I am part of the conversation. My African-American ancestors were owned by children of senators and university founders. I did the research expecting to find my family tree and I did. But I also found the links to the core of American industrialism ( rice, cotton) ,education ( ivy league) and enterprise ( cotton gin ). If you're black, this is your story and it's precisely why reparations and a reordering of society are necessary before we can get to any level of fair play. Acknowledging this history is like the admission of the addiction that can start an honest and lasting recovery.
Fundamentally flawed, the discourse about reparations hobbles itself when it omits arguments for recompense to indigenous peoples. What about those whose stolen lands were cultivated for cotton exports?
I was taught about the Industrial Revolution in Canada and I was never taught about HOW those raw materials were produced to enable the “revolution”. I can’t believe that crucial information was not acknowledged.
It's because they wasn't. The likes of Olusoga and Kehinde Andrews are just grifters. The Industrial Revolution in Britain was based around the use of resources such as coal and iron ore - both mined in Britain by British people and utilised via engineering by yes you guessed it, British people. So-called academics like Olusoga will spin you a yarn, and some gullible people buy into it.
If, as this piece states, the Gullah-Geechee were the direst link to the source of The Guardian's founding monies, then obviously The Guardian should set up a trust that the Gullah-Geechee can access for financial resources in whatever way they see fit. They have lost a lot of land through the same means the native ppl of the US lost land -- through trickery -- and that money could go a long way to support efforts to restore those lands and safe guard the lands they currently have from sea level rising and storms caused by climate change.
It is not stated anywhere that there is a direct link. They said Philips was a partner in a firm that owned a plantation. It does not mean that the £100 definitively came from the profits off the plantation they owned. I am very sure that the plantation was not the only business they owned. The historian said it's likely, but she didnt present any evidence to say it's definitive. People, especially businessmen, have many sources of income. Guessing that they got the 100 pounds from one of their businesses is a stretch.
From Wikipedia. 'Slavery in Mali exists today, with as many as 200,000 people held in direct servitude to a master.' maybe The Guardian should focus on this?
spoken like someone who has never cared about people in Mali or modern day slavery until they needed to find a fallacious whataboutism after being made to feel guilt when confronted by the horrors of history.
As a mixed black person I really don't understand the point of this... I find it suspicious and off-putting, disingenuine even... We know slavery happened/ is happening, but I don't care how previous generations got their wealth. I just don't think they're solving anyone's problem today by trying to manipulate society with this.
While you may not understand the point of it, I do. Britain stood out among European states in its willingness to appease slave owners, and to burden future generations of its citizens with the responsibility of paying for it. Most current British tax payers have contributed to this and it's prudent to know who the recipients were, examples included in this video. Today, evading the question of British slave legacies takes the form of celebratory national narratives about British abolition, and in the nervous reflex of switching the topic and not detailing what preceded this. Only in recent years is the full narrative being explored. On the flip side, whilst Britain has prospered, nations affected by slavery have become the largest centres of predatory lending, orchestrated by the IMF and World Bank, as well as by European and American banks. Just imagine a scenario where slave compensation had actually gone to these nations instead of individual slave owners. This is a worthwhile exercise as your British taxes footed the bill.
Thank you! Exactly this. I dunno about you but I am getting so bored of the cultural guilt we keep getting heaped upon us over the crimes of previous centuries. We have have enough problems to fix with our current world without trying to fix the problems of worlds long since passed too. Slavery was bad and it made us rich - am I meant to feel ashamed? Because it also ended 150 years before I was born. For most of the history of civilisation, slavery was the default state of being for most people, most of the time. Yes we profited from slavery, as every great power has throughout the ages, but we also put an end to slavery for something like a quarter of the world's population. The Royal Navy even blockaded Western Africa and South America to force other nations to give up slavery. Few countries ever get to hold the reins of world power and when we did, we put an end to the practice (eventually) not just for ourselves but across the globe - how many nations can say that? So enough of the white guilt please, I've had my fill.
Recounting history isn't a "manipulation". We haven't accounted for a legacy of injustice that still profoundly impacts the structure of our communities today- this "this isn't the time to talk about it" noise has been the excuse from day one.
This is such a courageous step. Massive kudos to the Guardian for acknowledging this. We should be transformed by this knowledge to address current injustice with more sincerity.
A much more courageous step would be to acknowledge and condemn the slavery going on in the world today and address that problem. But that never quite figures in the 'current injustice' the Left seeks to address as it doesn't fit the narrative of white people being the perennial villains.
Hopefully we can just get to a point where people are studying history as a way to get to the truth, rather than as a means of political point-scoring, on either side
But i feel that's how it has always been people have used history to score some points and justify a war or something or to make themselves look better for ages I feel as if everyone one in history did it and will probably continue to do so
How does the left do it? Before you answer, know that the left does not include liberals such as the USA Democratic Party. The left comprises anything from Bernie Sanders to Anarcho-Communists
More slaves exist across the world today than were shipped to the Americas over the course of two centuries. I love how these people instead of doing anything about the very real and current problems that exist all across the world. Instead pat themselves on the back for pointing out problems with the past. 👏👏👏 how enlightened and selfless.
History should be told honestly, so I'm glad to see features like this. At the same time though, in order to be honest it's necessary to look at history in its proper context. In the early 19th century it had only recently been decided that slavery is a Very Bad Thing. For millennia before that it was just an understood part of the human condition. For British people with ancestry on the south coast there's a decent chance that some of their relatives were carried off into slavery by the Barbary pirates. Before that we had the Vikings who enslaved thousands too. To condemn people for doing something that was perfectly acceptable within their lifetimes , and probably happened to some of their own ancestors too, seems to me somewhat iniquitous. We should remember and learn from this history, while at the same time appreciating how we as a society have developed for the better by renouncing the pernicious state of slavery.
Why are we still talking about slavery against black people as if it is still a problem in the west? As a black person, I am honestly tired of hearing about it and would like people's energy to go into CURRENT ISSUES.
@@KaseyMoore So, let me get this straight: your concern is that The Guardian isn't talking about slavery enough? - and that you want The Guardian to stop talking about their history of being the beneficiary of slavery, because you reckon doing so prevents them from reporting on that other slavery? You know that's not how words work, right? They don't get used up. When The Guardian reports on Brexit, they aren't doing so at the expence of considering slavery, or nuclear war, or anthrogenic climate change. It makes no sense. What does is that you just don't want the results of slavery discussed at all. Not that you care, but were The Guardian to not clean their own house, what credibility would they have reporting on any contemporary slavery impacts? "Who are you to tell us not to use child labor- you never accounted for your business being built on slavery." This is the noise wrong doers use to distract from their behavior- of course, you knew that already.
