Prince Charles. Tim P. Whitby – WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince Charles guest-edited the September issue of the UK’s only Black newspaper, The Voice.
The newspaper addressed the criticism it has received in a statement issued to the Mail Online. The spokesperson said “an apology and reparations for enslavement of Africans remains a key demand. ” Britain’s only Black newspaper, The Voice, has acknowledged the criticism it faced for allowing Prince Charles to guest-edit its September issue.
The heir to the British throne, 73, guest-edited the issue of the newspaper, titled “Shared Vision For Change,” which celebrated the publication’s 40th anniversary and featured interviews with Doreen Lawrence and Idris Elba. The Voice is Britain’s only Black national newspaper, according to its Twitter bio. —Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) August 31, 2022The newspaper’s association with Charles received mixed feedback from the outset, which was acknowledged by the publication’s executive editor, Paulette Simpson, during an appearance on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” on September 1.
“There will be some that say he’s not the best person, not least because he’s not Black, and he’s not from the community The Voice has campaigned so long for, for 40 years,” presenter Kate Garraway said on the show. “In order to facilitate change, we need all voices around the table. And by the very nature of what he’s been doing beyond 40 years, we thought that he campaigned on issues that we campaign on,” Simpson responded.
“So when you’re campaigning for change in society. . .
it’s important that everyone is around the table, not just the people who are affected,” she added. Now the newspaper has issued an official statement addressing the backlash as well as the royal family’s involvement in the slave trade. “We recognize the strong feelings some of our readers have over this edition and the divergence of views in the community,” a spokesperson for The Voice said in a statement obtained by the Mail Online.
“We agreed to collaborate with The Prince of Wales after looking at the work he had done on race equality over 40 years and the parallels with our campaigning over the same period. “”The edition we published deals with important issues like reparations and black empowerment, told through the eyes of prominent and respected figures in the community,” the statement added. The statement continued that “an apology and reparations for enslavement of Africans remains a key demand from all institutions that were involved or gained from it.
“Additionally, the newspaper’s editor, Lester Holloway, told BBC London: “All of the institutions, including the royal family that have been involved in the historical horrors of colonialism have not apologized for slavery and what we’ve got is statements of personal regret which is absolutely not good enough,” the Mail Online reports. Queen Elizabeth I was connected to Britain’s slave trade in the 1500s. NPR reported that the monarch publicly supported Captain John Hawkins, who captured 300 Africans and exchanged them for hides, ginger, and sugar in 1562.
While Queen Elizabeth II has never publicly apologized for the palace’s role in enabling the slave trade, Charles has spoken about it on several occasions. In 2018, the Guardian reported that Charles acknowledged “the appalling atrocity of the slave trade, and the unimaginable suffering it caused,” and in June this year, a source told The Sunday Times that the prince wanted the slave trade to be taught in schools with as much recognition as the Holocaust. Clarence House and representatives for The Voice did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/britain-leading-black-newspaper-criticized-for-prince-charles-issue-2022-9
