Katrina vanden Heuvel: Abolitionists Then and Now (The Nation)

[marmar]

BLOG | Posted 02/23/2007 @ 12:52am
Abolitionists Then and Now


A new film called Amazing Grace, opening today, marks the bicentennial of the end of slavery in Britain, portraying the British abolitionist movement as led by Quaker activist and Member of Parliament William Wilberforce. In conjunction with the movie, Bristol Bay Productions has launched the Amazing Change campaign in an effort to raise people's awareness about the continuing existence of slavery and build a movement of 21st century abolitionists "to complete William Wilberforce's unfinished work."

There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today and at least 10,000 in the United States--144 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 200 years after Britain ended its participation in the slave trade. In contrast, there were approximately 15 million people enslaved during 150 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

"Anything that brings awareness to slavery in history of the present is positive," says Eric Foner, the leading historian on post-Civil War reconstruction. "If people fighting slavery today identify with the abolitionists, that's good."

There is little doubt that this film will have some of the common pitfalls of any Hollywood biopic. Indeed, reviews in the New York Times and Washington Post have called it "prettified", "an imperfect look at an imperfect soul", and "earnest to a fault." But reviewers have also noted the compelling political, moral, and educational aspects of the film, as well as some brilliant performances by great British actors. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=168775

[yurbud]

1. abolitionists today might go after bigger fish--wars & economic abuse of countries for private gain