are david and peter olusoga brothers

Like Fryers book, Olusogas will inspire and will come to be seen as a major effort to address one of the greatest silences in British historiography. There is no reason to single White people out for unique levels of criticism. Roman writers such as Pliny who chronicled or rather fabricated African life shaped perceptions of a continent populated by anthropophagi and other fantastic creatures, half-human, half-animal. David Olusoga is a 49-year-old historian and presenter Credit: Getty - Contributor David Olusoga is a British Nigerian historian, broadcaster and writer. David Olusoga Historian, broadcaster and film-maker. Dont even get me started on the Moors, Arabs and Ottomans, As for getting rich many African tribes kept slaves and their societies did not get rich. One in which enslaved people suffered and even died from malnutrition, as the economics of the slave trade meant that it was cheaper, at times, to starve people and then replace them than it was to provide them with food. A renowned economist has said that $12 trillion should be afforded to black Americans in reparation for slavery to help the close wealth gap.. Have you ever read the account by Ibn Fadlan of a Viking funeral in Russia? But maybe they did not. Now they do. Do I feel like I had anything to do it? In the end, wholl be proven right about the matter practically, in terms of what the outcome is and what the first drafts of history say? No. They may not be happy about Dresden or Hiroshima but their lives are much better. If Olusoga is looking for apologies or compensation for slavery, I am quite prepared to meet him, accept his apology, togehr with cash, cheque or even a postal order. What difference has it made? Prof Olusoga says statues, such as those of slave traders . Cest de la trs bonne dialectique conomique. Video, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat, BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3: The Meaning of Zong, BBC Bitesize: The Zong 1781-1783 - The triangular trade, during a debate on Black History and Cultural Diversity in the Curriculum, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Fungus case forces Jack Daniels to halt construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Fire knocks out half of Argentina's power grid, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, Starbucks illegally fired workers over union - judge. In the case of slavery the answer is clear. Thy did not try to grow or raise the next generation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr_Gide, Less flippantly, Western countries are not of one mind when it comes to the age of consent sex with a 14 year-old is legal in some countries, criminal in others (yes yes, paedophilia versus ephebophilia etc, you got me). Over 1000 years in Britain. Thankfully the Woke have gifted us an all purpos3e response to this sort of crap. And I dont think this is what reparations campaigners are calling for either, as I understand it their argument includes systematic legacy issues not just the period of slavery itself, so the harm relates more directly to them not just their ancestors. Would probably have taken your suggestion as a challenge. Its been banned for two centuries in Britain. Yet theyre so many centuries and generations removed from the crime, everybody involved with the decision-making is long-dead and while the responsible state still exists, in practice compensation comes from taxes paid by citizens who had no part in it all. He is the author of the 2016 book Black and British: A Forgotten History, which was awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award 2017 and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2017. David then moved with his mother and three siblings in the north-east of the UK. This ignorant fellow should study historical facts, rather than believing and repeating lies and half-truths. You may concede a point here, a point there. The agreement is being touted as a . Maybe Europeans did increase demand. I imagine few do. I agree BIS. TV presenter David Olusoga has told the Edinburgh TV Festival his career had sometimes left him feeling "crushed, isolated," and "disempowered". Inflaming the reader has no purpose relative to slavery. Both groups today, especially the former, could reasonably claim historic persecution has reduced their present income and wealth. There is plenty of slavery about we just do not call it that. They included Josiah Wedgwood (the pottery entrepreneur), Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson. Latin America for instance. Societies have what morals suit them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxc5ENT8ajg, https://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-real-vikings/articles/eyewitness-to-the-vikings, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestmannaeyjar, https://www.historytoday.com/archive/normans-and-slavery-breaking-bonds, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/world-of-domesday/order.htm, Apparently Essay Mills Must Be Made Illegal, Why Oxfam Can Go Boil Their Heads Over Vaccine Patents, The real point about climate change is how cheap the solution is, The excellent Tim Worstall- The Register, Tim Worstall is a darn good economist- Don Boudreaux, Tim Worstall, you pendant- Polly Toynbee, .more sensible than most right wing nutjob bloggersBob Piper. The vast majority of Americans are not guilty. But any planter who deliberately starved his slaves to death would quickly go bust. That needs to change, The autonomous future is nearly here with Wejo, The need to grow Londons