Just how sad is this ? (talk about re-writing history)
The real story:- (from Wikipedia)
The Zong Massacre was an infamous mass-killing of African slaves that took place on the Zong, a British slave ship owned by James Gregson and colleagues in a Liverpool slave-trading firm. The resulting court case,not by the authorities to bring a charge of mass-murder against the ship-owners but a civil action by the ship-owners seeking compensation from the insurers to compensate the slave-traders for their lost "cargo", was a landmark in the battle against the African Slave Trade of the eighteenth century.
The ship had taken on more slaves than it could safely transport. By November 29, 1781, this overcrowding, together with malnutrition and disease, had killed seven of the crew and approximately sixty African slaves. Captain Collingwood decided to throw the remaining sick slaves overboard. He assumed that the slaves would be considered in law to be cargo, so he could claim the loss against an insurance policy.
Another page on wiki:-
Black people played an important part in the movement for abolition. In Britain, Olaudah Equiano, whose autobiography went into nine editions in his lifetime, campaigned tirelessly against the slave trade.
And yet:-
http://www.itv.com/news/entertainment_16eba1116f303013df3881d221476825.htmlhttp://www.itv.com/news/story9f5f6f7cf8c4cb0b1acf3d38848c6fa0.jpg
Slave trade film criticised
7.23, Wed Mar 21 2007
A new film about the British abolition of the slave trade 200 years ago has been criticised for "writing blacks out of history".
Amazing Grace stars Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce who fought to have the slave trade banned by parliament. But, the film is accused of "prettifying" the issue by making him the abolition movement's sole champion.
It has also been criticised for ignoring the role slaves played in their own emancipation.
Richard Reddie, a director of a Christian group set up to mark the bicentenary, said: "I think that has been one of the things that have exorcised many black people, people I'm aware of, who have said it writes them out of history.
"The most important thing is this notion that black people played a role in their freedom. That's vitally important."
Director Michael Apted said some of the criticism was justified but he deliberately focused on one Englishman's political battle.
He added: "This was one battle, this was a parliamentary battle. But it was a major step forward because it started the whole thing in process and my film was always going to be about the political angle."
The real story:- (from Wikipedia)
The Zong Massacre was an infamous mass-killing of African slaves that took place on the Zong, a British slave ship owned by James Gregson and colleagues in a Liverpool slave-trading firm. The resulting court case,not by the authorities to bring a charge of mass-murder against the ship-owners but a civil action by the ship-owners seeking compensation from the insurers to compensate the slave-traders for their lost "cargo", was a landmark in the battle against the African Slave Trade of the eighteenth century.
The ship had taken on more slaves than it could safely transport. By November 29, 1781, this overcrowding, together with malnutrition and disease, had killed seven of the crew and approximately sixty African slaves. Captain Collingwood decided to throw the remaining sick slaves overboard. He assumed that the slaves would be considered in law to be cargo, so he could claim the loss against an insurance policy.
Another page on wiki:-
Black people played an important part in the movement for abolition. In Britain, Olaudah Equiano, whose autobiography went into nine editions in his lifetime, campaigned tirelessly against the slave trade.
And yet:-
http://www.itv.com/news/entertainment_16eba1116f303013df3881d221476825.htmlhttp://www.itv.com/news/story9f5f6f7cf8c4cb0b1acf3d38848c6fa0.jpg
Slave trade film criticised
7.23, Wed Mar 21 2007
A new film about the British abolition of the slave trade 200 years ago has been criticised for "writing blacks out of history".
Amazing Grace stars Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce who fought to have the slave trade banned by parliament. But, the film is accused of "prettifying" the issue by making him the abolition movement's sole champion.
It has also been criticised for ignoring the role slaves played in their own emancipation.
Richard Reddie, a director of a Christian group set up to mark the bicentenary, said: "I think that has been one of the things that have exorcised many black people, people I'm aware of, who have said it writes them out of history.
"The most important thing is this notion that black people played a role in their freedom. That's vitally important."
Director Michael Apted said some of the criticism was justified but he deliberately focused on one Englishman's political battle.
He added: "This was one battle, this was a parliamentary battle. But it was a major step forward because it started the whole thing in process and my film was always going to be about the political angle."