Because the current problems come from the crime of the transatlantic slave trade. A slave trade we still know very little about in terms of all that went on, never mind the repercussions of all that went on. If you were really blk, you’d know that.
All slavery is horrific and sadly many cultures worldwide historically have carried it out incl freed slaves owning their own slaves plus some countries selling their own people. Still going on today even here in UK
But this is specifically about how British people wreaked death and destruction and how our institutions maintain and violently defend the pillaged privilege to this day. The last known person transported on a US slave ship died in 1940. My grandad was getting a bit old to unload US tobacco at the Stanley Dock around that time. It's not that long ago. It's not good enough to play fast and loose with historical analysis and go 'meh, nothing unusual.' There's responsibility to acknowledge and redress the ongoing damage.
Ah, yes- that old nasty chestnut. "Everyone is doing it- even the former slaves" gets trotted out whenever accountability/responsibility comes too close to home.
What is interesting and rarely mentioned is that the Confederacy in the Southern states was trying desperately to get the British involved. They were asking for the British to join the war on the side of the South, but Queen Victoria adamantly refused because she was against slavery. The cotten mills of Manchester were at a standstill and all the workers were unemployed and hungry but she would rather they be hungry than she prop up slavery.
@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502 yup. That is true. Then they ruined India. They forced India to buy British made cotton fabric when India already had their own weavers.
And this is watched by almost everyone on a rechargable battery device that could not be produced without cobalt, a mineral mined by thousands of Congolese people, including young children, often dying of radiation sicknesses, military oppression and buried alive in collapsing tunnels. Modern slavery now.
Can't you just receive the information without all of the whining? As a Black American with Caribbean roots I appreciated this info and will read further for more.
The Guardian has a dedicated cohort of trolls that synthesize fault with whatever they do- I would take all the disingenuous noise here as representative of the British people.
Olusoga's books are full of misinformation and lies... He's an activist, certainly not an historian. It's beyond me why anyone would publish a book by him 😞
@@cerneuffington2656 Curious that you read more than one- I mean, when I make the mistake of purchasing anything like what you've characterized, I don't give the author another chance. It seems much more likely that you have read exactly zero books by David Olusoga, and are just throwing mud.
Why not focus on the slavery that exists today in many parts of the world, instead of wallowing in self pity of something that happened centuries before you were born?
@@nicholasyong7051 Ppl that don’t believe in right or wrong won’t even see themselves as accountable. Ppl eventually are going to have know themselves and understand their own worth.
My great great grandfather six times removed William Virgo was a wealthy plantation owner who owned many enslaved people in Jamaica. His wealth was passed on to his eight children after his passing.
What about the Romans, the Greeks not just the British. Pakistan still have 2 million + as slaves. I am not for slavers, think it was appalling that this happened but it was not only the British.
What about whataboutery? Everyone should take responsibility for themselves, that applies to entities as well as individuals. Nevermind what others do or used to do - they can deal with that. For a country like the UK, constantly lecturing the rest of the world - with or without bombs - about "values" that is particularly important. Ditto for a newspaper like The Guardian.
Let the Roman news paper publishers account for their own role in the slave trade- same for any else. Kudos for The Guardian deciding who they want to be, what they want to do to make that happen.
Something good must come from history, but we must not try to rewrite it, we must learn from it. My city Liverpool was built on slavery but I am proud to be a Scouser.
Yes, Liverpool’s history of slavery and the treatment of their blk and mixed race citizens is terrible. I didn’t know how bad it was until I researched it. Right up to at least the 80’s it’s had incredibly bad race relations. Blk people are banished to outer areas.
"Slavery built Liverpool" is a terribly reductive term for a city that was a departure point for thousands of emigrants to America and Canada as well as welcoming millions of Irish fleeing famine. Many of which stayed and formed a large part of the city's current identity. You should actually read up on your own cities history.
@@cmg1819 It’s not a terrible reductive term though is it. She clearly isn’t trying to be reductive. I find slavery built Europe and Europeans to me more accurate.
Everything said here about slavery is valid and acknowledged. But it’s history, everyone has learned from it, that’s why it was abolished. Dragging this history up now is irrelevant. What is he doing about modern slavery? That would be more useful instead of pointless journalism.
David is literally on the board of the Scott Trust who owns the Guardian media group. Why is he still taking their money if he knew where it originated from? Hypocrisy at its most blinding, what is his agenda???
Imagine just now discovering the connection between slavery, cotton and textile mills. Some big brains at work here. The point of course as he said so himself is: "it will never be enough" "an un-payable debt" "restorative justice movement.... a process that is ongoing". Are other societies meant to feel guilty for things that happened hundreds of years ago? The modern day relatives of the Mongolian Khans, the Aztecs, the Ottoman Empire, the slavers of North and West Africa etc. ?
Just like with the British Empire and India, not addressing wrongdoing is wrong even if it will never be enough. Actually, setting a price would be the exact false thing, you would actually pay for the crimes, so they become legal in a way and part of a simple transaction.
@@MsSchiek The british addressed their "wrongdoings" by abolishing slavery globally. Buying slaves from Black Africans wasn't a crime, hasnt been since ancient Egypt. It became a crime in the 1830s
Had connections. It’s history, not an aspect of the business or it’s policies for a century or so. Not something to be hidden but not something that has been a source of wealth for generations. The claims to a portion due to past slavery is an incomplete history, neglecting the many contributing factors, including losses, financial miscalculations and outright failure. Restorative justice is as opportunistic as the slavery option exercised centuries ago
I take slight issue with the passive voice of that sentence. I think it significant that it was the Guardian itself that broke this story. Had it been in response to some other outlet revealing it, we might discuss whether or not the Guardian's response was adequate, but it would be a different situation. In situations like this, one might still wonder whether they were moved by sincere desire to make an open and honest reckoning with the publication's past, or preempting scrutiny and simply getting ahead of the story. I lean towards the former.