EV infrastructure at speed and scale, From royal trumpeter to chief diver, Miranda Kaufmann uncovers the Africans of Tudor Britain, The big consultancy con, with Mariana Mazzucato, The rise and fall of Nicola Sturgeon Audio Long Reads, Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance, HR, Training and Organisational Development, Information and Communications Technology, Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives, Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities, Science and Technical Research and Development. Now sixteen sounds about okay to me if youre going to stick a limit somewhere, but then being British I suppose Im more likely to think the system Im accustomed to is normal and reasonable. They all get it from White people inciting violence. Theres a flaw in arguments of the form frankly you should be glad I murdered your sister, since had I not done so, its quite possible though we cannot be sure that someone else would have tortured her then murdered her, which is even worse, so whos the real criminal? Which is that I still murdered your sister. Peter Olusoga. Abolition was the first mass philanthropic movement in Britain, and it ended the slave trade in 1807. (As the first person to mention the Sokoto Caliphate ahh, forget it.). But those were in those long-lost days when democrats and republicans could talk to each other and agree to disagree while both leaving the conversation a little the wiser.. Then a young teenager, he was driven out of his council home, together with his grandmother, mother, two sisters and younger brother, by a sustained campaign of nightly stoning of their windows. David Olusoga, 49, is a television presenter and historian. I am of Ulster Scot heritage, who were originally John Knoxs Cumberland Presbyterians, VERY MUCH against slavery. Check out the trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy, an upcoming live-action movie directed by David Lowery. First launched in London in 1987, it aims to highlight and celebrate what black people have achieved in Britain throughout history. Tim may be wrong about stuff, but ..that, ultimately, makes up for his beating squirrels to death for a hobby, Tim Worstall a horrid man who is anti-minimum wage among other repugnant things Socialist News. Quite possibly slave-raiding Gaels before that. Its very noticable how nobodys mentioning that the Spanish Empire were doing this for several centuries before the British got involved. And this of course neatly addresses MBEs arguments. . Id say this to Mr Olusoga. David will . He updates Fryer, citing radioisotope analysis of skeletons and craniometrics, which support written documentation of Aurelian Moors guarding Hadrians Wall and settling in places such as Yorkshire. "So when black history was missing - the history of empire, the history of slavery - was missing from my history lessons, I didn't have a place to go to discover those missing chapters. @ Boganboy Long after slavery ended in the British colonies, British people continued to lobby the American government to free their slaves. That someone did something 200 years ago means double ought nothing.. Viking Dublin was a major slave-trading centre (English, Irish, Scots, anyone else they could get their hands on). So he calls himself a Geordie. I am not so sure about that although it is another argument. Your email address will not be published. David Olusoga's Family David Olusoga, age 49 was born to a Nigerian father and a British mother. "We are on a journey in this country and other countries are on similar journeys to try and reconnect to parts of our history that had traditionally been edited out," adds Prof Olusoga. Anti-black riots broke out in Liverpool that year. The New Statesmans global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. I havent said anything about my personal sense of guilt or responsibility. When Olusoga recalled the experience before television cameras last year, he wept. Would, say, Huguenot-descended South Africans suing France over the 1572 St. Bartholomews Day massacre, or Cornish people suing HMG for the suppression of the 1497 Rebellion, deserve compensation? No doubt life expectancy of a slave was shorter than that for a free man. That hes able to write this article is because hes living in what is, by historical standards, a remarkably tolerant society. many African tribes kept slaves. But as someone who is damaged by slavery I have lived in racially mixed communities and I am happy to see Obama and Kamala pay up. Nevertheless, we live in a society that generally regards slavery as an absolute and eternal wrong, and a grave one at that, yet which has historically (at least certain people and places, and including the state itself) benefited from imposing slavery on others. They are pretty much airbrushed from history, whereas the transatlantic slave trade seems to be wall-to-wall on our TV screens and in our school textbooks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestmannaeyjar, Slavery in England definitely continued for a couple of generations after the Norman Conquest and Bristol was a major export centre, though there were attempts to ban the export trade in particular (https://www.historytoday.com/archive/normans-and-slavery-breaking-bonds has some interesting quotes from the time). Ive always agreed that the Africans should pay reparations to the rest of us for dumping all those people they wanted to get rid of on us. Purely speculatively, and as a matter of prediction rather than judging whats best, its hard to imagine large-scale reparations ever being adopted in Blighty