Mind the Gap

A Times article today highlights one severe problem in the teaching of history, both in Britain and at home.

The way history has long been taught here, Britain’s abolition of the slave trade on March 25, 1807, allowed it to claim the moral high ground in the struggle to end slavery in the New World.

But things are looking up.

Rather than dwelling on William Wilberforce, the feisty abolitionist who drove the reform through the British Parliament and is the subject of the film “Amazing Grace,” these shows are highlighting a far uglier back story: Britain’s deep engagement in the slave trade in earlier centuries and the fundamental role this played in forging the nation’s wealth and power.

With the support of the government and a $20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, national museums and community groups across Britain have begun re-examining what a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London calls these “Uncomfortable Truths.”

The mood may be ripe for such a reassessment. After years of waxing nostalgic about its lost empire, Britain is now daring to look more critically at its imperial record. At the same time there is fresh curiosity about the history and culture of the Caribbean, African, Arab and Asian immigrants who are changing the face of Britain.

There is also new transparency. Although Prime Minister Tony Blair fell short of an apology, in November he went further than any previous official by expressing “deep sorrow” for Britain’s role in the slave trade. “It is hard to believe what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time,” he noted.

I'm ready to vote for a political leader willing to make public apologies about the U.S.'s past. I'm also ready to find someone to build an International Slavery Museum in the U.S.