Thank you for this it's so important.We were not taught this in schools. The connections between our industrial world and slavery. Massive estates, huge country houses. All built on Slavery or indentured labour, starvation, and poverty. Why is it that we cannot except the history of our past ? A change to make the future a better place. Thank you again.
Olusoga is a dangerous left-wing activist and his books are full of misinformation. He is causing ill feeling and resentment in our children, by telling lies 🙁
Past was past. That was the way of the world then. The Capitalist Oligarchs who own and control the media and academia want you to focus on past injustices rather than present day ones caused by their greed.
@@mavigogun … cheating with a man! 😂 I think she may have had a lot more to say! 😂 Then decided he’d done her a favour, so she chipped on the fastest transport she could get on and Now she’s living her best life! 😂..somewhere else….🤣😂..with a real man! 😂🤣😂. Oh my! It’s David! 🤣😂🤣😂😂🤣
Mansa Musa, perhaps the richest man in history who took 12,000 slaves on his hajj.... silence. Portugal taking almost twice as many slaves from Africa as Britain... silence. Arab slavery... silence. Modern slavery... silence. Dave is a bit picky about the slavery he thinks counts.
Can someone explain why such a focus is made on black slavery when just about every race has been through slavery in the past (e.g. Whites in the Ottoman era)?
@@fritzwrangle-clouder6033 Did you learn that there were big carve-outs from the Slavery Abolition Act that allowed slavery to continue in Brittan's Eastern colonies? - including 10-20 million in India alone- a country that was the largest economy on Earth for most of the preceding 2000 years... until the Raj?
Says you. In the real world, interest and impacts compound, resound into the present, a continuity. That's what we are saddled with, and what folks with more care than you are working to confront.
Slavery was abolished in 1807 in the UK. Over 200 years ago. Everyone associated with it is bones and dust. There is no slavery of that kind in the UK so there's nothing to confront. If you care so much why not go to the middleast where its rife and try and make a difference.
@@cmg1819 We talk about our history of slavery primarily for several reasons- because we haven't accounted for and reconciled the impacts, because we have agency over ourselves, not country X, because of who we want to be NOW, and, by extension, what we want our present world to be. What credibility can we have advocating for contemporary abolition when we refuse to confront the consequences of slavery in our own countries? Contrary to your suggestion, British involvement in slavery did not end in 1807 with the Abolition Act. Of course, you don't really care about that, do you?
David. Instead of just talking about historical colonialism and racism, why don't you use your platforms to speak up for Palestine? Your silence over this settler state's genocide is deafening. History will remember all who did nothing.
£10 million over ten years is a welcome virtuous and moral act although over ten years, in real terms, it's closer to £7M but no doubt progress of a kind. Thank you to the Guardian and the Scott Trust for courageously committing 0.0056% of their £1.25 billion worth to this project. Hoping you can bravely shoulder the financial pain this will no doubt cause.
To folks screaming what's the point of this video, hear me out. Britain stood out among European states in its willingness to appease slave owners, and to burden future generations of its citizens with the responsibility of paying for it. Most current British tax payers have contributed to this and it's prudent to know who the recipients were, examples included in this video. Today, evading the question of British slave legacies takes the form of celebratory national narratives about British abolition, and in the nervous reflex of switching the topic and not detailing what preceded this. Only in recent years is the full narrative being explored. On the flip side, whilst Britain has prospered, nations affected by slavery have become the largest centres of predatory lending, orchestrated by the IMF and World Bank, as well as by European and American banks. Just imagine a scenario where slave compensation had actually gone to these nations instead of individual slave owners. This is a worthwhile exercise as your British taxes footed the bill.
Those "nations" affected by slavery did not exist at the time slavery was abolished in British territories in 1833. They either hadnt been colonized yet (in the case of Africa) or were still colonies, thus still a part of Britain
@@tvs9978 The majority of slaves mastered by Britian remained slaves for long after 1833- wheather you call India a nation or a colony. The enormouse wealth extracted from India by the British is still felt by both countries today- regardless of who is PM.
@@mavigogun the majority of slaves were freed 6-10 years after the abolition legislation was passed in 1833, yes but what does that have to do with India?
Deep respect to Prof. David Olusoga for his important research work. The stark reality was that racism -- racial superiority -- underpinned much of Western colonialism, Including British colonialism. The Guardian could begin to make real amends for what its original owners did by championing the cause for the UK to pay reparations to the ex-colonies. It is easy to feign out of sight, out of mind, but the truth is that much of modern Britain was built on the blood of those from the former colonies. Never forget.
Those from the former colonies who then got the benefit of moving to Britain, becoming British citizens, earning an income from British companies and passing on generational wealth to their kids and grandkids who are now British businessmen, MPs, professionals etc and have had the benefit of a free education and worldclass free Healthcare services?
Doubtlessly, you have many such debates within the confines of your imagination. Oh, Tired Man, worry yourself not, for the days remaining are few, and your struggle will be no more.
Uncovering many truths about the transatlantic slave trade Britain wanted to keep hidden and buried, is him lying or being sloppy ? 😂 Get out if here with your nonsense!
Lincoln didn't believe in the right to vote for minorities. Doesn't mean he would think the same today. Morality has evolved. Wouldn't see the bigots at the Daily Mail do this, kudos to the Guardian.
£1 million a year is absolutely nothing for an organisation of The Guardian's size. This is absolutely disgusting. You should have offered to enforced a quota of 40% black staff, offer to donate 10% of proceeds to black activism and report on more stories concerning the black community.
Having both Jamaican and Barbados ancestry it’s almost unbelievable to not have had this part of our history told during our school years, we didn’t even learn about those that came from the commonwealth after the 2nd world war to help rebuild. The huge integral part that my ancestors played in the wealth and establishment of the Great Britain of today was completely ignored. History is a great way of learning about our past but I feel it also gives an insight into the people of today. Well done David great video please continue to shine a light on these historical facts and omissions.
The People on the Empire Windrush in July 1948 were not invited to come to the UK. They were responding to an advert in the Daily Gleaner that was advertising cheap passages to the UK. Google “daily gleaner advert 1948”
Yes Slavery is part of Britians history but wasn't it the same everywhere? Should we hold the Africans that sold their people to the Europeans responsible? I just don't see the point in this when everyone around the world was doing it.
I think David Olusoga should stop showboating, accepting honorary doctorates based on his media work and go back to university to get his Phd. His words would then carry more weight and his writing would improve with his experience of writing a thesis.