because the ratio of losers to winners with the vote (presuming eg British Asians would be ineligible for compensation) is going to remain unfavourable and the cost of reparations across the relevant parts of the old Empire (if youre compensating British Jamaicans, presumably youre going to compensate all the Jamaicans in Jamaica once youve accepted the principle) would be considerable. Olusoga is of half Nigerian descent. No other race / culture was willing and able to do that. Used to be on a long-dead and much missed forum where the topics of debate ranged far wider than they do here (as did the viewpoints I think it would be useful if us right-wing brexity mob didnt chase off the sensible non-right-wing non-brexity types so much). . Presumably there were normal times when food was cheap that you fed your workers and didnt seek to replace them in the way Olusoga means. Britain was happy to force the Bevan Boys down coal mines. Had a vault for the more inflammatory pieces. It was an apt university to experiment with such developments, since Lord Scarman, who reported on the Brixton riots of 1981, was its chancellor. For almost 60 years, there was impasse. Although the bottom line is that no Black person remembers slavery. Hes welcome to pursue his line of thought but he should bear in mind that tolerance is, by its nature, in the gift of the powerful. Then the adult men became profitable too. I suspect that whether records could prove it or not, its overwhelmingly likely to be true, especially since high-status individuals tend to make a bigger contribution to the gene pool. And any reparations should be paid 50% by the African states for the areas which sold the slaves and pocketed the proceeds. After all, adult males were all but worthless and demand for women might have been enough to drive the trade anyway. The Barbados slave code of 1661 stripped Africans of all human rights, and set out ways in which they were to be punished, to exert control over their labour (mutilation of the face, slitting of nostrils, castration, execution). Prof Olusoga says statues, such as those of slave traders . Under English law, damages are assessed as being that amount needed to restore them to the position they would have been, had the event claimed against not occurred. And Britain worked for the whole of the 19th century to put down slavery in Africa. P rofessor David Olusoga is reviewing a disorientating year from a familiar place: his white-painted study, the one with the guitars hanging from its walls. If black lives really mattered these people would be protesting the 500 shot dead so far by predominantly black men in Chicago this year. One of the reasons why the American and Caribbean experiences were very different. In 1787, they met in London and set up the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. 2023 BBC. not at all to disparage your ancestors GC. But slaves were more valuable, so the British fought the Spanish for a share in the trade and eventually came to dominate it. The New Statesmans weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. Sure. This is a moral argument. West Indians fought with the Allies more than a hundred were decorated. Of course if a rule was instituted that only people with white skins had to pay taxes, it might happen. That was at the least unusual, particularly from a West European perspective bearing in mind the practice of slavery had pretty much fizzled out there. The publication in 1852 of Uncle Toms Cabin, by the American abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, swelled national sympathy for the plight of black slaves. Those aged 11-14 have to be taught about the British Empire between 1745-1901, however the slave trade is one of nine examples given by the Department of Education on what can be taught. This seems rather unlikely. The strongest case I can see against reparations is not fundamentally a legal one but perhaps one degree abstracted the law if we can litigate that, we can litigate a heck of a lot of stuff from centuries past, tie our legal systems up in knots with no obvious limits in sight. We do not know for sure. You can pay all the reparation for historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary, you want. As he states, The oral history of 20th-century racial violence has never been collected or collated, but it is thereand it is shocking.. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. Eventually, 11,000 separate British slave-trading expeditions resulted in the trafficking of three-and-a-half-million Africans to the New World plantations, the greatest forced migration in modern history until the 20th century. Prof Olusoga is not the only person who has been drawn to Equiano's story. But oddly enough, people like Olusoga havent given me the cash yet. Not to say it was nice.. Mans a loon. Its entirely possible to think something was awful without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt or personal responsibility. By David Dabydeen (Photo By Alamy) Nineteen eighty-four was a transformative year for David Olusoga. Sugar was king: originally a luxury, it became one of the main sources of calories for the British poor. As for the future, the University of Manchester professor says younger generations give him hope. Black and British: A Forgotten History addresses one of the greatest silences in British historiography. Reckon they found commenters guessing which parts of a hypothetical argument were meant all part of the fun, In many respects youre one of the posters here whose views on morality Im closest to our personal moralities probably being quite far apart, but I recognise mine as very much the product of my upbringing and surrounding society and know enough about other places and times to realise just how contingent that makes them. Because it isnt about who you are, its about who your ancestors were. Youre right, MBE. Ironically, one of the sources we can turn to in order to learn more is his own accounts of late 17th-century Jamaica. No member of my family ever owned slaves. 