I have just come back to this and want to redress a few points.
DC, with respect to this comment "I appreciate you have clearly had no formal training in analysing logic or reasoning"
I have a degree and PhD in chemistry and have retrained as a system engineer since having my twins. My parents are Jamican immigrants who only had basic education, courtesy of British rule. I went to a comprehensive school so I do not have the refined qualities that privately educated folk no doubt have but I speak English very well, I have manners, I am well read, and I am raising my mixed race sons the same way. I also have compassion, a strong sense of right and wrong and I am intolerant of the intolerant. I'm perfectly able to analyse logic and provide coherent reasoning. You on the other hand appear to delight in parading your misguided, deluded over-inflated ego because you think, wrongly, that you are cleverer, more analytical and more informed than the rest of humanity.
Also, I use the term indigenous for good reason. In 2007, I'm still asked if I was born here or where do I come from originally. My personal experience and that of my black friends and family is that as long as you are non-white, you are still viewed as an outsider. That is reality, it is not me being uppity or walking around with my victim halo wailing "wo is me". It's reality.
FWIW, I don't want or expect an apology. I did not ask for that in my post. What I would like is that there is an unequivocal and unconditional acknowledgement for what happened. The Holocaust in WW2 was an atrocity but I cannot recall anybody having the temerity to downplay how horrific it was. Every November, we remember it and all who died in WW2 because by remembering, we hope that it will never happen again. (However it did, in Rwanda).
With the slave trade, we get "Yes it is wrong that it happened but..." It is the but that sticks in my throat. It was wrong, period. Also, to be clear I am not defined by my history but I acknowledge that my history is limited because of what happened. I am not a victim because I am black and a descendent of slaves but I want to understand my heritage and in my own way, pay my respects to my ancestors who suffered horribly and lived miserable lives. However, you know what, despite every indignity that was heaped upon them, they survived and because they survived, that is why I am here. That is something with which to be proud. That is why I do become upset when it appears that everything they went through is deemed inconsequential and of no significance to some people.
Peachyclair, at my discussion group at work, I gave two presentations on the slave trade. The first one was on the African slave trade, why it happened, how Britain and Europe grew wealthy from it and how its demise came about. The second was on modern slavery. The slave trade happened because after the European colonisers had annilated the Arawak Indians in the West Indies, they had to seek replacement bodies to work the sugar plantations. That is one aspect of the slave trade that is never mentioned. The original West Indians no longer exists. That is one of the many human tragedies associated with the Slave trade.
Wilberforce is often credited as the architect for the abolition of slavery but the movement started long before he became involved. The first seeds for the abolition movement was sowed in Jamaica by the arrival of Moravian missionaries in 1754. This was the first denomination to the teach the slaves about Christianity and spearhead the call to end slavery. Then came the Wesleyan Methodists followed by the Baptists.
As the 19th Century approached, two key events were to have an impact on the British slave trade. The first was the rise of the industrial revolution where nascent mechanisation was growing and consequently, doubts were being voiced about supporting the West Indian slave based economy. More importantly, in Europe there were demands for more liberty, especially in France (this led to the uprising in St Domingue which became the first black republic in 1804 and is now known as Haiti). In response to this, a wave of humanitarian reforms swept Britain and was led principally by John Wesley, and his brother Charles. This wave of reform awakened concern for the welfare of prisoners and other unfortunates including slaves.
Also, like to add, that in 1671, George Fox, founder of the Quakers, urged all members of his sect in Barbados to treat their slaves well and set them free after a certain period. However, only a few responded to this.
In 1765 Granville Sharp, a lawyer went to the aid of Jonathon Strong, a slave who had been bought to Britain by his master, beaten badly and left for dead. Sharp took him to his brother who was a doctor. After he had recovered, Sharp found him a job in a chemist shop. Sharp then devoted his life to work on behalf of slaves and consequently, gained many enemies. Sharp represented another ill treated slave called James Somerset who had been freed but whose former owner wanted to put him in bondage again and on 22nd January 1772, won a court judgement that slavery was not allowed or approved by the law of England. The Quakers, on the back of this judgement, formed the anti-slavery committee. Wilberforce joined later when he became affected by the religious revival sweeping the country and the significance of him being involved was that he was a member of Parliament and therefore provided the leadership in the House of Commons.
Also, Denmark abolished the slave trade in 1803, 4 years before Britain. Slave trading still continuted illegally however, and in 1827, a law was passed that treated slave trading as piracy punishable by death. Emancipation of the slaves finally came on 29th August 1833, 4 weeks after Wilberforce had died. Slave traders, plantation owners were paid millions in todays money in compensation, the slaves themselves got nothing.
So there you are. Those who profited from the slave trade were compensated for loss of earnings. The victims of the slave trade got absolutely nothing. That is why I don't think an apology now means anything.
For my part, my discussion group (who were all white British), were so thankful for my presentation because they had no idea of what slavery really represented. This research has awakened my interest in my history and the plight of modern day slavery. I'm doing my little bit because through literature that I received from Tearfund, I am actively raising awareness about the Stop the Trafficking initiative. It's not much but it is better than nothing and I can rest easy knowing that.