Dude, you would care no more then than you do now. The only interest you have here is in limiting David's contribution, marginalizing his voice. Sincere you ain't.
@@mavigogun "[I] would care no more than I do now" .... What a bizarre, conceited and unenlightened statement!....... I can assure you I'm quite sincere in believing that Olusoga's output lacks the academic training and rigour of many more talented, informed and educated historians. No matter how big a fan-boy you are, you have to accept that If he possessed a Phd, his opinions would carry more gravitas.
There's no point winging on about transgressions from the past, there's more slaver now than at any point in history. Efforts should be put into rectify the present and future problem of slavery.
Wonder what took them so long? Why today? We have a large Gullah Geechee community here in the US, there’s even a children’s show called Gullah Gullah Island that teaches kids about the basics & the community.
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I am part of the conversation. My African-American ancestors were owned by children of senators and university founders. I did the research expecting to find my family tree and I did. But I also found the links to the core of American industrialism ( rice, cotton) ,education ( ivy league) and enterprise ( cotton gin ). If you're black, this is your story and it's precisely why reparations and a reordering of society are necessary before we can get to any level of fair play. Acknowledging this history is like the admission of the addiction that can start an honest and lasting recovery.
It gives a whole new perspective on the generational wealth that families are so proud of.
Fundamentally flawed, the discourse about reparations hobbles itself when it omits arguments for recompense to indigenous peoples. What about those whose stolen lands were cultivated for cotton exports?
@@bdwon many Indians have been given reparations
@@kf9926 yeah the "blanket program" if I recall.
@@klof4276 weather it was ‘enough’ is another question nevertheless they have been given reparations
Thank you for having the balls to run this story and admitting to uncomfortable historical facts.
I was taught about the Industrial Revolution in Canada and I was never taught about HOW those raw materials were produced to enable the “revolution”. I can’t believe that crucial information was not acknowledged.
I am working on a book. It may be published if allowed. Cross your fingers.
Canada hasn’t yet reconciled our genocidal history. We are deeply indoctrinated.
😂
It's because they wasn't. The likes of Olusoga and Kehinde Andrews are just grifters. The Industrial Revolution in Britain was based around the use of resources such as coal and iron ore - both mined in Britain by British people and utilised via engineering by yes you guessed it, British people. So-called academics like Olusoga will spin you a yarn, and some gullible people buy into it.
An industrial revolution was not based on just black people picking cotton...
David blocked me on twitter for politely reminding him that he has been totally silent on the genocide in Gaza. Silence is complicity!!
Slavery never ended. Those who know, know.
Yep it's called socialism and it's coming to a country near you
Yeah... just look at India, Saudi Arabia, the Middle East..
Everyone thinks they know something others don't.
@@anotherdayonearth2199 Everyone DOES know something others don't!
@@maxb9315 bs. we all get it. there is still slavery. no one cares. even lot of the slaves don't care.
If, as this piece states, the Gullah-Geechee were the direst link to the source of The Guardian's founding monies, then obviously The Guardian should set up a trust that the Gullah-Geechee can access for financial resources in whatever way they see fit. They have lost a lot of land through the same means the native ppl of the US lost land -- through trickery -- and that money could go a long way to support efforts to restore those lands and safe guard the lands they currently have from sea level rising and storms caused by climate change.
It is not stated anywhere that there is a direct link. They said Philips was a partner in a firm that owned a plantation. It does not mean that the £100 definitively came from the profits off the plantation they owned. I am very sure that the plantation was not the only business they owned. The historian said it's likely, but she didnt present any evidence to say it's definitive. People, especially businessmen, have many sources of income. Guessing that they got the 100 pounds from one of their businesses is a stretch.
Well done… thank you for your integrity.
What integrity? The man's a race hustler and an ideologue.
That's a joke right.
Integrity? It's publicly available information dude. No integrity involved.
From Wikipedia. 'Slavery in Mali exists today, with as many as 200,000 people held in direct servitude to a master.' maybe The Guardian should focus on this?
Doesn't fit their narrative.
It is always easier to criticize those who tolerate criticism than those who oppose it.
spoken like someone who has never cared about people in Mali or modern day slavery until they needed to find a fallacious whataboutism after being made to feel guilt when confronted by the horrors of history.
Any honest reader knows that The Guardian has undertaken many reports on contemporary slavery. That ain't you.
@@mavigogun Googled, 'The Guardian slavery in Mali' yielded only one article from 2013.
As a mixed black person I really don't understand the point of this... I find it suspicious and off-putting, disingenuine even... We know slavery happened/ is happening, but I don't care how previous generations got their wealth. I just don't think they're solving anyone's problem today by trying to manipulate society with this.
Agreed.
While you may not understand the point of it, I do. Britain stood out among European states in its willingness to appease slave owners, and to burden future generations of its citizens with the responsibility of paying for it. Most current British tax payers have contributed to this and it's prudent to know who the recipients were, examples included in this video. Today, evading the question of British slave legacies takes the form of celebratory national narratives about British abolition, and in the nervous reflex of switching the topic and not detailing what preceded this. Only in recent years is the full narrative being explored.
On the flip side, whilst Britain has prospered, nations affected by slavery have become the largest centres of predatory lending, orchestrated by the IMF and World Bank, as well as by European and American banks. Just imagine a scenario where slave compensation had actually gone to these nations instead of individual slave owners. This is a worthwhile exercise as your British taxes footed the bill.
Thank you! Exactly this. I dunno about you but I am getting so bored of the cultural guilt we keep getting heaped upon us over the crimes of previous centuries. We have have enough problems to fix with our current world without trying to fix the problems of worlds long since passed too. Slavery was bad and it made us rich - am I meant to feel ashamed? Because it also ended 150 years before I was born. For most of the history of civilisation, slavery was the default state of being for most people, most of the time. Yes we profited from slavery, as every great power has throughout the ages, but we also put an end to slavery for something like a quarter of the world's population. The Royal Navy even blockaded Western Africa and South America to force other nations to give up slavery. Few countries ever get to hold the reins of world power and when we did, we put an end to the practice (eventually) not just for ourselves but across the globe - how many nations can say that? So enough of the white guilt please, I've had my fill.
🙄
Recounting history isn't a "manipulation". We haven't accounted for a legacy of injustice that still profoundly impacts the structure of our communities today- this "this isn't the time to talk about it" noise has been the excuse from day one.
