Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

I agree with that wholeheartedly. I cannot stress too much the importance of teaching positive black history. If we do not teach it, we will be enslaving people all over again, a problem that my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington touched on with some eloquence. Slavery was not just an event—it was a process of destabilising African societies. It produced negative self-image and African deculturalisation, and demonised all things black and all things African. That is what separates the slave trade from modern slavery. Modern slavery does not strip people of their culture and heritage, which is why it is important that black history is taught in schools.