🔅 Britain’s Blind Spot on Slavery
“I Was Duped Into Ghanaian School—But It Saved Me”
Good morning from… Can you guess where in Africa this is? (Answer at the bottom!)
Britain’s Blind Spot on Slavery
It turns out, most Britons know more about Love Island than they do about the British Empire’s not-so-sunny colonial past.
A new survey commissioned by the Repair Campaign (alongside Caribbean reparations movement Caricom) has revealed that the UK public is startlingly unaware of the scale, length, and financial hangover of Britain’s involvement in slavery. And we're not talking tiny margins of error here—we’re talking “wait, what?” levels of ignorance.
📉 The Numbers
85% didn’t know Britain trafficked over 3 million Africans to the Caribbean!
89% didn’t know the transatlantic slave trade lasted over 300 years.
75% were unaware that British taxpayers were still paying off the debt for compensating enslavers until after 2000.
Yes, you read that right. In 1833, when slavery was abolished, the UK government took out a loan equivalent to 40% of the national budget—not to support freed people, but to compensate slaveowners for their loss of “property.” Taxpayers finally cleared that bill in 2015. That means everyone alive in the UK before the age of Adele’s “Hello” helped pay reparations—to enslavers.
📈 But there’s a shift underway
Support for reparative justice is growing:
63% now agree that an official apology is overdue (up from 59% last year).
40% support financial reparations, most of whom believe the funds should go toward education, health, and infrastructure in Caribbean nations.
Here’s why the knowledge gap matters: Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy says the issue isn’t just about writing cheques—it’s about correcting the record. “People hear ‘reparations’ and think cash,” she said. “But education is the most important reparation of all.”
Walker Syachalinga, a solicitor probing historic claims against UK institutions, sees the ignorance as part of a long-standing British strategy: “Offshore the ugly bits of history, keep the profits.”
Even as support grows, the UK government continues to sidestep any formal apology and has ruled out direct cash payments. Its current approach leans more toward “soft reparations” via partnerships on climate, growth, and security.
But for many, that’s not enough. As Dr Hilary Brown of Caricom put it, “Our shared humanity demands justice.” Especially when that humanity was trafficked, dehumanized, and—insult to injury—used to underwrite centuries of empire.
Turns out, historical amnesia isn’t just a problem for schoolkids—it’s a national liability.
“I Was Duped Into Ghanaian School—But It Saved Me”: One London Teen’s Story
In the mid-1990s, Mark Wilberforce was a restless 16-year-old living in London, drifting into trouble with a group of peers who would soon land themselves in prison for armed robbery. Unbeknownst to him, his mother, a primary school teacher alarmed by his increasingly perilous path, devised a plan that would alter the course of his life. She told him they would spend the summer in Ghana. Only after they arrived did she reveal that he was staying put until he had earned enough GCSEs to continue his education.
While Wilberforce describes the “faux vacation” as feeling “like a prison sentence,” hindsight would prove that it was a rescue mission. Over the next few years, he navigated strict family routines, performed labor-intensive chores, and studied under Ghana’s rigorous academic system. This experience, he says, not only kept him out of jail but ultimately instilled discipline and gave him the credentials to rejoin British society on more stable terms.
Wilberforce eventually earned five solid GCSE passes, and says that, beyond academics, the culture shock—washing clothes by hand, preparing meals with relatives—expanded his perspective. He describes Ghana as having imparted the patience, discipline, and resilience that he says had been lacking in his life in London.
Coming of Age—and Coming Home
By the time he returned to England in his early 20s, Wilberforce’s outlook had drastically changed. He went on to enroll at the College of North West London, eventually finding work in media circles, including a stint at BBC Radio 1Xtra. Meanwhile, many of his old companions at home ended up serving jail time for serious crimes. If he had remained in London, he says, he fears he would have shared their fate.
Even now, decades later, he credits his mother’s determined intervention for saving him from a grim future. What at first felt like betrayal—luring him to Ghana under false pretenses—became his pathway to a better life.
In the larger debate about the many parents who force their UK-based children to return to Africa at a young age, Wilberforce’s story illustrates both the hardships and the life-altering rewards.
Khartoum & The SAF’s Return (But Is the War Over?)
It’s never great when your fearless leader yells, “No surrender!” and the next thing you know, you’re sprinting for the exit. Yet that’s exactly what happened to Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF). After vowing to stand their ground, they ceded Khartoum’s biggest trophies—the presidential palace, the central bank, the airport—and trudged out of town, leaving General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to roll back in like a head-of-state comeback tour.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has been making moves lately, recapturing much of the capital and welcoming Burhan, Sudan’s de facto president since 2019, back with his troops. But with a war that’s killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, the SAF’s victory lap in Khartoum might not be the finale in this drawn out affair.
Next Stop: Darfur? A lot of folks argue the SAF shouldn’t stop at Khartoum, and should start West, towards Darfur. But recapturing Darfur means fighting on the RSF’s home turf and the Sudanese army has a less-than-stellar track record there.
Allies and Frenemies: The SAF’s success comes thanks to a colorful entourage: neighbors like Egypt (reportedly supplying air support) and deep-pocketed regional supporters like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, plus a few “friends with benefits” in Russia, Turkey, and Iran (happy to sell them weapons and drones). These foreign powers might nudge Burhan to sit at a negotiation table—likely with promises of an internationally recognized government and some budget relief to rebuild Khartoum.
But that’s if the SAF can keep its own coalition calm. The army has teamed up with local defense units, rebellious Darfur groups, and even jihadist brigades linked to the old Bashir regime.
Moreover, neither side is showing signs of waving the white flag—publicly, at least. Bombings of civilian areas continue, and the RSF (still friendly with the United Arab Emirates) has plenty of external channels to restock supplies. Don’t expect them to throw in the towel without a fight.
What Now? With Khartoum “freed,” relief agencies may finally reach more civilians, offering some much-needed food and medicine. But that’s only a band-aid on a war that seems nowhere near wrapping up. So while the SAF is back in the capital, Sudanese across the country are still bracing themselves.
Food for Thought
“Gratitude is not servitude.”
— Chad Proverb
And the Answer is…
The photo is taken in Maseru, Lesotho! You can also send in your own photos, alongside the location, and we’ll do our best to feature them.
Interesting insights for people interested in African politics and history.