This is such a courageous step. Massive kudos to the Guardian for acknowledging this. We should be transformed by this knowledge to address current injustice with more sincerity.
A much more courageous step would be to acknowledge and condemn the slavery going on in the world today and address that problem. But that never quite figures in the 'current injustice' the Left seeks to address as it doesn't fit the narrative of white people being the perennial villains.
Hopefully we can just get to a point where people are studying history as a way to get to the truth, rather than as a means of political point-scoring, on either side
But i feel that's how it has always been people have used history to score some points and justify a war or something or to make themselves look better for ages
I feel as if everyone one in history did it and will probably continue to do so
How does the left do it? Before you answer, know that the left does not include liberals such as the USA Democratic Party. The left comprises anything from Bernie Sanders to Anarcho-Communists
Codswallop indeed.
The Reality of Olusoga being a Historian of any merit has to be questioned
Why does this give me the same vibes I got from the New York Times and their 1619 project by a bunch of radicals like Nikole Hannah-Jones!!! 😒
Now apologize for the Guardian’s terrible film reviews.
Wasn't the GB at the forefront of ending slavery - across the world? The naval ships patroling the seas?
Dahomey, Zanzibar, Nigeria, Brazil ,Spain and Portugal (latter two were bribed).
Oh yes, the nervous reflex which chooses to ignore what happened before this happened.
After being the worse human-traffickers, yes, I should hope so! 😛
@@HeartBreakHigh Maybe a lttle global history would help
@@JohnSmith-iu3ui and holland
More slaves exist across the world today than were shipped to the Americas over the course of two centuries. I love how these people instead of doing anything about the very real and current problems that exist all across the world. Instead pat themselves on the back for pointing out problems with the past. 👏👏👏 how enlightened and selfless.
You are completely correct
You know that you can do two things at the same time. Right
“These people?” Do you wear white sheets at the weekend? 🙄
You can confront the past so it doesn’t repeat itself and embrace the present so that we have a future.
True! How many woman are now sexslaves, force to prostitution, woman trafficing!
Surely no-one seriously considers Olusoga to be a real historian. This is utter nonsense from start to finish.
Olusoga is a very clever race hustler, his books and articles all follow the same pattern of excluding anything that doesn't fit his agenda.
Yes, he manipulates facts
Well said!
I seem to remember him claiming Beachy Head Lady was from Sub Saharan Africa when later tests showed she was actually from Cyprus.
Neoestablishment
A decent, honest start to a debate that must spread.
Imagine David’s tone if this story was about the ‘The Times’.
???
@@RankinMsP what he's saying is that The Times is considered very right leaning and it is owned by Murdoch.
*''Facts About Slavery Never Mentioned In Schools (Thomas Sowell)''*
Thomas sowell is a sellout
GUARDIAN YOU ARE BEEN DISMANTLED BY THE DAY 🙏
History should be told honestly, so I'm glad to see features like this. At the same time though, in order to be honest it's necessary to look at history in its proper context. In the early 19th century it had only recently been decided that slavery is a Very Bad Thing. For millennia before that it was just an understood part of the human condition. For British people with ancestry on the south coast there's a decent chance that some of their relatives were carried off into slavery by the Barbary pirates. Before that we had the Vikings who enslaved thousands too. To condemn people for doing something that was perfectly acceptable within their lifetimes , and probably happened to some of their own ancestors too, seems to me somewhat iniquitous.
We should remember and learn from this history, while at the same time appreciating how we as a society have developed for the better by renouncing the pernicious state of slavery.
Why are we still talking about slavery against black people as if it is still a problem in the west? As a black person, I am honestly tired of hearing about it and would like people's energy to go into CURRENT ISSUES.
Because past is predicate to our present circumstance. FYI: slavery IS still a problem in the West- perform a little research - you'll be shocked.
@@mavigogun why isn't more effort put in talking about modern day slavery rather than this irrational guilt from ancestors hundreds of years ago.
@@KaseyMoore So, let me get this straight: your concern is that The Guardian isn't talking about slavery enough? - and that you want The Guardian to stop talking about their history of being the beneficiary of slavery, because you reckon doing so prevents them from reporting on that other slavery? You know that's not how words work, right? They don't get used up. When The Guardian reports on Brexit, they aren't doing so at the expence of considering slavery, or nuclear war, or anthrogenic climate change. It makes no sense. What does is that you just don't want the results of slavery discussed at all. Not that you care, but were The Guardian to not clean their own house, what credibility would they have reporting on any contemporary slavery impacts? "Who are you to tell us not to use child labor- you never accounted for your business being built on slavery." This is the noise wrong doers use to distract from their behavior- of course, you knew that already.
Because the current problems come from the crime of the transatlantic slave trade. A slave trade we still know very little about in terms of all that went on, never mind the repercussions of all that went on. If you were really blk, you’d know that.
@@KaseyMoore Because he is a professional victim and wants to be given money. He doesn't care about actual current slavery.
'Two things can be true at the same time.' Well, who'd have thought it?
Professor Milli Vanilli told us - so it must be fact !
All slavery is horrific and sadly many cultures worldwide historically have carried it out incl freed slaves owning their own slaves plus some countries selling their own people. Still going on today even here in UK
If it's going on in the UK then it should be reported to the authorities as slavery in the UK is illegal.
Ok
But this is specifically about how British people wreaked death and destruction and how our institutions maintain and violently defend the pillaged privilege to this day.
The last known person transported on a US slave ship died in 1940. My grandad was getting a bit old to unload US tobacco at the Stanley Dock around that time. It's not that long ago.
It's not good enough to play fast and loose with historical analysis and go 'meh, nothing unusual.' There's responsibility to acknowledge and redress the ongoing damage.
Ah, yes- that old nasty chestnut. "Everyone is doing it- even the former slaves" gets trotted out whenever accountability/responsibility comes too close to home.
@@clivet3252 A degree more horrible than your character- but close.
What is interesting and rarely mentioned is that the Confederacy in the Southern states was trying desperately to get the British involved. They were asking for the British to join the war on the side of the South, but Queen Victoria adamantly refused because she was against slavery. The cotten mills of Manchester were at a standstill and all the workers were unemployed and hungry but she would rather they be hungry than she prop up slavery.
No actually they found another source of cotton in India, and Egypt.
