The recent BBC2 documentary “Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners” caught a few of us on holiday and unable to watch at the time. However, it is available on iPlayer for several days (part one) (part two) and will be repeated on BBC2 Sign Zone on August 1 at 1:15am and August 8 at 0:55am (set your timers!). It highlights an important aspect of the legacy of slavery reaching into modern society and was based on two important research projects by University College London.
The programme generated a number of articles in the press, for instance in the Guardian and Independent (plus a more celebrity-name-dropping article in the Daily Mail). Other articles can be found by Googling the programme title. A 5-star review in the Times included this telling quote: “If we take historical pride in ending slavery we must share the guilt of a nation that prospered by it.”
As we are finding with MJR as we investigate the legacy of colonial slavery and industrial exploitation, there was a knock-on effect from one to the other revealed by the programme. It was the British poor who were taxed to fund the massive compensation paid to the slave owners and this had significant implications for the already hard pressed working classes. So, not much changes!
Let us hope that this programme and the articles and discussion around it raise awareness of the UCL research and the issues it highlights. And that the timing is beneficial for the launch of MJR on September 23rd, as this a part of what we hope to address.
Paul Keeble
