After the example set by Oxford University and a number of big museums in Britain, it is now the turn of Cambridge to reach back into its past and conduct a searching inquiry into the university’s historic links with the slave trade. “The University of Cambridge will conduct an in-depth academic study into ways in which it contributed to, benefited from or challenged the Atlantic slave trade and other forms of coerced labour during the colonial era,” said a formal announcement on Tuesday. A specially commissioned advisory group appointed by the vice-chancellor, Prof. Stephen J Toope, has been asked to recommend appropriate ways to publicly acknowledge past links to slavery and to address its impact. The research will examine specific gifts, bequests and historical connections with the slave trade. The campaign both at Oxford and Cambridge has been driven mainly by African student activists.

Source: The Telegraph April 30, 2019 19:30 UTC