@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502 yup. That is true. Then they ruined India. They forced India to buy British made cotton fabric when India already had their own weavers.
And this is watched by almost everyone on a rechargable battery device that could not be produced without cobalt, a mineral mined by thousands of Congolese people, including young children, often dying of radiation sicknesses, military oppression and buried alive in collapsing tunnels. Modern slavery now.
Can't you just receive the information without all of the whining? As a Black American with Caribbean roots I appreciated this info and will read further for more.
The Guardian has a dedicated cohort of trolls that synthesize fault with whatever they do- I would take all the disingenuous noise here as representative of the British people.
Olusoga's books are full of misinformation and lies... He's an activist, certainly not an historian. It's beyond me why anyone would publish a book by him 😞
@@cerneuffington2656 hes presented here as sort of court historian.. which is indeed wierd...
@@cerneuffington2656 Curious that you read more than one- I mean, when I make the mistake of purchasing anything like what you've characterized, I don't give the author another chance. It seems much more likely that you have read exactly zero books by David Olusoga, and are just throwing mud.
@@cerneuffington2656 sweeping statement holding some fact but primarily fiction, that's you!
Why not focus on the slavery that exists today in many parts of the world, instead of wallowing in self pity of something that happened centuries before you were born?
It's history. And?
...and "history" isn't a dead thing, but the foundations of our present circumstance. Your foot is part of your body, even if separated by a leg.
And people should be held accountable and not swept under the rug.
@@nicholasyong7051 Ppl that don’t believe in right or wrong won’t even see themselves as accountable. Ppl eventually are going to have know themselves and understand their own worth.
So tired of hearing about slavery as if it was a uniquely Black problem…..time to grow up ….no more excuses
My great great grandfather six times removed William Virgo was a wealthy plantation owner who owned many enslaved people in Jamaica. His wealth was passed on to his eight children after his passing.
Were the planters in your family black people?
What about the Romans, the Greeks not just the British. Pakistan still have 2 million + as slaves. I am not for slavers, think it was appalling that this happened but it was not only the British.
What about whataboutery? Everyone should take responsibility for themselves, that applies to entities as well as individuals. Nevermind what others do or used to do - they can deal with that. For a country like the UK, constantly lecturing the rest of the world - with or without bombs - about "values" that is particularly important. Ditto for a newspaper like The Guardian.
Smh.
Let the Roman news paper publishers account for their own role in the slave trade- same for any else. Kudos for The Guardian deciding who they want to be, what they want to do to make that happen.
How about you take accountability for your nation’s crime and leave it at that. Stop pointing fingers, when your own nation hasn’t atoned for theirs.
@@1midnightfish the UK abolished slavery in 1807.
Better than the New York Times and their historical influences, at least the Guardian is doing something in at least admiting this.
Hi, what's the New York Times historical influences? Thanks
Bro like so what. who cares.
Something good must come from history, but we must not try to rewrite it, we must learn from it. My city Liverpool was built on slavery but I am proud to be a Scouser.
Yes, Liverpool’s history of slavery and the treatment of their blk and mixed race citizens is terrible. I didn’t know how bad it was until I researched it. Right up to at least the 80’s it’s had incredibly bad race relations. Blk people are banished to outer areas.
The Roman’s built liverpool
"Slavery built Liverpool" is a terribly reductive term for a city that was a departure point for thousands of emigrants to America and Canada as well as welcoming millions of Irish fleeing famine. Many of which stayed and formed a large part of the city's current identity. You should actually read up on your own cities history.
@@cmg1819 It’s not a terrible reductive term though is it. She clearly isn’t trying to be reductive. I find slavery built Europe and Europeans to me more accurate.
Everything said here about slavery is valid and acknowledged. But it’s history, everyone has learned from it, that’s why it was abolished. Dragging this history up now is irrelevant. What is he doing about modern slavery? That would be more useful instead of pointless journalism.
David is literally on the board of the Scott Trust who owns the Guardian media group. Why is he still taking their money if he knew where it originated from? Hypocrisy at its most blinding, what is his agenda???
To blame sons for their fathers’ sins is stupidity in the extreme.
Right. But if a bank robber gave his son the stolen money should the son be able to keep it?
This isn't about "blame", but accountability, credibility, and restitution.
@@mavigogun "Restitution" being the key word here. Grifters looking for free handouts.
@@NeverRubARhubarb If a murderer has a son, is he also guilty?
@@SDRockman That's a false equivalency.
I’m sure Guardian readers will love having a whip round for reparation’s. Make sure to get a few quid from the African who sold the slaves initially.
You're not well informed, are you?
You're not well informed, are you?
@@colincampbell4261 please educate me Colin.
@@colincampbell4261where's the lie
@@colincampbell4261 Are you seriously denying the existent of black on black slavery in Africa?
Imagine just now discovering the connection between slavery, cotton and textile mills. Some big brains at work here. The point of course as he said so himself is: "it will never be enough" "an un-payable debt" "restorative justice movement.... a process that is ongoing". Are other societies meant to feel guilty for things that happened hundreds of years ago? The modern day relatives of the Mongolian Khans, the Aztecs, the Ottoman Empire, the slavers of North and West Africa etc. ?
Just like with the British Empire and India, not addressing wrongdoing is wrong even if it will never be enough. Actually, setting a price would be the exact false thing, you would actually pay for the crimes, so they become legal in a way and part of a simple transaction.
@@MsSchiek By your non-logic, the entire civil court system is not but an endorsement of crime!
@@Phil-cl9ce Your "they/us" grievance is synthetic. You haven't been attacked by The Guardian- that's just something you made up.
@@MsSchiek The british addressed their "wrongdoings" by abolishing slavery globally.
Buying slaves from Black Africans wasn't a crime, hasnt been since ancient Egypt. It became a crime in the 1830s
But today we have institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police. Where did that come from?
Is the guardian self snitching?
Yes- it's call "accountability", a basic predicate for credibility.
@@mavigogun It's called coughing up after you've been caught out.
virtue signaling
@@lesigh1749 Where as you proclaim your lack of virtue loudly, in each post.
Self flagellation. It's also popular with some religious sects.
Had connections. It’s history, not an aspect of the business or it’s policies for a century or so. Not something to be hidden but not something that has been a source of wealth for generations. The claims to a portion due to past slavery is an incomplete history, neglecting the many contributing factors, including losses, financial miscalculations and outright failure. Restorative justice is as opportunistic as the slavery option exercised centuries ago
It is pure nonsense and a hypocrasy.
