I can not speak for the English but as an citizen of the United States, I am not only embarrassed by my countries history but wish that my fellow citizens had the courage to make a formal apology for participating in slavery...

And, no matter how folks want to whitewash (pun intended) the real story, those folks whop were slaves didn't wish it upon themselves and many flat out wouldn't accept it and either ran or died trying...

And historically lets look at another aspect of slavery in the United States... With the Ammancipation Proclamation, all Lincoln said is "Yer free" but what did free mean in a world where former slaves had nuthin' and were given nuthin'???

Then in 1876 the Union troops pulled out of the South and Jim Crow was born which lasted purdy much until the US Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in 1954...

So for alot of us here in Mudville the direct results of slavery were still going strong during our life times... And it can be argued that they are still going strong... All one needs to do is drive thru any inner city in America...

Yeah, this discussion, as well as a discussion on remdies, is way overdue in the U.S... Can't speak for my UK friends...

Bobert