• Ending the slave trade was contrary to British economic interests. For all its limitations and hypocrisies - British slavery itself, of course, still continued to exist - I still think it was a great moment in human history.

    Henry Louis Gates: Ending the slave trade was contrary to British economic interests. For all its limitations and hypocrisies - British slavery itself, of course, still continued to exist - I still think it was a great moment in human history.
    "35 Million Ways to Be Black". Interview with Adam Hochschild, www.motherjones.com. March 14, 2007.