I love when institutions are revealed to be linked to slavery. Harvard did it recently.
Can you share a link to that? Would love to learn about it
🙄🤡
YT posted my comment in the wrong place! 🙄🙄🙄. I agree with your comment.
I take slight issue with the passive voice of that sentence. I think it significant that it was the Guardian itself that broke this story. Had it been in response to some other outlet revealing it, we might discuss whether or not the Guardian's response was adequate, but it would be a different situation. In situations like this, one might still wonder whether they were moved by sincere desire to make an open and honest reckoning with the publication's past, or preempting scrutiny and simply getting ahead of the story. I lean towards the former.
@@egodeosumYeah that's all very pedantic 👍
David Olusoga being described as a historian is utterly laughable.
David has a new book to sell.
Of course he does.
And? It’s his career.
And like his television series it will be very interesting, a star amongst the dros and rubbish on the BBC
And you havn't!
Would that be because that’s his job I wonder? 🤔🙄🙄🙄🙄 🤡
Well done
Close the Guardian?
Thankfully, they have chosen a far more constructive path for their publication.
Thank you for this it's so important.We were not taught this in schools. The connections between our industrial world and slavery. Massive estates, huge country houses. All built on Slavery or indentured labour, starvation, and poverty. Why is it that we cannot except the history of our past ? A change to make the future a better place. Thank you again.
Olusoga is a dangerous left-wing activist and his books are full of misinformation. He is causing ill feeling and resentment in our children, by telling lies 🙁
Past was past. That was the way of the world then. The Capitalist Oligarchs who own and control the media and academia want you to focus on past injustices rather than present day ones caused by their greed.
@Phil why does the truth upset you?
I didn’t think I could be a bigger fan of you guys…I WAS WRONG!!! Thank you!
Just words. Where Is the reparation ?
Two facts in life, Death , and you can't change the past.....but Dave needs to sell his books i guess.
Is this what you said to your wife when she caught you cheating?
@@mavigogun … cheating with a man! 😂 I think she may have had a lot more to say! 😂 Then decided he’d done her a favour, so she chipped on the fastest transport she could get on and Now she’s living her best life! 😂..somewhere else….🤣😂..with a real man! 😂🤣😂. Oh my! It’s David! 🤣😂🤣😂😂🤣
Mansa Musa, perhaps the richest man in history who took 12,000 slaves on his hajj.... silence. Portugal taking almost twice as many slaves from Africa as Britain... silence. Arab slavery... silence. Modern slavery... silence. Dave is a bit picky about the slavery he thinks counts.
If he's a historian, I'm a Dutchman.....
Not funny guys, we all recognized the Key and Peele actor
Nuance. That's the only time you'll encounter that concept in these comments. Now, let the ignorance begin in 3, 2, 1 . . . Go!
So the founder of the guardian didn't actually own any slaves? He just didn't ethically source his cotton?
The guardian should be shut down for supporting slavery
Can someone explain why such a focus is made on black slavery when just about every race has been through slavery in the past (e.g. Whites in the Ottoman era)?
Because you dont make the effort to talk about it. Produce your own documentaries
In the future,, we'll be judged for buying t-shirts made by people working for less than 50 EUR per month...
Hardly obscure I was taught this at school .
@Michelle Norris Back in the day it was standard .
@Michelle Norris Why do you think that. I wen't to school in the sixties and learnt all that. It was pretty standard stuff.
@@fritzwrangle-clouder6033 Did you learn that there were big carve-outs from the Slavery Abolition Act that allowed slavery to continue in Brittan's Eastern colonies? - including 10-20 million in India alone- a country that was the largest economy on Earth for most of the preceding 2000 years... until the Raj?
@@mavigogun No I learned that from my library it wasn't hard to find in plain sight .
@@mavigogun Aye but it's dog eat dog even in today's rich India.
any History that more the 150 years ago...is just that, History, there nothing to be negotiated with
Says you. In the real world, interest and impacts compound, resound into the present, a continuity. That's what we are saddled with, and what folks with more care than you are working to confront.
Really? So you’ll be fine with getting rid of the statues and other white historical “heroes”.
Slavery was abolished in 1807 in the UK. Over 200 years ago. Everyone associated with it is bones and dust. There is no slavery of that kind in the UK so there's nothing to confront. If you care so much why not go to the middleast where its rife and try and make a difference.
@@cmg1819 We talk about our history of slavery primarily for several reasons- because we haven't accounted for and reconciled the impacts, because we have agency over ourselves, not country X, because of who we want to be NOW, and, by extension, what we want our present world to be. What credibility can we have advocating for contemporary abolition when we refuse to confront the consequences of slavery in our own countries?
Contrary to your suggestion, British involvement in slavery did not end in 1807 with the Abolition Act. Of course, you don't really care about that, do you?
Olusoga is a prize race grifter whose works contain many inaccuracies. Either he's a very poor researcher, or plain disingenuous.
Two things can be true at the same time.
I will never buy the guardian again
Who are you kidding? -you never bought The Guardian.
David. Instead of just talking about historical colonialism and racism, why don't you use your platforms to speak up for Palestine? Your silence over this settler state's genocide is deafening. History will remember all who did nothing.
Is the Guardian also going to apologise for initially giving the 2019 miniseries Chernobyl 3 out of 5 stars?
The only dialogue that should be happening is about cutting checks.
BAN THE GUARDIAN!
How 'bout we just ban all-caps?
thanks
I still reread his “Black and British: A Forgotten History” one of the best books I’ve ever read
£10 million over ten years is a welcome virtuous and moral act although over ten years, in real terms, it's closer to £7M but no doubt progress of a kind.
Thank you to the Guardian and the Scott Trust for courageously committing 0.0056% of their £1.25 billion worth to this project.
Hoping you can bravely shoulder the financial pain this will no doubt cause.
Self flagellation is always preferable. You get to decide how much pain you inflict upon yourself.
I respect your sarcasm
To folks screaming what's the point of this video, hear me out. Britain stood out among European states in its willingness to appease slave owners, and to burden future generations of its citizens with the responsibility of paying for it. Most current British tax payers have contributed to this and it's prudent to know who the recipients were, examples included in this video. Today, evading the question of British slave legacies takes the form of celebratory national narratives about British abolition, and in the nervous reflex of switching the topic and not detailing what preceded this. Only in recent years is the full narrative being explored.
