Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin chairs the national Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns in the Church of England and is a member of the General Synod. She will join the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on the Walk of Witness on Saturday to mark 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire.
She shared her thoughts with Christian Today on the Church of England and slavery of the past and present.
CT: Rev Rose, you are going to join the Walk of Witness to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade on Saturday. Why did you feel it was necessary for you to join in this walk?
RR: I think it was important for us to organise this walk because it was the right time for us to acknowledge what had taken place. There has always been a shroud of secrecy just like those in Germany who said the Holocaust didn't happen. There's been this shroud over the transatlantic slave trade and the havoc it wreaked on black families.
But this is not a black event or a black thing because, whether white people want to acknowledge it or not, it has also impacted on their lives. You cannot dehumanise one group and not be dehumanised in the process itself.
CT: So you want to see everyone rallying over this issue?
RR: Absolutely.
CT: Are you quite impressed by the way the churches have come together for this walk, because it really has crossed the denominations?
RR: Oh yes, it is ecumenical. And although the leadership of it has come from the Church of England the whole church across the denominations has taken ownership of it as an ecumenical venture.
CT: What do you think it is about the slavery issue that has united the churches so passionately?
RR: I believe that as a church we failed abysmally way back then at being the voice of the voiceless - because that is what they were then. They had no voice and, instead of standing on their side and saying 'this is not acceptable' and 'this should not happen', the church joined in.
CT: Do you think the church carries a guilt complex because of that?
RR: I hope it doesn't carry guilt because guilt can sometimes be a useless emotion that can pin you down and leave you wallowing. I hope that the church feels ashamed. I am a member of the Church of England and I am ashamed that the church that I am a part of perpetrated such a crime. And that is why I feel so strongly that I need to say sorry in my heart, and openly, by acknowledging it through the walk. I need to say sorry to my brothers and sisters that were dehumanised, murdered, killed, abused.
CT: What lessons do you want the Church of England to take from its involvement in the slave trade?
RR: I think the lesson we need to hang onto is that what we did was wrong, we repent, we are sorry we did this, and we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that this does not happen in our society, in our world, again. We need to be vigilant.