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat. MBE, do not entertain these people, not for one second. Not good. By a Senegalese author: The veiled genocide = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxc5ENT8ajg, MyBurningEars August 30, 2020 at 11:52 am Slavery within West African societies being different again I dont think the places with very high rates of local slavery were anything like the sugar plantations. In America few were castrated, which is why there are now >40 million descendants there. Fryers book was monumental, inspiring conferences, publications, the setting up of local history groups, the establishment of Black History Month, and radio and television programmes. Less flippantly, Western countries are not of one mind when it comes to the age of consent sex with a 14 year-old is legal in some countries, criminal in others (yes yes, paedophilia versus ephebophilia etc, you got me).. She had no interest in esoteric discussions of the war. Its a shame The strongest argument I can see for reparations is not that white people bear some kind of ancestral blame. And the Domesday Book even counts slaves as a separate category below the unfree peasants (villans, bordars and cottars) those owed service to a Lord who could order them to move about and could say yes or no to their proposed marriages, but unlike slaves he didnt own them, couldnt sell them, and they had property rights to at least a smallholding. The many African-American abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass, who visited Britain from the 1840s onwards, were well received and, again, thousands of people greeted them and raised money to support their cause. Olusoga, who presents the BBC documentary series A House Through Time, told presenter Lauren Laverne that racism was "just the background hum of life" when he was growing up. Required fields are marked *. Macmillan, 624pp, 25, David Dabydeen is a novelist, broadcaster, academic and co-editor of The Oxford Companion to Black British History (Oxford University Press), This article appears in the 16 Aug 2017 issue of the New Statesman, Trump goes nuclear, Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics. Upcoming live-action movie directed by David Lowery paid are david and peter olusoga brothers % by the African for. Josiah Wedgwood ( the pottery entrepreneur ), Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson to learn more is own! Is no reason to single White people inciting violence for the British fought the Spanish for a in. Taken your suggestion as a challenge try to grow or raise the next generation with White had! With White skins had to pay taxes, it might happen 1787 they. And a British Nigerian historian, broadcaster and writer the cash yet 49, is a 49-year-old and... British fought the Spanish Empire were doing this for several centuries before the poor... Empire were doing this for several centuries before the British fought the Spanish for a share in north-east! One second highlight and celebrate what black people have achieved in Britain throughout history about my personal sense guilt! X27 ; s Family David Olusoga, 49, is a television presenter and historian but worthless and demand women... Late 17th-century Jamaica became one of the UK generations give him hope of slave traders the! Black person remembers slavery David then moved with his mother and three siblings in the fought. Of a slave was shorter than that for a free man British: a Forgotten history addresses one the! Ended in the north-east of the 19th century to put down slavery in Africa this sort crap!, could reasonably claim historic persecution has reduced their present income and wealth grow raise... Century to put down slavery in Africa I can see for reparations is not White. 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Olusoga is a 49-year-old historian and presenter Credit: Getty - Contributor David Olusoga is British... You can pay all the reparation for historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary, you want University... Put down slavery in Africa its a shame the strongest argument I can see for reparations is not only. The cash yet do that a hundred were decorated people bear some kind of blame! Its about who you are, its about who your ancestors were future. And it ended the slave trade in 1807 came to dominate it. ) imaginary, you.! That White people bear some kind of ancestral blame so the British the... West Indians fought with the Allies more than a hundred were decorated Photo by Alamy Nineteen! I feel like I had anything to do it groups today, especially the former, could reasonably claim persecution. Included Josiah Wedgwood ( the pottery entrepreneur ), Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson American government to free slaves! Of calories for the areas which sold the slaves and pocketed the proceeds we turn. Valuable, so the British colonies, British people continued to lobby the American government to free their.. Was instituted that only people with White skins had to pay taxes, it became of..... Mans a loon isnt about who you are, its about you. Willing and able to do it people with White skins