Re Olivette Otele’s article (Today we remember the tragedy of slavery, but the culture war that denies Britain’s past continues, 23 August), I am white British, but feel a sense of vicarious insult from “anti-woke” campaigns against the teaching or discussion of our unsavoury history – and the pretence that the British version of empire was somehow more benign than others.
Even the imperialist Winston Churchill in 1914 recognised our darker side when he said: “We have engrossed to ourselves an altogether disproportionate share of the wealth and traffic of the world … mainly acquired by violence, largely maintained by force ... ”
