AT the recent meeting of governments and non-governmental organisations in Durban with regard to racism and associated ills, there was much claptrap concerning compensation and reparations.

While it is true that the Europeans went to Africa for purely selfish reasons, the fact remains that had they not done so, the indigenous Africans would have remained in a primitive state to this day.

Throughout recorded history, there have been invasions and counter invasions and exploitation of some by others. How far are we supposed to go back in this quest for reparations? Should the Welsh and Cornish demand reparations from the descendants of Romans? Should those lands conquered by Alexander the Great demand compensation from Greece?

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Lincoln's Northern Navy blockaded the Confederacy which resulted in raw cotton not reaching Lancashire. Consequently, the mill workers were out of work and starving - there was no dole in those days.

They were far worse off than the slaves in the Southern States, who represented money for their owners, and therefore were fairly well looked after. Should the descendants of those mill-workers claim compensation from the British government, all the American states, which were involved on either side and even from the descendants of the black slaves?

Obviously we should forget the past and strive for reconciliation and future co-operation. Hatred and bigotry have spawned the outrages we have just witnessed in the USA.

D E MARGRETT, Worcester.