Black Lives Matter: Statues, Street Names and Protests
Hi everyone, as you know, these last few months have been a very strange time, we are in a very unsettled place right now, with a variety of social and political issues; not to mention, um, a deadly global pandemic.
I know it's been a few months since I last wrote anything on my blog site, I had wanted to finish and post the piece I was working on in February, but, let's be honest, it's just not the right time to bring out some seemingly random topic in the middle of everything going on right now.
The BLM protests then went worldwide, and came to the UK. There have been protests in London *see video and marches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and a Black Lives Matter mural is being called for in Glasgow. And all the while,there are people asking 'why are we protesting here in the UK? this has nothing to do with us'. Firstly, I would say to those people, it's this wee thing called solidarity. If you haven't heard of it, maybe give it a wee google.
Star Wars Actor John Boyega giving an impassioned speech at the London Black Lives Matter Protest
Secondly, and most importantly, we have to acknowledge that the police brutality and institutional racism seem in the U.S is not unique to America. And this is something we have to deal with. We have to acknowledge that the UK has it's own relationship with racism and police brutality, this is seen in the death of Sheku Bayoh.
We cannot continue to ignore the systemic, institutional racism in our own country.
I want to discuss the fact that, obviously, there have been lots of people - companies and institutions - speaking out about BLM, posting a black square on #BlackOutTuesday, saying 'we stand with you #BlackLivesMatter'. But one thing that always stands out for me - and a lot of other people - are museums, specifically the British Museum, who in one breath can say "Black Lives Matter"... "We will move forward together as we listen, learn and act"- Hartwig Fisher - and in the next breath say 'No! you can't have your Benin Bronze back'.
The British Museum, hoarder of stolen heritage?
It begs the question, If they truly meant 'Black Lives Matter', surely they wouldn't hesitate in giving back looted artefacts to the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities they were stolen from?
For these institutions, activism appears to be performative, they seem to have no actual real or personal investment in it - in fact, they are often invested far more in activism resulting in nothing. Because it means they get to keep not just stolen artefacts, but their position of power. Much like all institutions, the power they have can be taken away
Well British Museum, it's your turn to listen, learn and act. We are all waiting with bated breath on the imminent return of stolen artefacts to their homes.
This discussion over removal of monuments dedicated to celebrating some of history's worst offenders has been going on for a long time, but it only comes to the fore when people take things into their own hands, either by vandalising or removing monuments by themselves, such as during the BLM protests.
There is often anger which accompanies discussions of monuments erected to celebrate white men known for their own part in slavery - rightly so - an example can be seen in Bristol where protesters pulled down a statue of slave trader Edward Colson, dragged it to the peer and threw it off into the sea, taking 'get in the sea' at it's most literal. This plays out with street names too, there is now an online petition for Glasgow street names to be renamed due to the fact many of these are named after slave traders.
These monuments and street names are celebrations to people which the public do not value as someone worthy of celebration in such a public way.
And they have every right to tear them down.
However, the anger I do not understand is that which is directed at people who have decided a monument no longer belongs in their public space. This kind of civil disobedience, this kind of peaceful, non-violent civil protest, is a right people have. You may or may not agree with or like it, but it is a right.
The biggest argument by far against the destruction of monuments or heritage in public spaces appears to be that it is "erasing history". I absolutely disagree. You cannot "erase history" by allowing people to take control of their own narrative, it's the exact opposite, the narrative is already dictated to by those who created and erected the monuments - which people were seldom asked their opinions on in the first place.
People empowering themselves this way, people taking back the narrative of their own history, their own heritage, their own public space is part of the aim of contemporary heritage. Archaeology has put a great deal of emphasis on this, in communicating and working with the local communities. In addressing past wrongs where communities and cultures were left out of the conversation entirely, this is the very embodiment of what it is to be a contemporary heritage professional. That is the legacy we have all been left by those who worked in the heritage field in the past. It's our job to address their mistakes.
I know a few people I follow online who are in the heritage profession, fellow archaeologists, museum curators etc, and I find that most of them think as I do, that it's time for museums to hand over looted artefacts to their country and people of origin; and that it's time for us to consider what place monuments or street names erected to celebrate slavers actually have, in our contemporary world, where we are fighting for equality, and that this discussion has to include the public. This cannot be a discussion between ourselves, that time is over.
