The United Kingdom apologized on Thursday (April 22nd) after the publication of a damning report, which admits that the deaths of more than 150,000 soldiers (who had been recruited from the former British colonies and had fought alongside the armed forces of Her Majesty during World War I) has never been commemorated, due to a “Generalized racism”. ” I want to apologize “ declared on behalf of the government and in front of the deputies Ben Wallace, Minister of Defense, who thus “Express[é s]we deeply regret ”. “We cannot change the past, but we can redeem ourselves and act”, he added.
The report in question was commissioned by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), an organization responsible for honoring the memory of Commonwealth soldiers who died during the two world wars (1.7 million in total), and which also apologized. The conclusions presented to the CWGC highlight the fact that, at the end of the First World War, the deaths of 45,000 to 54,000 soldiers, mostly African or Indian, were not commemorated in the same way. of that of their European comrades – the memory of the soldiers from the colonies having most often been “honored” by collective monuments, when it was by name burials for their Western counterparts.
In addition, at least 116,000 other soldiers from the British Empire (and potentially up to 350,000), mostly from East Africa and Egypt, who “Were not commemorated by name, or perhaps not at all”, according to the report. The document explains that such negligence was clearly motivated by “Stubborn prejudices, [d]he preconceived ideas and the generalized racism of contemporary imperial attitudes ”. He cites as such a British governor of present-day Ghana, who in 1923 affirmed that “The average native (…) would not be able to understand or appreciate a stele ”, and which proposed instead to erect anonymous commemorative monuments, intended for so many undefined groups of soldiers.
A “dreadful chapter in our history”
This publication comes as the United Kingdom finds itself in the midst of a self-examination of its colonial past, an examination prompted by the Black Lives Matters movement. At the end of March, however, the government sparked an uproar by issuing a report that appeared to downplay the extent of racism in British society, as it concluded that the UK was not “Institutionally racist”.
Still, for the Minister of Defense, Ben Wallace, he does not “No doubt that prejudices” played a role in the fighters of the former colonies who gave their lives for the crown. Mr. Wallace thus assured that the CWGC would work to correct the situation.
Saying accept “The conclusions and shortcomings identified” in the report, the CWGC insisted on presenting “Unreserved apologies” for having failed in its principle to offer a “Equal treatment in death”, regardless of origin, religion or rank. “We recognize the mistakes of the past and are deeply sorry, and we will act immediately to correct them”, said its general manager, Claire Horton.
The drafting of this report was entrusted to a special committee, itself set up by the CWGC after Labor MP David Lammy had drawn attention to a documentary particularly critical on this issue, The Unremembered. In Mr. Lammy’s eyes, “No excuse will make it possible to repair the indignity suffered by those who have been forgotten”. “However, this apology gives us, as a nation, the opportunity to examine this dreadful chapter in our history and to pay due tribute to each of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for us.”, he added on Twitter.
No apology can ever make up for the indignity suffered by The Unremembered. However, this apology does offer the… https://t.co/w1YPEkU8lw
