NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6492291.stm

i'm thinking: "why not?" and "why is there almost no content in the OP?"

It's traditional to include some kind of commentary in the OP when posting a news article.

*reads article*
I can't see a formal apology hurting anyone, and not giving one would give people something to bitch and moan about. Do it right and Blair might get some good press out of this, which would make a change.

"The west should NOT apologise for something that was perfectly acceptable at the time"

That is a mindnumbingly stupid comment.

It's traditional to include some kind of commentary in the OP when posting a news article.

*reads article*
I can't see a formal apology hurting anyone, and not giving one would give people something to bitch and moan about. Do it right and Blair might get some good press out of this, which would make a change.

An apology has already been made. How many times can you apologise for the acts of your fathers. Would the black community rather see the buildings in Liverpool that were paid for by the slave trade demolished and then go back to living amongst the flies and disease that is their home country. Because if you want to turn back the clocks then we go back to were we started. Same for the black people.

I think it was 200 years ago. I think that anyone who was actually personally involved in the slave trade should apologize, but being as it was 200 years ago, then maybe it is a bit stupid to expect people who where not alive at the time to say they are sorry to other people who were not alive at the time for things that happened in the past. Shall we all start asking the Italians to apologize about the en-slavery of the Iceni tribe? Or possibly the French for the land grabbing and dispossession of the native population following the 1066 invasion? It was a terrible indictment of human kind, but saying sorry is just too stupid for words. We can all say how terrible it was, but to apologize is something only those guilty of something can do, if other people do it, then it is just empty words.

An apology has already been made. How many times can you apologise for the acts of your fathers. Would the black community rather see the buildings in Liverpool that were paid for by the slave trade demolished and then go back to living amongst the flies and disease that is their home country. Because if you want to turn back the clocks then we go back to were we started. Same for the black people.

apologising isn't the same as turning back the clocks.

apologising isn't the same as turning back the clocks.

Apologies have already been made. What does the Bishop want? Is he going to apologise for Mugabe's treatment of people in Zimbabwe, or the attrocities in Darfur or the Hutu/Tootsie massacres?

What would an apology do?

'Yeah, about that slavery thing, we're sorry that your ancestors were forced to work without a wage. So, can you get back to cleaning the loos now you poorly educated underclass?'

Apologies have already been made. What does the Bishop want?

then i don't really know what the bishop wants. but the article says: Dr Sentamu, ... , rejected the idea of paying reparations, but said a full apology would be an act of strength.

Is he going to apologise for Mugabe's treatment of people in Zimbabwe, or the attrocities in Darfur or the Hutu/Tootsie massacres?

what does that have to do with anything.

Why should we be apologising for something that was abolished 200 years ago? It just seems ultimately pointless now.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q100/TheSteveslols/mugabeyj4.png

One does not fuck with Robert Mugabe.

then i don't really know what the bishop wants. but the article says: Dr Sentamu, ... , rejected the idea of paying reparations, but said a full apology would be an act of strength.



what does that have to do with anything.

The bishop is Dr Sentamu. What is a full apology - apart from apologising?

The white people he is asking to apologise for these things have about as much to to with slavery as the black people in this country have with the atrocities black perpetrate on blacks in Africa.

The bishop is Dr Sentamu. What is a full apology - apart from apologising?


i don't know. i guess it has to be more formal than just saying sorry.


The white people he is asking to apologise for these things have about as much to to with slavery as the black people in this country have with the atrocities black perpetrate on blacks in Africa.

i don't think this has to do with race. he wants a country to apologise for stuff they did a long time ago, he doesn't want all white people to apologise.

More of this? Didn't we get our fill over the Georgia apology debate?

I think you're missing the point, Sophie Howard. The official apology of a nation, means the nation as a whole recognises past practices for what they were, and condemns them. When the nation in question already recognises this unofficially, I don't see what argumet can be made for not making such a statement, especially considering that such a statement will do much to undermine political extremists elsewhere, and help decrease prejudice against whites.

Sure, it's completely silly. But it's also perfectly harmless for the apologizer, and beneficial to others. So why the hell not? If it's for the principle of the thing, than what is that principle exactly, and what makes it so important?Dr Sentamu [...] rejected the idea of paying reparations, but said a full apology would be an act of strength.By denying this, you're throwing the doors wide open on speculation that perhaps Britain doesn't see slave trade as wrong, but merely politically and economically unsound at present. That's how lots and lots of political groups are gonna interpret it.