The big misconception about archaeology and heritage is that it's about purely preservation. It's not.
What we want most, I feel confident saying, is for every culture, every community, every individual, to have access to their own heritage, in their own way. That they navigate it their way, they own it, it's not for *us* as professionals to own, to preserve or dictate.
We do not exist to preserve every single existing artefact or monument, we seek most of all, to understand it. To understand context, to understand social impact, to understand meaning and importance. I think that monuments such as those often targeted in such circumstances as the BLM protests are a prime example of just how much heritage can impact people even today.
Archaeology is destruction NOT preservation. The idea that *all* existing artefacts and monuments *must* be kept in pristine condition, exactly as they are is NOT an archaeological or heritage idea.
We record fastidiously for a reason. Because we accept inevitable destruction. 'Don't remove/Don't destroy' is NOT an archaeological or heritage argument. It's an understandable argument, I myself have my own variant of that when it comes to Prehistoric monuments or artefacts, the idea of destruction in this context breaks my heart. But, destruction is inevitable nonetheless. And if the destruction of a monument I love means the community had say over their own space, their own heritage, then I am more than happy to sit back and let them do what needs done.
Also, similarly, a lot of people are apparently angry at looters during the BLM protests, and yet those same people have nothing to say about the looting of Black artefacts kept by the British Musem. I can only surmise this is due to the fact they do not actually care about looting, they care about Black people looting. And that is just more racism. You can't choose which looting you agree with and which you don't, especially when it appears to be defined by skin colour - 'white looting is ok, black looting is not' without showing white privilege and entitlement.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of what having privilege is, specifically what having white privilege is. The assumption is that it means white people experience no inequalities or discriminations. But that's not what it means at all.
'All lives matter' has become a standard rally cry for many white people during times of Black and Asian Minority Ethnic protest. Personally, I think 'all lives matter' tends to be a synonym for 'white lives matter' and saying that, imo, shows white privilege in all its glory. And let's be honest, it's usually the same people who say 'what about men?' when Violence Against Women is being highlighted, or who ask 'when is straight pride?' during Pride month. They start their own counter 'protest' to stand up for the white man. Which I find funny as, they really don't need to do that, because the straight, cis, white man is doing just fine.
Again, no, not all white people have privileges, there are entire groups living in poverty and inequality, but all white people DO have white privilege. The ability to deny this is in itself a result of white privilege. Inequality, discrimination, oppression, these are extremely complicated social issues and I won't pretend to begin to understand them all, not even remotely. What I do want to acknowledge is the need for intersectionality, because only with intersectionality can we try to understand all of this.
We need intersectionality!
Each group needs it, each individual needs it, this is something the 'all lives matter' crowd don't seem to get, they need it too. Because all the inequality and discrimination they say white people experience, can only be addressed by using intersectional approaches. So, yes, you have to care about Black Lives Matter in order to understand how racism impacts other areas, such as the disparity between women and men, the disparity between Black women and white women and other Women of Colour.
Intersectionality seems to cause a lot of confusion about what it means, from my understanding it is simply a theoretical and practical approach that seeks to understand the links between social issues in order to fight and end inequalities.
It does this by attempting to identify and address the connecting links - intersections - between each social issue, e.g class inequality and how it links with disability inequality. Because each of these inequalities has its own impact, and if a person is both working-class and disabled, they face these inequalities both separately, and together.
So, Intersectionality is just a way to see how each individual inequality affects any group or individual, alongside other inequalities that group or individual face. The reason for this is approach is because you cannot address the inequalities any group or individual face, without addressing EACH inequality they experience, and, HOW it impacts other inequalities they experience.
Now, I am by no means any kind of expert on intersectionality (an understatement). I haven't read lots of research on it and I haven't studied it myself. I'm speaking as simply an 'armchair sociologist' if you will, so feel free to disagree and do your own research on it, not take my word for it. I would start with the woman who came up with the term and approach, Kimberlé Crenshaw
I know it's been a few months since I last wrote anything on my blog site, I had wanted to finish and post the piece I was working on in February, but, let's be honest, it's just not the right time to bring out some seemingly random topic in the middle of everything going on right now.
I had this idea of what I wanted to talk about, but, writing rarely works out exactly like your ideas, so this piece is going to focus on what I think we will probably all agree is most important issue to recognise right now, the Black Lives Matter movement; and the protests the BLM movement has inspired which began in the U.S but have been taken worldwide.
