Showing posts with label Wilberforce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wilberforce. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Next Saturday, the bi-centenary of abolition of slavery


from w
Next Saturday will be two hundred years on since England's Parliament passed a resolution to abolish slavery. An official policy shifted away from the degradation of the slavery trade between Africa and USA. William Wilberforce was the driving force in England for this shift in viewpoint, and a film 'Amazing Grace' has been made about his life. It won't be in the Australian cinemas until June.

But today there are still many people, including children who are living in conditions akin to slavery. The terms may be different, but I wonder if 'indenture' and 'blackbirding' which relate very much with the story of Fiji's history are so very different.