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Most countries and institutions have a checkered past that they often find difficult to deal with, first by admitting it and then apologizing, followed by learning the necessary lessons and eventually compensating those affected by their misdeeds, even generations later.

In the UK, the country is still haunted by the legacy of its involvement in the slave trade, including how it profited from it and how this still affects the descendants of slaves and their countries of origin, with many instances where even today individuals and institutions are still benefiting.

Back in 2007, Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a very welcome move, was the first British leader to express his “deep sorrow” for his country’s role in the slave trade. After the slave trade was abolished within the British Empire, it took 200 years for this sentiment to be expressed. But Blair was also criticized by Black rights and other organizations for not going further and issuing a formal apology. One is still yet to be made.

More recently, King Charles, during a visit to Kenya, repeated his “greatest sorrow and regret” at the “wrongdoings” of the colonial era, but stopped short of an apology. Ultimately, during the transatlantic slave trade, Britain transported and enslaved an estimated 3 million people from Africa. But the abolition of this trade was not the end of slavery, as the ownership of human beings was still permitted — only the trade from Africa to Britain’s colonies was abolished, which, although an important step toward the eventual liberation of all those who had been enslaved, saw no apology issued.

It leaves open the question: does it mean anything if one expresses sorrow without an apology? And even if an apology is formally issued, what does this mean when it comes two centuries after the slave trade ceased to exist in the country? And most importantly, can we learn from these wrongdoings and genuinely acknowledge that, even today, the descendants of slaves and their countries of origin are paying a price for what happened and should be compensated for that? Worse is the inaction of the same countries that were at the heart of the slave trade when it comes to combating contemporary forms of slavery.

Hence, a recently published comprehensive review by the University of Edinburgh, titled “Slavery, Colonialism and Philanthropy at the University of Edinburgh,” which examines its historical ties to slavery and colonialism, marked an important step toward admitting and addressing the extremely problematic ties between a major British institution and the slave trade. The review, which was led by academics and involved extensive community engagement, also came up with a long list of recommendations for the university to implement in order to overcome this dark aspect of its past.

What would probably terrify any contemporary academic at this renowned Scottish University, as any other involved with slavery, is that it played a major role in the creation of racist theories while profiting from slavery. The report confirms that the university benefited from the profits of African enslavement and colonialism through individual contributions and still benefits in that way to this very day.

The very idea that the institution “was a haven for professors and alumni who developed theories of racial inferiority and white supremacism, such as the idea that Africans were inferior to whites and that non-white peoples could be colonized for the profit of European nations,” is obviously shocking. This must encourage all academic institutions to review their safeguards to ensure that their research is neither motivated by a wish to appease their donors, nor is it too conformist, maybe afraid, to challenge the conventional wisdom of the time and publish research that lacks scientific rigor. No institution, let alone an academic one, deserves to maintain its credibility when its researchers compromise what is probably the most precious trait that all scholars must hold on to: their integrity.

It is a truism that the past cannot be changed, but it is possible to learn from it. And it is equally important to rectify the mistakes by which certain behaviors caused damage that still reverberates in our societies all these years later.

In response to a similar report published several years ago that established that the University of Glasgow benefited from the equivalent of tens of millions of pounds donated from the profits of slavery, the university launched the world’s first master’s degree in reparatory justice. This was done in partnership with the University of the West Indies as part of a global campaign for financial reparations for transatlantic slavery that has justly entered the discourse as an important tool to compensate for the financial damage and hurt caused by slavery.

Similarly, one of the recommendations of the University of Edinburgh report is the creation of a “Research and Community Centre for the Study of Racism, Colonialism and Anti-Black Violence” to enhance awareness of these issues. Moreover, the report acknowledges that “Black staff and student population numbers have remained relatively unchanged over the past five years,” showing that not enough is being done in terms of remedying the persecution and discrimination of the past, which is very much a reflection of the situation in wider society.

In the UK, the country is still haunted by the legacy of its involvement in the slave trade, including how it profited from it.

Yossi Mekelberg

There is courage in commissioning such an investigation, in being honest in publishing its findings and in looking for ways to repair the historical wrongdoings that still plague the university. For too long, there has been a prevailing illusion that citizens who are in principle equal in the eyes of the law are also treated equally in society. This is not what members of minorities would attest to as their daily experience, neither in their formative years in education nor when they look for a job and even in their social life.

The Windrush scandal is a prime example of how the UK mistreated people, many of them descendants of slaves, who made an immense contribution to rebuilding the country after the Second World War and are still caught up in the ongoing societal and institutional racism.

A heartfelt apology by institutions that have directly or even indirectly benefited from slavery could go a long way toward lifting the psychological barrier felt by their descendants vis-a-vis their engagement with society and state. And one coming from the government and the monarch would send a message that the country has owned up to its wrongdoing, even if it came 200 years later.

• Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg