Editing Slavery (section)

==Apologies==

On May 21, 2001, the [[National Assembly of France]] passed the [[Christiane Taubira|Taubira]] law, recognizing slavery as a [[crime against humanity]]. Apologies on behalf of African nations, for their role in trading their countrymen into slavery, remain an open issue since slavery was practiced in Africa even before the first Europeans arrived and the [[Atlantic slave trade]] was performed with a high degree of involvement of several African societies. The black slave market was supplied by well-established slave trade networks controlled by local African societies and individuals.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Boahen |first1=A. Adu.|title=Topics in West African history|date=1986|publisher=Longman Group|last2=Ajayi |first2=J. F. Ade.|last3= Tidy|first3= Michael|isbn=0-582-58504-X|edition=2|location=Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex, England|oclc=15580435}}</ref>

<blockquote>There is adequate evidence citing case after case of African control of segments of the trade. Several African nations such as the Calabar and other southern parts of Nigeria had economies depended solely on the trade. African peoples such as the Imbangala of Angola and the Nyamwezi of Tanzania would serve as middlemen or roving bands warring with other African nations to capture Africans for Europeans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africawithin.com/kwaku/afrikan_involvement.htm |title=Afrikan Involvement In Atlantic Slave Trade |first=Kwaku |last=Person-Lynn |publisher=Africawithin.com |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418072244/http://africawithin.com/kwaku/afrikan_involvement.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2008}}</ref></blockquote>

Several historians have made important contributions to the global understanding of the African side of the Atlantic slave trade. By arguing that African merchants determined the assemblage of trade goods accepted in exchange for slaves, many historians argue for African agency and ultimately a shared responsibility for the slave trade.<ref>{{Citation |last=Ball |first=Jeremy R.|url=https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=8469 |work=H-Net Reviews |date=November 2003 |access-date=February 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050122054905/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=13661080113274 |archive-date=January 22, 2005 |title=Alcohol and Slaves |type=Review}}</ref>

In 1999, President [[Mathieu Kérékou]] of Benin issued a national apology for the central role Africans played in the Atlantic slave trade.<ref name="apology">{{Cite news |last1=Gates |first1=Henry Louis Jr. |author1-link=Henry Louis Gates Jr. |date=April 22, 2010 |title=Opinion {{!}} Ending the Slavery Blame-Game |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html |access-date=February 13, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Luc Gnacadja]], minister of environment and housing for Benin, later said: "The slave trade is a shame, and we do repent for it."<ref name="Dahomey">{{Cite news |last=Services |first=Tribune News |title=Benin Officials Apologize for Role in U.S. Slave Trade |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-05-01-0005010158-story.html |access-date=February 6, 2021 |website=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> Researchers estimate that 3&nbsp;million slaves were exported out of the [[Slave Coast of West Africa|Slave Coast]] bordering the [[Bight of Benin]].<ref name="Dahomey"/> President [[Jerry Rawlings]] of Ghana also apologized for his country's involvement in the slave trade.<ref name="apology"/>

The issue of an apology is linked to [[reparations for slavery]] and is still being pursued by entities across the world. For example, the Jamaican Reparations Movement approved its declaration and action plan. In 2007, British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] made a formal apology for Great Britain's involvement in slavery.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 14, 2007 |title=Blair 'sorry' for UK slavery role |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6451793.stm |access-date=February 6, 2021 |publisher=[[BBC News]] }}</ref>

On February 25, 2007, the [[Virginia|Commonwealth of Virginia]] resolved to 'profoundly regret' and apologize for its role in the institution of slavery. Unique and the first of its kind in the U.S., the apology was unanimously passed in both Houses as Virginia approached the 400th anniversary of the founding of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6394981.stm |title=Virginia 'sorry' for slavery role |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=February 25, 2007 |access-date=August 29, 2010}}</ref>