On the flip side, whilst Britain has prospered, nations affected by slavery have become the largest centres of predatory lending, orchestrated by the IMF and World Bank, as well as by European and American banks. Just imagine a scenario where slave compensation had actually gone to these nations instead of individual slave owners. This is a worthwhile exercise as your British taxes footed the bill.
Excellent summation and observation.
Those "nations" affected by slavery did not exist at the time slavery was abolished in British territories in 1833. They either hadnt been colonized yet (in the case of Africa) or were still colonies, thus still a part of Britain
@@tvs9978 The majority of slaves mastered by Britian remained slaves for long after 1833- wheather you call India a nation or a colony. The enormouse wealth extracted from India by the British is still felt by both countries today- regardless of who is PM.
@@mavigogun the majority of slaves were freed 6-10 years after the abolition legislation was passed in 1833, yes but what does that have to do with India?
Shut the guardian down
Deep respect to Prof. David Olusoga for his important research work. The stark reality was that racism -- racial superiority -- underpinned much of Western colonialism, Including British colonialism. The Guardian could begin to make real amends for what its original owners did by championing the cause for the UK to pay reparations to the ex-colonies. It is easy to feign out of sight, out of mind, but the truth is that much of modern Britain was built on the blood of those from the former colonies. Never forget.
Case in point: India was the world's largest economy before the British showed up. What happened to Brittan after that?
@@Phil-cl9ce "Out of nothing"- what a complete fiction. Of course, you know that- your purpose here is only to provoke, not to understand.
@@Phil-cl9ce
Rubbish, the Empire was built on trade, not racism.
Those from the former colonies who then got the benefit of moving to Britain, becoming British citizens, earning an income from British companies and passing on generational wealth to their kids and grandkids who are now British businessmen, MPs, professionals etc and have had the benefit of a free education and worldclass free Healthcare services?
Great video, I wish more mainstream media companies were this honest.
The only debate left about Olusoga's output is whether he is a liar or an incredibly sloppy scholar. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
Doubtlessly, you have many such debates within the confines of your imagination. Oh, Tired Man, worry yourself not, for the days remaining are few, and your struggle will be no more.
Uncovering many truths about the transatlantic slave trade Britain wanted to keep hidden and buried, is him lying or being sloppy ? 😂 Get out if here with your nonsense!
I’m going with liar.
He could be both
@@mavigogun APTTMH 🙏🏾
You a house 🏠 though time is AMAZING thanks very much ❤❤❤Paul
Political agenda....
Thank you. Because of your hard and unstinting work, I now make the connections. Slavery is interwoven in the fabric of Britain, every thread.
Derrrr, and Africa and the ME and Asia etc etc.
So British is like most regions of the world then.
Lincoln didn't believe in the right to vote for minorities. Doesn't mean he would think the same today. Morality has evolved. Wouldn't see the bigots at the Daily Mail do this, kudos to the Guardian.
Had no intentions to negotiate with reality. Seen the email. How is the other Harvard biz school doing, Brosio?
Eric Williams’ book: Capitalism and Slavery
Does this mean that the Guardians readership will now be morally obligated to throw any future copies into Bristol harbour?
Keep your day job.
No but it does mean we get to chuck guardian readers in there
Why the guardianigans doesn't talk the mostly slavery "also" practiced against white working classes too??
Check the guys accent and provenance and tell us why.
£1 million a year is absolutely nothing for an organisation of The Guardian's size. This is absolutely disgusting.
You should have offered to enforced a quota of 40% black staff, offer to donate 10% of proceeds to black activism and report on more stories concerning the black community.
Make it 100% black staff at the very last. Then watch it slide into oblivion.
#NeverForget. Thank you for researching and documenting.
i hope everyone listens & learns
I'm afraid I listened and eye-rolled.
@@maxisussex Mine too
Me too
@@maxisussex you guys never listen... :/
Having both Jamaican and Barbados ancestry it’s almost unbelievable to not have had this part of our history told during our school years, we didn’t even learn about those that came from the commonwealth after the 2nd world war to help rebuild. The huge integral part that my ancestors played in the wealth and establishment of the Great Britain of today was completely ignored. History is a great way of learning about our past but I feel it also gives an insight into the people of today. Well done David great video please continue to shine a light on these historical facts and omissions.
This has been taught in UK schools for decades.
The People on the Empire Windrush in July 1948 were not invited to come to the UK. They were responding to an advert in the Daily Gleaner that was advertising cheap passages to the UK. Google “daily gleaner advert 1948”
Thanks for posting.
Send to every school in the UK.
Yes Slavery is part of Britians history but wasn't it the same everywhere? Should we hold the Africans that sold their people to the Europeans responsible? I just don't see the point in this when everyone around the world was doing it.
No it’s not
Now do the African kings.
Probably why they never stand up against child trafficking.
Shame
Any honest reader can find The Guardian's coverage of child trafficking. Adolescent trafficking. Trafficking of adults.
I think David Olusoga should stop showboating, accepting honorary doctorates based on his media work and go back to university to get his Phd. His words would then carry more weight and his writing would improve with his experience of writing a thesis.
Dude, you would care no more then than you do now. The only interest you have here is in limiting David's contribution, marginalizing his voice. Sincere you ain't.
His writing would improve if he didn't distort facts.
@@vincekerrigan8300
@@mavigogun "[I] would care no more than I do now" .... What a bizarre, conceited and unenlightened statement!....... I can assure you I'm quite sincere in believing that Olusoga's output lacks the academic training and rigour of many more talented, informed and educated historians. No matter how big a fan-boy you are, you have to accept that If he possessed a Phd, his opinions would carry more gravitas.
No, should not be at the centre. It's part of the past and we must learn from that not try to compensate it.
Congrats
"This Just In"...only a few centuries late.
There's no point winging on about transgressions from the past, there's more slaver now than at any point in history.
Efforts should be put into rectify the present and future problem of slavery.
Uncomfortable truths.
Wonder what took them so long? Why today? We have a large Gullah Geechee community here in the US, there’s even a children’s show called Gullah Gullah Island that teaches kids about the basics & the community.
Probably the same reason as everywhere else: they finally hired the right people.
2 things can be true at the same time
Very 1984. 🤔