The politics of apology: Official repentance and the strategic management of guilt in a former slave trade port (Liverpool)

In 1999, Liverpool city council offered a “formal apology” for the city’s involvement in the slave trade. This move came rather suddenly and had no equivalent elsewhere in Europe at the time. The article explores how the city council arrived at this decision and situates it in the local and global context of slavery memorialization and the demand for reparation. It analyzes the specific goals of the city council and explains why the apology was not well received by the local Black community.