I've been away from this thread for awhile and just want to make a few comments:

[somewhat off topic] to GUEST,blakprof: Please stick around and continue posting on this and other Mudcat threads, as a member or as a guest. We [Mudcatters]need to hear from more people of color. And I say this recognizing the fact that we [people of color] probably will not agree with each other some or all of the time. But why should people of color agree with each other? [this last a rhetorical question]

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That said, let me partly agree with Quarcoo's statement that
"slavery was the work of the missionaries and they used their religion as a cover".

However, missionaries weren't the only population of people responsible for slavery...and some missionaries living and working among African peoples are committed to their religious ideals AND have done good works [medical, educational].

Also, though I know little about this aspect of it, it seems to me that the historical actions of Muslims who forced people to convert to Islam and killed and enslaved populations who did not convert {and enslaved persons who did?}, is not the same as what the so-called Christian missionaries did [those who excused their atrocities under the name of Christianity].

Not to mention the current Sudanese experience where Muslims are still enslaving non-Muslims...The fact that race [skin color] is a factor in the Sudanese example with the non-Muslims being enslaved being black skinned and the Muslims being lighter skinned may or may not be a factor-but I rather think it is-since skin color prejudice is one of chattel slavery's terrible legacies that has spread throughout the world including in nations that are ruled by people of color.

Also, Quarcoo, you statement about missionaries does not acknowledge the role that Africans played in enslaving other Africans. The fact is that Africa had slavery before the Europeans came, though it was not that most horrendous form of slavery, chattel slavery.

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For the record, I agree with Wolfgang's Jun 06 - 05:05 PM comment that "Apologies by countries are about present financial or other advantages". But I would say that forgiving the debt in those nations or really providing financial assistance [instead of making grandstand promises of money] and providing low cost medicine, medical equipment, and medical supplies is a reasonable [to me] way to demonstrate that those nations recognize the heinous nature of chattel slavery.

But I also believe that there is a psychological and metaphysical healing benefit to apologizing and accepting the apology.

And I don't think that expecting or demanding something has to always be a part of the act of apologizing and accepting an apology. It's not always that way on a personal level...

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Dave'sWife said "I have a friend whose family is Basque. I can tell you that nobody in spain considers them "white". White and black are arbitrary divisions that have no use any more. let's not perpetuate them."

I agree that racial classifications are arbitrary social [and political] constructs whose meaning may vary over time, and from one nation to another.

However, admitting that the referents mean different things to different people, it seem to me that it isn't the referents themselves that are the problem, but the positive and negative value judgements that have been given to these referents.

Because I consider it important, let me close with what I've 'said' on a couple of other Mudcat threads: I'm not working for a time when people are color blind. I'm looking forward to and working for a time when a person's skin color does not matter- on a personal level or on an institutional level.