Six years ago I was living in Britain where I spent Thanksgiving Day attending a museum conference in Liverpool. Most of it took place in the former Transatlantic Slavery Gallery (now the International Slavery Museum). A very powerful place but I was put on the spot by a random Canadian who said I should feel guilty for America’s past. Besides the fact that I bear no personal responsibility as my ancestors didn’t emigrate to the U.S. until the early 1900s, I wondered how she could dare ask that in a museum dedicated to Britain’s involvement in the slave trade. And let’s not forget slavery has taken place all over the world, not just in America. Anyways, she did her job because I felt like crap. I don’t mean to get all deep but I wonder how many Americans will be thinking about the inequality of the human condition tomorrow as they stuff their faces and watch football? Probably none.
International Slavery Museum, Liverpool
