Diversity Management, Equality, Equal Opportunities, Affirmative Action, News & We The People!

Its been announced today that the Church of England voted to apologise to the descendents of victims of the slave trade.

Nice?

Apparently the apology comes after Dr Williams was criticised in November for saying that “missionaries “sinned” by imposing hymns ancient and modern on places such as Africa.”

I asked a 17-year-old English descendent of victims of the slave trade the following questions:

+ Do you welcome the apology from the Church of England?

+ What does the apology mean to you?

+ What would you like the church to do in practical terms to demonstrate the sincerity of its apology so people like you understand that they actually mean it?

He answered:

“I am a descendent of victims of the transatlantic slave trade and remain a current victim myself. Referring to your article about MEMES, the mentality that sparked it has travelled through time and to quote Dr Williams:” - “The body of Christ is not just a body that exists at any one time, it exists across history and we therefore share the shame and the sinfulness of our predecessors and part of what we can do, with them and for them in the body of Christ, is prayer for acknowledgement of the failure that is part of us not just of some distant ‘them’.”

I was impressed by his well-considered answer and was enthused to hear him continue..

“Yes I welcome the apology; however an apology in this context means very little in practice when the church and its officials are possessed of so much wealth and privilege as a direct result of its actions against my ancestors and upon us to this day, it must show a practical contribution to neutralising the effects of slavery that currently exist.”

OK. I encouraged, what would you want them to do now in practice for example?

His brow knitted for a few seconds as he concentrated on producing his answer, he looked me directly in the eye and said.

“This thing about killing the “slave meme” you talk about is something that I see holds incredible promise for the future of people like me as well as the descendants of the slave masters; I know you want to make it available to all the organisations.

What if they put their slavery made money where their apologetic mouths are and give you all the money you need to drive your “memebased diversity management systems” across the society? It would not even be pocket change to them!”

You could use the money to employ Public Relations firms to make the system popular. You could make money available to train people to install it in organisations and things like that to really make a difference..”

I grabbed him in a Bear hug the both of us in fits of laughter!!

“Now that would demonstrate the sincerity of their apology, show sincerity in practice!” his voice blasting as I squished him tight.

Indeed it would.

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

LINKS:
http://weblog.campbellconsent.com/?p=40
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4694896.stm