Much of British business was built on the slave trade. This is how we make amends Catherine Hall
about 5 years in The guardian
The UCL database of slave owners shows how the past still lives in the present – and we are now expanding it
Catherine Hall is chair of the Centre for the study of British Slave-ownership
The news that major British institutions, from the Bank of England, a number of universities and Oriel College Oxford, to companies such as Lloyds of London and the brewery Greene King, have acknowledged their links to the slave trade, slavery and empire is most welcome. They have announced that they will interrogate the place of portraits and statues, provide money to redress inequalities, and be more inclusive in their practices.
It has been a long time coming. The scale of the George Floyd demonstrations, and the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue, alongside public recognition of the disproportionate number of the deaths of south Asian and black people due to Covid-19, have compelled responses from institutions and companies that have had the information available as to their shameful histories for years, but have chosen to ignore it. Continue reading...
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