Black Lives Matter, George Floyd Matters, Intersectionality Matters
The BLM protests began after the senseless, brutal murder of George Floyd by officers from the Minneapolis Police Department on the 25th of May 2020. This horrific act of police brutality and murder was recorded by 17 year old Darnella Frazier on her phone, the recording went worldwide.
The BLM protests then went worldwide, and came to the UK. There have been protests in London *see video and marches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and a Black Lives Matter mural is being called for in Glasgow. And all the while,there are people asking 'why are we protesting here in the UK? this has nothing to do with us'. Firstly, I would say to those people, it's this wee thing called solidarity. If you haven't heard of it, maybe give it a wee google.
Star Wars Actor John Boyega giving an impassioned speech at the London Black Lives Matter Protest
Secondly, and most importantly, we have to acknowledge that the police brutality and institutional racism seem in the U.S is not unique to America. And this is something we have to deal with. We have to acknowledge that the UK has it's own relationship with racism and police brutality, this is seen in the death of Sheku Bayoh.
We cannot continue to ignore the systemic, institutional racism in our own country.
Performative Hypocricy Activism, Heritage and Artefacts
I want to discuss the fact that, obviously, there have been lots of people - companies and institutions - speaking out about BLM, posting a black square on #BlackOutTuesday, saying 'we stand with you #BlackLivesMatter'. But one thing that always stands out for me - and a lot of other people - are museums, specifically the British Museum, who in one breath can say "Black Lives Matter"... "We will move forward together as we listen, learn and act"- Hartwig Fisher - and in the next breath say 'No! you can't have your Benin Bronze back'.
The British Museum, hoarder of stolen heritage?
It begs the question, If they truly meant 'Black Lives Matter', surely they wouldn't hesitate in giving back looted artefacts to the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities they were stolen from?
For these institutions, activism appears to be performative, they seem to have no actual real or personal investment in it - in fact, they are often invested far more in activism resulting in nothing. Because it means they get to keep not just stolen artefacts, but their position of power. Much like all institutions, the power they have can be taken away
Well British Museum, it's your turn to listen, learn and act. We are all waiting with bated breath on the imminent return of stolen artefacts to their homes.
What role does heritage play in BLM?
This discussion over removal of monuments dedicated to celebrating some of history's worst offenders has been going on for a long time, but it only comes to the fore when people take things into their own hands, either by vandalising or removing monuments by themselves, such as during the BLM protests.
There is often anger which accompanies discussions of monuments erected to celebrate white men known for their own part in slavery - rightly so - an example can be seen in Bristol where protesters pulled down a statue of slave trader Edward Colson, dragged it to the peer and threw it off into the sea, taking 'get in the sea' at it's most literal. This plays out with street names too, there is now an online petition for Glasgow street names to be renamed due to the fact many of these are named after slave traders.
These monuments and street names are celebrations to people which the public do not value as someone worthy of celebration in such a public way.
And they have every right to tear them down.
However, the anger I do not understand is that which is directed at people who have decided a monument no longer belongs in their public space. This kind of civil disobedience, this kind of peaceful, non-violent civil protest, is a right people have. You may or may not agree with or like it, but it is a right.
The biggest argument by far against the destruction of monuments or heritage in public spaces appears to be that it is "erasing history". I absolutely disagree. You cannot "erase history" by allowing people to take control of their own narrative, it's the exact opposite, the narrative is already dictated to by those who created and erected the monuments - which people were seldom asked their opinions on in the first place.
People empowering themselves this way, people taking back the narrative of their own history, their own heritage, their own public space is part of the aim of contemporary heritage. Archaeology has put a great deal of emphasis on this, in communicating and working with the local communities. In addressing past wrongs where communities and cultures were left out of the conversation entirely, this is the very embodiment of what it is to be a contemporary heritage professional. That is the legacy we have all been left by those who worked in the heritage field in the past. It's our job to address their mistakes.
I know a few people I follow online who are in the heritage profession, fellow archaeologists, museum curators etc, and I find that most of them think as I do, that it's time for museums to hand over looted artefacts to their country and people of origin; and that it's time for us to consider what place monuments or street names erected to celebrate slavers actually have, in our contemporary world, where we are fighting for equality, and that this discussion has to include the public. This cannot be a discussion between ourselves, that time is over.
