Peter Rhodes on a missing bear, the ending of slavery and the fraught business of taking the knee

The repeat showing of Downton Abbey on ITV3 is timely, coinciding with calls for a re-examination of slavery, racism and imperialism. Set in an age of valets and butlers, it reminds us that some of the great men who built the Empire, traded around the globe and amassed vast fortunes were apparently incapable of putting on their trousers without help.

British families are encouraged to “take the knee” on their doorsteps as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign. Alarm bells ring. At one level, taking the knee is a simple act of remembrance of black people who died in police custody. But when white people take the knee it can also be seen as an act of atonement. And where might that lead?

This is by a reader of The Independent website: “Anyone refusing to take the knee should be reported to the police by neighbours and prosecuted for hate crimes . . . and made to sign a racist register every week or month for 5-7 years.” It says something for today's febrile atmosphere that I cannot judge whether the writer is being serious or ironic. But at a time when Fawlty Towers is being removed from TV-streaming for alleged racism, expect the unexpected.

Do not assume, as some activists will tell you, that because you are white you are automatically guilty. Some Brits were enriched by the slave trade; most were not. And the abolition of slavery was brought about largely by the revulsion of ordinary, decent English people. By 1792, the abolitionists had presented Parliament with no fewer than 519 petitions containing 390,000 signatures, at a time when England's population was only about five million. To suggest that all white people are tainted with slavery is a slur on our heritage.

My family has its roots in the North of England. My forbears were wage-slaves working in hellish cotton mills. They were part of the Victorian awkward squad. They were Liberals, radicals and God-fearing Methodists who admired the great reformers of their century. They recognised slavery as a great evil. They sang the spirituals of the American cotton plantations in their chapels. They supported the courageous reformers of the age. When my great-grandfather was born in 1874 his parents named him Bright, in honour of the Liberal campaigner John Bright. These were British working people who, like millions of others, yearned for a fairer future – the New Jerusalem. To demand that their descendants “take the knee” for the sins of other folk's rich ancestors is bizarre.

Meanwhile, back at Downton Abbey, Hugh Bonneville is still the lord of the manor but is haunted by the movie success he has enjoyed since then in the tale of a small bear. Anyone else expecting Paddington to pop up?

Nimbly bringing together slavery and grand houses, it always irritates Americans to be reminded of the difference between Buckingham Palace and the White House. Buckingham Palace was built by free men.