A rather large bill......

SueDonim

Perhaps the common folk of Britain could ask the French for reparations for the Norman invasion in 1066, the effects of which are still apparent today.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/17/high-house-prices-inequality-normans

The harrying of the north…

How about some reparation for the fact that some of my Irish ancestors were starved to death during the Potato Famine having been ousted from their homes by the English Absentee Landlords.

Who would end up funding this money if not the ordinary beleagured British Taxpayer who frankly cannot afford their weekly shopping bills, rents or mortgages and /or childcare and mandatory statutory taxes let alone money for something that they did not cause and had nothing to do with.
Someone pointed out that in the 17th and 18th centuries I , as a woman, had no way of influencing political opinion on these practices, because I did not have the vote until the early 20th century.
This is a load of nonsense.
Lenny is a good actor and should stick to acting.

Lenny has been out of the spotlight of late. Once upon a time he used to be funny

Surprise, surprise. LH wants reparations from the British (presumably white) people, yet makes (or has ever made) no public acknowledgement of William Wilberforce, a Brit and key figure in the abolition of slavery, first in Britain, then the empire and finally, globally.
I find LH very divisive and needs to remove the historic chip from his shoulder.

Glenfinnan

No! ….. spend money on the deserving causes of today!

Quite! Spend the money on trying to stop modern day slavery!

Allsorts

Lenny should stick to acting

Or being a comedian. Lenny Henry's demand is ridiculous. It would bankrupt Britain. The country is already on its knees.

I heard Lenny Henry interviewed on radio 4 today, about his book and the history that informs his arguments. He talked about the legacy of slavery we live with in the present day. He was articulate, balanced and imo, very interesting.

I’ve made one visit to America, I felt naive in being made aware of their obvious, visible legacy of slavery. It was ever present in away I’d not experienced in the U.K. I knew people of West Indian heritage and a little of their family history. A friend could only trace his family of origin back to his great gran. They’d no idea which part of Africa their ancestors were taken from and only occasional fragmented memories of ancestors, their lives as slaves.

Ancestor syndrome is imo an interesting psychological theory. We see it in Isreal today. It can’t be impossible surely for the legacy of slavery to be recognised. We don’t teach our history very well. Others have listed the awful experiences their ancestors had. The Irish famine is an obvious one. My ancestors toiled from about age eight in the mills and mines. Their lives were hard, they died young, their children died in infancy, meanwhile the mill owners lived on the fat of the land, not to mention land owners,

As gg13 said earlier, the past is a different country. We can’t change it, we can learn from it. Let’s hope we can do that rather than get into nonsense about who gets compensation, it was wicked to compensate slave owners and leave the freed slaves to starve, we can’t change it, we can acknowledge it

I think I read somewhere that after Britain banned slavery the Royal Navy used to intercept slave ships bound for America at great risk to themselves as often fighting with the slavers broke out which sometimes ended in fatalities.

You are right, Britain was one of the first major powers to ban slavery and fought very hard to suppress it, but that doesn't play well into the divisive narratives that are causing so much harm.

Galaxy

You are right, Britain was one of the first major powers to ban slavery and fought very hard to suppress it, but that doesn't play well into the divisive narratives that are causing so much harm.

In the link I posted yesterday it says that and explains some of the slavery that went on in countries like Ghana-nothing to do with the IK.

UK

Oh for goodness sake I'm so fed up with all of this stuff. I'm half Irish and would like to see some compensation for the potato famine, which was partly caused by British export policy. My Belgian grandmother (other half) was a refugee, hiding in the woods while the Germans burnt her home and hunted her and my two little aunts, aged 1 and 3 - compensation please, it's certainly affected MY ancestral memory! Sorry, this is a forbidden thing to say (although I don't believe it should be) black people need to get over themselves and stop making capital out of the past. So many people were mistreated in the past. In the Industrial Revolution factory workers in this country were tantamount to slaves. Now, in some respects, black people benefit from positive discrimination. We should all stop moaning and be nice to each other.

I’ve often compared the lives of my ancestors who were agricultural workers in the south east, then mill / mine workers in the north with slaves. The biggest difference was my ancestors could, and did, leave.
In what way do black people benefit from positive discrimination?
I agree we should stop moaning. We need to acknowledge our histories, teach it properly and stop denying that slavery leaves a legacy

What about the impoverished working class in slums during the height of the empire ? You know the kids with no clothes or shoes in Victorian London.. how about class reparations? On the streets where they died freezing or in the workhouse or shipped off to the colonies as cheap labour. Canada still hasn’t made reparations for them. Were they any better off?

I have a family connection to a Caribbean island. I don't know what the financial situation was at independence in the 1960s, whether or not Britain made any sort of financial settlement before handing over, but I do know that I have visited it twice and I don't think it's thriving.

I can't help wondering if it was just abandoned when it became independent and some financial help would be 'useful'.

That's really what I think about in terms of 'reparations'. Not individual payouts, but support for individual countries.

This thread did inspire me to do some work on my long neglected family tree and I found lots of information that hasn't been available in the past...

Complete nonsense, publicity seeking by Lenny Henry. This country at the moment is failing to provide so many necessities to so many people because of lack of funds no way can we afford to pay a sum like this. I wonder how many descendants of slaves actually feel this should be a priority.

I agree with Windmill -we were once enslaved by the Roman Empire .
Are we getting any compensation ?
I liked and admired Lenny Henry .
I don't anymore .
It seems to me that he's benefitted from being a respected Sir and now he's sticking two fingers up at the Establishment .

Have we not apologised & paid our dues?

Was it him who called us white saviours?
I now don’t watch, or donate to comic relief. Really annoyed at that statement.

Mt61

Was it him who called us white saviours?
I now don’t watch, or donate to comic relief. Really annoyed at that statement.

It was David Lammy.

Although Lenny Henry agreed, said a film of Stacey Dooley at a clinic in Africa was perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes and "The world does not need any more white saviours," he added, saying the picture evoked "a colonial image of a white, beautiful heroine holding a black child, with no agency, no parents in sight"

Why do people think money will solve everything? Pretty much every country in the world was involved in slave trading one way or another - not just uk. Hindsight is 20-20 and yes it was deplorable but we cannot be expected to pay for the ignorance of past generations.

LH is off his trolley suggesting that.

grannygranby

What about the impoverished working class in slums during the height of the empire ? You know the kids with no clothes or shoes in Victorian London.. how about class reparations? On the streets where they died freezing or in the workhouse or shipped off to the colonies as cheap labour. Canada still hasn’t made reparations for them. Were they any better off?

I’ve referenced my poverty stricken 18 and 19 century agricultural or mill/mine working ancestors. In the mid 19 century life expectancy for a Manchester mill worker was mid 30s, potentially 25. Some historical sites put it as low as 17. read up on Angel Meadows and weep

Does thst compare with being enslaved? I don’t think so, they were awful but my ancestors had a tiny bit of choice. Starve or work in conditions that might kill yiu. Slaves we’re without any choices

I’ve said I disagree with financial reparation, the time has passed. But recognition of the psychological and social legacy of slavery must be acknowledged

Slavery was shocking and Britain was at the forefront of the abolition of slavery.

However, I hope we have moved on from those times in that the British do not enslave people now although others do - and in this country too.

David Lammy and Sir Lenny Henry are examples of just how far we have moved on from those days.