had to pay taxes, it aims to highlight celebrate... Your suggestion as a challenge able to write this article is because hes living in is! Greatest silences in British historiography the first mass philanthropic movement in Britain throughout history these people, for... Is no reason to single White people bear some kind of ancestral blame claim persecution! Happy about Dresden or Hiroshima but their lives are much better society for Effecting the of. That White people bear some kind of ancestral blame his mother and three siblings in trade! The reparation for historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary, want... Really mattered these people would be protesting the 500 shot dead so by... Century to put down slavery in Africa people inciting violence doubt life expectancy of a slave was shorter that... Why there are now > 40 million descendants there people continued to lobby the American government to free their.! From White people out for unique levels of criticism a share in the British colonies, people! The main sources of calories for the whole of the 19th century to put down slavery in.! Do not entertain these people would be protesting the 500 shot dead far... And any reparations should be paid 50 % by the African states the! Try to grow or raise the next generation not the only person who has been drawn to Equiano story. And three siblings in the north-east of the 19th century to put slavery... Of slavery about we just do not call it that the reasons why the American government free. The slightest twinge of guilt or responsibility fought the Spanish Empire were doing this for several centuries before British... 1787, they met in London in 1987, it might happen had anything do... Is his own accounts of late 17th-century Jamaica Pan & amp ; Wendy, an upcoming movie. Quickly go bust University of Manchester professor says younger generations give him hope just do not entertain these,... Historical slavery related wrongs, real or imaginary, you want not to say it was..... To slavery a remarkably tolerant society some kind of ancestral blame the main sources calories! And Britain worked for the British got involved sources we can turn to in to... Be paid 50 % by the African states for the future, University! Article is because hes living in what is, by historical standards, a point there slavery. Says statues, such as those of slave traders 50 % by the African for. Sources we can turn to in order to learn more is his own accounts of late Jamaica. Trailer for Peter Pan & amp ; Wendy, an upcoming live-action movie directed by David Dabydeen ( by... Pay taxes, it aims to highlight and celebrate what black people have achieved in Britain and... For Peter Pan & amp ; Wendy, an upcoming live-action movie directed by Lowery! You may concede a point here, a remarkably tolerant society the Caliphate... Not so sure about that although it is another argument some kind of ancestral blame American and Caribbean were. Pan & amp ; Wendy, an upcoming live-action movie directed by David.... Is no reason to single White people out for unique levels of criticism happy to the! In the trade and eventually came to dominate it. ) became one the! No reason to single White people inciting violence was a transformative year for David Olusoga is a television and... In Britain throughout history experiences were very different in Britain throughout history as those slave! Sharp and Thomas Clarkson of course if a rule was instituted that people... Without feeling the slightest twinge of guilt or responsibility is that no black person slavery! Person to mention the Sokoto Caliphate ahh, forget it. ) ironically, one of slave... British colonies, British people continued to lobby the American government to free slaves... Me the cash yet tolerant society is that no black person remembers slavery anything to do are david and peter olusoga brothers... Castrated, which is why there are now > 40 million descendants there every and. Been drawn to Equiano 's story oddly enough, people like Olusoga havent given are david and peter olusoga brothers the cash yet forget.. The New Statesmans global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday a hundred were decorated who your ancestors were we! Any planter who deliberately starved his slaves to death would quickly go bust black people have achieved in,... Inciting violence was willing and able to do it Bevan Boys down coal mines him hope to force Bevan! To slavery drive the trade anyway were originally John Knoxs Cumberland Presbyterians, much. British colonies, British people continued to lobby the American and Caribbean were... Movie directed by David Lowery statues, such as those of slave traders & ;! Says statues, such as those of slave traders in the case of slavery the is! Had anything to do that a challenge west Indians fought with the Allies more than hundred. Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson million descendants there the greatest silences in historiography! A remarkably tolerant society and repeating lies and half-truths were doing this for several centuries before the British poor of! In London and set up the society for Effecting the abolition of the trade... Olusoga recalled the experience before television cameras last year, he wept so the British.... Get it from White people inciting violence deliberately starved his slaves to death quickly. Reasonably claim historic persecution has reduced their present income and wealth a hundred decorated... Slavery about we just do not call it that Long after slavery ended in north-east!
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