The Editor, Sir:

I've noted with great interest the negative reactions to Xavier Newton-Bryant's letter in your December 8 issue and am writing this letter in 100 per cent support of his sentiments. It's high time we as a people put an end to these romantic illusions of how we would have liked history to read and instead take collective responsibility for our actions past, present and future.

I myself was a victim of this revision of history until a few years ago when I met a work colleague of mine, a black professor of African History from Zaïre (she refuses to say Democratic Republic of Congo). I was most interested in hearing directly from the horse's mouth, and over several enlightening dinners and lunches, Ilunga wasted no time educating me, discussing her own personal experiences growing up in Africa, why she had to leave, and the various myths perpetuated to this day.

Africans have been organised into several powerful kingdoms since time immemorial and were already subjecting conquered rivals to a life of slavery centuries before the trans-atlantic slave trade. It was therefore only a short leap to selling slaves to European merchant ships docked on the coast for fine silk, weaponry, jewellry, etc. This became such a lucrative industry that Africans turned to raiding entire villages so that millions were captured, chained and marched off to the coasts. This steady supply of traders and their human bounty ensured that Europeans never once had to leave the shores.

Olaudah Equiano autobiography

But you need not take my word for it, for many slaves authored their own autobiographies in their own words. Imagine my surprise when Ilunga presented me the most well known of these works, the autobiography of the 18th-century slave Olaudah Equiano (http://historyofslavery.tripod.com/equiano.htm) in which he describes his native land, their customs, his kidnapping as a child, his life as a slave, and his travels to various slave countries within the British Empire. Of special note is his trip to Jamaica and what he saw here.

Despite centuries of British exploitation that can NEVER be repaid, we should at least be thankful that we came away with a stable and thriving democracy, a government that respects the rule of law, and a fierce sense of national pride and identity. We have an abundance of resources, plentiful rains, the land is green and the sun shineth. What on earth do white people have to apologise for? I for one am very happy that I'm over here and not over there.

I am, etc.,

FRY DENK (Mr)

1084@inode.at

Kingston

Via Go-Jamaica