"You Should Be Ashamed," "You're A Disgrace," And "This Is An Insult To Us."

Protester disrupts Britain's slave trade abolition service

Taken from Yahoo News, Tue Mar 27, 2007
By Robin Millard

A shouting protester got within metres of Queen Elizabeth II at a service on Tuesday marking the 200th anniversary of Britain's abolition of the slave trade, demanding she apologise personally.



Toyin Agbetu, a human rights campaigner, ran in front of the altar at London's Westminster Abbey - packed with dignitaries - shouting "you should be ashamed," "you're a disgrace," and "this is an insult to us."

He condemned African Christians who attended the national service.

The 2,000-strong congregation included Prime Minister Tony Blair and government ministers as well as the descendants of both slaves and leading abolitionists.

The lone protester was restrained by security guards, and once outside, was arrested and led away in handcuffs by the police.

The anniversary has left political and religious leaders wrestling with how Britain should deal with its past role in the slave trade.

Blair has expressed "deep sorrow" for Britain's involvement in the slave trade but stopped short of a full apology.

Agbetu yelled: "We should not be here, this is an insult to us. I want all the Christians who are Africans to walk out."

He said Queen Elizabeth needed to apologise on behalf of her ancestors.

"You don't have the decency, Mr Blair, to make an apology and the word sorry, and you, the queen...

"The queen has to say sorry. It was Elizabeth I. She commanded John Hawkins (a pioneer of the English slave trade) to take his ship. The monarch and the government and the church are all in there patting themselves on the back.

"This nation has never apologised, there was no mention of the African freedom fighters. This is just a memorial of William Wilberforce."

Wilberforce was the driving parliamentarian behind the landmark change in the British law which abolished the slave trade.

Agbetu, 39, is the founder of Ligali, a British-based human rights group which sets out to "challenge the misrepresentation of African people and culture in the British media."

Major General David Burden, the receiver general of Westminster Abbey, insisted the queen, 80, and her husband Prince Philip, 85, had been safe.

The protester, who had a ticket, had been through security checks and scanners, he said.

"The queen was protected by her own protection officers," said Burden.

"We allow them to speak for a little and then encourage them to leave. We wish it hadn't happened but we're not embarrassed at all."

The service included a sermon from the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and an address from Lady Kate Davson, a great-great-great grand-daughter of Wilberforce, who read one of her ancestor's speeches.

"Slavery is one of the largest pieces of our wounded history, our worldwide wounded history, and...(has) to be confronted in order to get peace in our world," she said.

Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, called slavery an offence to human dignity and freedom.

"We, who are the heirs of the slave-owning and slave-trading nations of the past, have to face the fact that our historic prosperity was built in large part on this atrocity," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, finance minister Gordon Brown and London Mayor Ken Livingstone - who has apologised for slavery on behalf of the city - attended.

Afterwards, Queen Elizabeth laid flowers on the memorials to Wilberforce and all those affected by slavery.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed on March 25, 1807, imposing a 100-pound fine for every slave found aboard a British ship.

The 1833 Slavery Abolition Act outlawed slavery itself throughout the British Empire. However, some slaves did not gain their final freedom until 1838.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Useful Readings:

1. Church should consider slave trade reparations, says Archibishop of Canterbury
Daily Mail. UK, 26th March 2007

2. Bishop: 'Why I am NOT saying sorry for slavery'
Daily Mail, UK, 25th March 2007, By MICHAEL NAZIR-ALI, Bishop of Rochester