroying their country, they’ll never know that a million people protested on the streets of London against the invasion and that Joe Public didn’t have much of a say in what his government did.
Incidentally, the couple mentioned above also suffer their fair share of American bashing. They are the gentlest people you could hope to meet, have lived a simple life on the Riviera for more than thirty years, constantly turn down offers from developers for any or all of their land in order to preserve the environment, but they’re often harangued by people who seem to think they are personally responsible for America’s carbon emissions.
