“Sometimes when crimes have been committed it is necessary to go back and mark the spot.”
Bill Young, Japanese Prisoner of War
I start this film with a short reading from the excellent Prisoners of The Japanese. A 1994 book by American author Gavan Daws that distils 11 years of interviews with survivors of the Japanese camps into a single remarkable volume.
My paternal grandfather was a Japanese prisoner of war in Burma and this book comes from his personal collection. He never spoke to us about his experience in those camps, and he certainly didn’t let it prevent him from achieving great things in his life and career. But it’s certainly fair to say the trauma was palpable and had a profound impact on me and other members of my family.
As racial tensions rise in the UK, media commentators and politicians are beginning to issue demands for reparations to be paid for Britain’s involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade.
These demands are based on a flawed understanding of history.
Some might say deliberately flawed (i.e. manipulated).
Let us be clear: Not all slaves throughout history were ‘black’, nor were all slave owners ‘white’. To suggest otherwise is not only historically inaccurate, it’s extremely dangerous and is leading us towards violent conflict.
Crucially, Britain did not invent slavery. But we did end it within the British Empire and paid with public funds over more than a century to secure the release of slaves held in the colonies. We also stationed Royal Navy ships off the coast of Africa to intercept slave traders for nearly 50 years.
To suggest now, in 2024, that native Brits who never owned slaves should make payments to people who’ve never been slaves is an affront to the memory of those who’ve suffered and died as actual slaves throughout history. Whether in the colonies, the Japanese prisoner of war camps or anywhere else in the long, dark history of this appalling trade in human flesh and souls.
Demands for reparations are also an affront to the estimated 40 million people alive today who are bound in some form of slavery. People of all races and creeds, in every nation on earth. People who those demanding reparations are perfectly happy to ignore, while they work tirelessly to secure money for themselves based on lies.
I hope this film goes some way towards rebalancing the conversation towards historical accuracy, truth and justice.
Things we could all do with a good dose of right now.
Veritas omnia vincit.
From London.
Ben Rubin
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