Following up our recent post on the Church of England's new fund to address the legacy of slavery, Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary, Churches Together in England, and MJR advisor has written this article for Premier Christianity magazine. His verdict is that "£100m is a drop in the ocean in terms of righting the wrongs of the slave trade", but "it does attempt to direct compensation in the right direction".
Mike also refers to contributions about the slave trade by historian David Olusoga, journalist Afua Hirsch and academic Prof Kehinde Andrews in the recent Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary. This important content has been lost in the subsequent media attention on other issues. Hirsch tells viewers that: “the first ever commercial slave voyage conducted by Britain was personally financed by Queen Elizabeth I. It continued to be financed by kings and queens right up until its abolition”. Olusoga reflects on what he was taught about the slave trade at school, “the only aspect…that was ever talked about was the abolition of slavery.” This is a “very selective slice of the history”, he says, and misses out “a critical aspect.” Slavery wasn’t just abolished, the slave owners “were compensated enormously. £20 million for their human property!”.
Read the full article here.
Mike also refers to contributions about the slave trade by historian David Olusoga, journalist Afua Hirsch and academic Prof Kehinde Andrews in the recent Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary. This important content has been lost in the subsequent media attention on other issues. Hirsch tells viewers that: “the first ever commercial slave voyage conducted by Britain was personally financed by Queen Elizabeth I. It continued to be financed by kings and queens right up until its abolition”. Olusoga reflects on what he was taught about the slave trade at school, “the only aspect…that was ever talked about was the abolition of slavery.” This is a “very selective slice of the history”, he says, and misses out “a critical aspect.” Slavery wasn’t just abolished, the slave owners “were compensated enormously. £20 million for their human property!”.
Read the full article here.
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