Memorial to slavery is needed

A nineteenth-century British cartoon satirising the anti-slavery movement SUS-200307-094559001

We need, as a nation, to recognise our past and those who suffered and died under slavery.

We can no longer pretend that slavery didn’t happen; we must recognise our responsibilities and be reminded constantly that repetition is a constant threat.

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin is a permanent reminder to Germans of the worst of atrocities and has helped ensure that Germany remains a pillar of liberal democracy. It is a truly powerful symbol which brought tears to my eyes.

The historians of tomorrow will no doubt look back at the standards and expectation of today with horror and disbelief, just as we look at some of the behaviours of yesterday.

I do not favour retrospective justice in removal of symbols of our history; few of our ancestors were all bad or indeed all good. But we do need to accept that evil was done in our name and a memorial is the way to do it.

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