Sorry seems to be the hardest word. Just ask Ken Livingstone. Or most men, for that matter. It’s also extraordinarily effective, which really is the most powerful argument for getting one’s tongue around those two little syllables. Or rather, it is extraordinarily effective at temporarily halting the bitterest of rows, usually because the recipient of the apology is so shocked that it’s been offered, and aware of how churlish they’ll look if they carry on screeching after it. Of course, unless the utterer is an incredibly slick actor and welltrained at keeping a hyperactive conscience at bay, he has to mean it. And so the problems start. Sorry does actually involve accepting some measure of responsibility, and a commitment to making good the original cock-up. And rest assured, if you’ve just said it to shut her up and head right onto the make-up sex, it’s going to come back to bite you. Hard.
Blair’s learnt this lesson well in the last eight years. Bouncing eagerly from the Shadowlands, our bright young hero offered a swift apology to the Irish for the British failure to adequately respond to the Potato Famine here, and a quick hand for the Queen in drafting a letter of regret to the Pope over past religious difficulties there. The visibly older, and maybe wiser, Prime Minister has started to crack down on apology inflation, and got very sharp at wriggling out of the ones that might involve discomfort for him. He’s learnt well from Bush, who two years ago, and, desperately courting the black vote, managed to tell Africans that slavery was a Bad Thing without adding, you know, oops.
Last week, the Brazilian Premier raised the stakes, travelling to Senegal to say, “I had no responsibility for what happened in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries but I ask your forgiveness for what we did to black people.” It’s a classic “It wasn’t me” apology. But then, what exactly could he take responsibility for? Of course it wasn’t him, any more than it was Blair who told the Irish to be less picky eaters. Why should anyone take responsibility for the crimes of their ancestors, or their victims feel entitled to an apology?
Because we’ve inherited the world that their actions created. The historical legacy of slavery continues, in Africa and in the countries to which they were brought, where scores of communities are trapped in a three-hundred year old cycle of poverty and discrimination. The test isn’t “how long ago was it?”, it’s “are they still pissed off?” Odds are, if they’re asking for the apology, they remember their victimhood and consider it to be pretty relevant to their contemporary lives – especially when companies and whole countries, for that matter, are still directly profiting from their history.
Which is why “sorry” alone isn’t good enough – in fact, it’s positively dangerous to issue unless you intend to follow it through. Do it properly, and do it often by all means. Just be prepared to put your money where your mouth is. Sometimes it’ll take a bunch of flowers. Sometimes it’ll take $1 billion of reparations. You’re being hit where it hurts, that’s the point. So here’s the deal. Do it properly, do it often, and back it up. Just don’t do it in advance. She usually sees through that one.ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2005
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