In a welcome move, France's President Jacques Chirac declared 10 May an annual national day of remembrance for the victims of slavery.

In his proclamation on 30 January, he stated that slavery should be taught in primary and secondary school as part of the national curriculum, and noted the link between slavery and racism: "Slavery fed racism ... When people tried to justify the unjustifiable, that was when the first racist theories were elaborated."

As part of Anti-Slavery International's latest campaign, the Fight for Freedom 1807-2007, we are calling on the United Kingdom
Government to take constructive steps to address the legacies of the
slave trade, including making it a requirement to teach the Transatlantic Slave Trade under the National Curriculum and establishing a national slavery memorial day.

A national memorial day would allow the UK as a whole to remember both the victims of this terrible trade and its lasting legacy, which includes racism and xenophobia.

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