On August 24, 2007, [[Mayor of London]] [[Ken Livingstone]] issued a public apology for London's role in Atlantic slave trade, which took place at an event commemorating the 200th anniversary of the British slave trade's abolition. In his speech, Livingstone described the slave trade as "the racial murder of not just those who were transported but generations of enslaved African men, women and children. To justify this murder and torture black people had to be declared inferior or not human... We live with the consequences today."<ref name="jump">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/aug/24/london.humanrights |title=Livingstone weeps as he apologises for slavery |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 24, 2007 |access-date=January 7, 2020 |location=London |first=Hugh |last=Muir |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107154804/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/aug/24/london.humanrights |archive-date=January 7, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> City officials in [[Liverpool]], which was a large slave trading port, apologized in 1999.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2007/02/15/abolition_liverpool_apology_feature.shtml |title=Liverpool's slavery apology |publisher=[[BBC News]]  |date=September 24, 2014 |first=Paul |last=Coslett |access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref>

On July 30, 2008, the [[United States House of Representatives]] passed a resolution apologizing for American slavery and subsequent discriminatory laws.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Congress Apologizes for Slavery, Jim Crow |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93059465 |access-date=February 6, 2021 |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> In June 2009, the [[U.S. Senate]] passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery". The news was welcomed by President [[Barack Obama]], the nation's first president of African descent.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iyMeHvk7WyJys7iAyehSzik11Yqg |title=Obama praises 'historic' Senate slavery apology |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |via=[[Google News]] |date=June 19, 2009 |access-date=July 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225121342/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iyMeHvk7WyJys7iAyehSzik11Yqg |archive-date=February 25, 2014}}</ref> Some of President Obama's ancestors may have been slave owners.<ref>{{cite news |first1=David |last1=Nitkin |first2=Harry |last2=Merritt |title=A New Twist to an Intriguing Family History |date=March 2, 2007 |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-te.obama02mar02,0,3453027.story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033339/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-te.obama02mar02%2C0%2C3453027.story |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref>

In 2010, Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] apologized for Arab involvement in the slave trade, saying: "I regret the behavior of the Arabs... They brought African children to North Africa, they made them slaves, they sold them like animals, and they took them as slaves and traded them in a shameful way."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Akhalbey |first1=Francis |title=Watch Gaddafi apologize on behalf of Arabs for their cruel treatment of Africans during the Arab slave trade |url=https://face2faceafrica.com/article/watch-gaddafi-apologize-on-behalf-of-arabs-for-their-cruel-treatment-of-africans-during-the-arab-slave-trade |website=Face2Face Africa |access-date=February 27, 2022 |language=en |date=November 15, 2019}}</ref>

=== Reparations ===
{{Main|Reparations for slavery}}
There have been movements to achieve reparations for those formerly held as slaves or for their descendants. Claims for reparations for being held in slavery are handled as a [[Private law|civil law]] matter in almost every country. This is often decried as a serious problem, since former slaves' relatives lack of money means they often have limited access to a potentially expensive and futile [[Service of process|legal process]]. Mandatory systems of fines and reparations paid to an as yet undetermined group of claimants from fines, paid by unspecified parties, and collected by authorities have been proposed by advocates to alleviate this "civil court problem." Since in almost all cases there are no living ex-slaves or living ex-slave owners these movements have gained little traction. In nearly all cases the judicial system has ruled that the [[statute of limitations]] on these possible claims has long since expired.

In June 2023, [[Brattle Group|The Brattle Group]] presented a report at an event at the [[University of the West Indies]] in which reparations were estimated, for harms both during and after the period of transatlantic chattel slavery, at over 100 trillion dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Kim |date=July 10, 2023 |title=Brattle Consultants Quantify Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery in Pro Bono Paper |url=https://www.brattle.com/insights-events/publications/brattle-consultants-quantify-reparations-for-transatlantic-chattel-slavery-in-pro-bono-paper/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |website=Brattle |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mahon |first=Leah |date=August 2023 |title=£18 Trillion What Britain owes in reparation |pages=6–7 |work=[[The Voice (British newspaper)|The Voice]]}}</ref>