2007 will mark 200 years since the passing of
the 1807 British Parliamentary Act to end the
Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The 1807 Act did not end the
institution of enslavement, nor did it stop the
British involvement in perpetrating the practise
of African enslavement and subsequent atrocities.
The British involvement in this
‘trade’ in human beings continued
beyond the 1807 Act and developed into colonial
invasion, the scramble for Africa, colonial rule
and occupation as well as on-going systems of
oppression and exploitation in Africa and across
the world today.
The suppression of truth about
the British role in the enslavement of millions
of Africans and the ongoing silence about this
history, has led to widespread ignorance about
Britain’s past, and vast numbers of people
in Britain who today do not think that this history
is relevant to their lives or to their contemporary
realities. As a result, in Britain people are
largely unwilling to take responsibility for their
role in the perpetration of crimes committed by
British ancestral forebears.
Abolition emblems such as ‘Am
I not a man and a brother?’ and ‘Am
I not a woman and a sister?’, depicted Africans
as passive recipients of emancipation rather than
of pro-active liberators. This helped to instil
in Europeans the racist ideology that Africans
are submissive to their European counterparts
and set in place a slave/master relationship,
which is still maintained and practised by most
Europeans today across the globe.
To focus on 2007 as a celebration
of European Abolitionists which involved the British
government ‘changing its mind’ about
enslavement because of moral integrity, would
be disrespectful, offensive and historically incorrect.
The British government did not simply change its
mind about the abhorrent practise which it perpetuated
for over 400 years. African resistance both on
the continent and in the Diaspora, together with
the cross community mass mobilisation in Britain
and Europe forced the British government to take
up the cause of Abolition.
If collectively we do not engage in work across
communities and sectors to build towards 2007,
the following will also be key facts:
In 2007 a number of mainstream
institutions will organise and host commemorations
that continue to glorify mostly white Abolitionists,
such as William Wilberforce, whose memory is already
entrenched in the consciousness of large sections
of the British public, as the only champions of
the abolitionist struggle, and whose moral crusades
led to Britain becoming the first country in the
world to abolish enslavement.
Activities and events will be
organised that continue to highlight and emphasise
Britain’s role in abolition, as opposed
to Britain’s role in enslaving millions
of African women, men and children.
The 2007 commemorations will not honour the memories
of Africans who were brutally and savagely enslaved
by the British.
Nor will the 2007 commemorations
pay homage to the African sheroes and heroes of
the abolitionist struggle whose resistance led
to the overthrowing of the systematically oppressive
practise of enslavement.
In the absence of unified and
unilateral pressure to support meaningful commemorations,
the British government will legitimise it’s
avoidance of the issue of Reparations by saying
that it is too complex and communities cannot
agree on ways forward.
In light of these key facts, ROV therefore advocates
a commemorative year which aims to:
Honour the memory of Africans
who were stolen, sold, oppressed, raped and murdered
by the British and with the full commission and
sanction of the British Monarchy and Government.
Explore truthfully and explicitly
the involvement of the British and the endorsement
of the British government, in the perpetration
of the African holocaust and not seek to glorify
the role of the British State and its agents as
Abolitionists in the global struggle against enslavement.
Highlight the fact that the 1807
Act did not end the institution of enslavement,
nor did it stop the British involvement in perpetrating
the practise of African enslavement and subsequent
atrocities. 2007 must make the necessary connections
between the historical injustices committed by
Britain, the problems that continue to be created
and exacerbated by Britain and the economic and
political realities on the continent today. These
links must be examined and explored within the
context of activities planned for 2007.
Tell the whole and truthful story
about motivations behind the Abolition. The passing
of the 1807 Parliamentary Act and subsequent laws
was not purely driven or motivated by the moral
integrity of the British government. African resistance
both on the continent and in the Diaspora in its
multitude of forms, shook the very structures
of enslavement to its oppressive roots. The enslavement
of Africans became less profitable to Britain
and to Europeans, and it was within this context
that the popular and mass mobilisation gained
ground. The growing anti-slavery sentiment and
the thousands of people who came to oppose the
continued enslavement of Africans, became increasingly
difficult for the British Establishment to ignore.
Recognise that Africans both
on the continent and in the Diaspora resisted
their forced captivity and enslavement throughout
the duration of the African holocaust. The unsung
African sheroes and heroes who have been left
out of the history that has been re-told by British
institutions and by many professional historians,
must be held up as the leaders of the abolition
struggle, remembered as the founding fathers and
mothers of the emancipation of African people
and honoured and named as the champions of self
liberation and determination.
Recognise that there is a world
of difference between the so-called British ‘champions’
who are held up by the people of Britain as the
main proponents, leaders and ‘founding fathers’
of the Abolition movement, and the masses of British
people who advanced the abolition struggle and
informed the mobilisation.
Recognise that the justifications
for African enslavement, which included the creation,
perpetuation, internalisation and propagation
of racist thought, paved the way for views that
Europeans still hold today, while also recognising
that not all Abolitionists or British public at
the time held these views and many fought (by
writing, speaking and actively campaigning) against
them.
Acknowledge that many of the
images and written materials used as part of the
abolition movement at the time, helped to set
in place stereotypes of passive and helpless Africans.
These are not only still prevalent in present
day mindsets, but they have also formed the basis
of many oppressive and unjust decisions, agreements
and policies that have been made unilaterally
by Europeans about Africa and Africans, both on
the continent and within the Diaspora.
ROV strongly advocates against commemorative
activities which:
Perpetuate the same lies which have been told
for centuries and continue to be told through
the British education system and more widely,
the British Establishment.
Suppress the whole truth about the abolitionist
struggle and the sheroes and heroes who fought
for own peoples’ liberation.
Celebrate only the white Abolitionists as
the leaders of the global struggle for abolition
of African enslavement.
Celebrate 2007 as a 200 year anniversary which
marks the ending of African enslavement and
fails to acknowledge the subsequent atrocities
which continue to oppress African people on
the continent and in the Diaspora today.
And which in our belief widen the gaps between
communities through lack of willingness to engage
with perspectives that are deeply rooted in
centuries of Pan African Liberation struggle
for global justice.
