The Editor, Sir:

Please allow me to make a rebuttal to a letter from a Mr. Newton-Bryant regarding Tony Blair's apology for the enslavement of Negroes by his ancestors. Newton-Bryant made a valid point about us allowing the white man to enslave ourselves, but he is wrong on other statements he made.

Most African tribes back then were peaceful and lived healthy lives. Like anywhere else on this planet, there were the occasional disputes for land, from the Middle East to the Anglo-Saxon era. The white conquistadors used the divide-and-conquer method by infiltration and support for one warring faction over the other. They not only infiltrated our ancestors, but they infected them with diseases as well. If any ethnic group should be blamed for slavery itself, the white man needs to apologise for enslaving his own people, based on what is said of ancient Rome.

Mr. Newton-Bryant should apologise to the Arawak Indians because he contributed to their disappearance from the face of the earth, since he wants to be smart about thanking the white man for setting him free from Africa. Idi Amin et al are not the only savages this world has seen. What about Hitler, Pinoche, Pol Pot, Jim Jones, Charles Manson, the Isaelis and Arabs, and last, but most, George W. Bush?

Those are not black people. It seems to me that Mr. Newton-Bryant is still infected with 'house negroitis', or he's simply a white man disguised as a Negro.

I am, etc.,

LLOYD SCOTT

jamdown_17655@msn.com

Via Go-Jamaica