Modern day Britain stands on the shoulders of the slave trade, so what is being done to put things right?

How many buildings and institutions in the UK have their roots in the slave trade and what is being done about it? The question came to mind, after attending a fascinating talk by historian and City of London tour guide Chris O’Donnell on St Marys Church in Wanstead. Chris told how some of the revered figures in the church, such as Sir Josiah and his son Richard Child and Jerome and John Heydon (governor of Bermuda – 1679 to 1683) were major operators in the slave trade. Sir Josiah was a leading member of the East India Company, as well as the Royal African Company – which was a leading player in the slave trade. A colleague of Sir Josiah at the Royal African Company was Sir Edward Colston – whose statue finished up in the dock at Bristol last summer, after his slave trading links were revealed. On the other side of the argument, the life of abolitionist and former Bishop of London, Beilby Porteus, is honoured at the back of the church. Another hero is Vice Admiral Robert Plampin, who as a Navy commander took an active part in the war against the slave trade mounted by the Royal Navy following the abolition of the trade in 1807. The Vice Admiral was involved in a number of acts of liberation, including the freeing of 368 slaves, who were released upon arrival at Sierra Leone. So, St Marys Church offers a fantastic insight into the slave trade from all angles, with commemorations and graves around the church and graveyard. Chris O’Donnell’s talk, provided a very valuable insight into this appalling trade. He recalled how in the mid-1830s, the British government agreed to compensate slave owners for their losses. This meant raising a £20 million loan (£17 billion in todays equivalent). The final payments on this 180-year long loan were made in 2015, so as Chris pointed out, anyone paying income tax up to that date help compensate slave owners. The case for a real reckoning on the slave trade and move to pay reparations has gathered pace with the Black Lives Matter movement. What though does not seem to have been got over to the greater populace is just how huge the slave trade was and how its proceeds enabled Britain to extend its empire all over the world. The East India Company ofcourse was a major vehicle in this enterprise. There were many people in Britain, who had grown immensely wealth on the slave trade, who had money to invest in all sorts of enterprises over the Georgian and Victorian eras. So much of Britain today stands on the shoulders of slaves. Moving forward, there really does need to be a reckoning with the past – a recognition of what actually happened. Then some actions to put things right – this could include the removal of some statues, though qualification of what stands where and why could also play a part. The country should not be celebrating slavery, with physical memorials to these individuals, but nor should it airbrush them from existence for their heinous acts. Reperations certainly need to be paid – something that is being looked into at a number of levels at present. Finally, ofcourse, there is the need to address the ongoing racism, the continued operation of institutional racism in all its forms across society. And there needs to be real action, not pledges and motions, that are then put in the drawer, as some sort of symbolic gesture. There must be real change, which means some in society giving up power to others.