The big misconception about archaeology and heritage is that it's about purely preservation. It's not.
What we want most, I feel confident saying, is for every culture, every community, every individual, to have access to their own heritage, in their own way. That they navigate it their way, they own it, it's not for *us* as professionals to own, to preserve or dictate.
We do not exist to preserve every single existing artefact or monument, we seek most of all, to understand it. To understand context, to understand social impact, to understand meaning and importance. I think that monuments such as those often targeted in such circumstances as the BLM protests are a prime example of just how much heritage can impact people even today.
Archaeology is destruction NOT preservation. The idea that *all* existing artefacts and monuments *must* be kept in pristine condition, exactly as they are is NOT an archaeological or heritage idea.
We record fastidiously for a reason. Because we accept inevitable destruction. 'Don't remove/Don't destroy' is NOT an archaeological or heritage argument. It's an understandable argument, I myself have my own variant of that when it comes to Prehistoric monuments or artefacts, the idea of destruction in this context breaks my heart. But, destruction is inevitable nonetheless. And if the destruction of a monument I love means the community had say over their own space, their own heritage, then I am more than happy to sit back and let them do what needs done.
Also, similarly, a lot of people are apparently angry at looters during the BLM protests, and yet those same people have nothing to say about the looting of Black artefacts kept by the British Musem. I can only surmise this is due to the fact they do not actually care about looting, they care about Black people looting. And that is just more racism. You can't choose which looting you agree with and which you don't, especially when it appears to be defined by skin colour - 'white looting is ok, black looting is not' without showing white privilege and entitlement.
White Privilege
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding of what having privilege is, specifically what having white privilege is. The assumption is that it means white people experience no inequalities or discriminations. But that's not what it means at all.
I am a white person, I'm a white, bi, woman, I know exactly the type of inequalities and discrimination we can experience, as women, as LGBTQ+. So yes, of course, white people experience inequalities, there are lots of inequalities and types of discrimination, from LGBTQ+ discrimination to discrimination against disabled people and neurodiverse people, right down to class inequality. However, none of this negates white privilege. You can experience discrimination and inequality and still have white privilege.
White privilege is not about having a 'better or worse' life than someone else, this isn't about 'all lives not mattering', it's about us being able to live knowing our neck will never be under the boot of a murderous police officer because of the colour of our skin.
That is white privilege.
'All lives matter' has become a standard rally cry for many white people during times of Black and Asian Minority Ethnic protest. Personally, I think 'all lives matter' tends to be a synonym for 'white lives matter' and saying that, imo, shows white privilege in all its glory. And let's be honest, it's usually the same people who say 'what about men?' when Violence Against Women is being highlighted, or who ask 'when is straight pride?' during Pride month. They start their own counter 'protest' to stand up for the white man. Which I find funny as, they really don't need to do that, because the straight, cis, white man is doing just fine.
The reason Black Lives Matter needs to be differentiated is because of the imbalance of power and equality between white people and everyone else. And it's this imbalance of power and equality which cause police to be able to indiscriminately murder Black people with impunity in the first place. Our entire western society is set up by and for white people. And everyone who is not white has to fight hard to get even half of what we have.
Again, no, not all white people have privileges, there are entire groups living in poverty and inequality, but all white people DO have white privilege. The ability to deny this is in itself a result of white privilege. Inequality, discrimination, oppression, these are extremely complicated social issues and I won't pretend to begin to understand them all, not even remotely. What I do want to acknowledge is the need for intersectionality, because only with intersectionality can we try to understand all of this.
Intersectional Theoretical Approach
We need intersectionality!
Each group needs it, each individual needs it, this is something the 'all lives matter' crowd don't seem to get, they need it too. Because all the inequality and discrimination they say white people experience, can only be addressed by using intersectional approaches. So, yes, you have to care about Black Lives Matter in order to understand how racism impacts other areas, such as the disparity between women and men, the disparity between Black women and white women and other Women of Colour.
Intersectionality seems to cause a lot of confusion about what it means, from my understanding it is simply a theoretical and practical approach that seeks to understand the links between social issues in order to fight and end inequalities.
It does this by attempting to identify and address the connecting links - intersections - between each social issue, e.g class inequality and how it links with disability inequality. Because each of these inequalities has its own impact, and if a person is both working-class and disabled, they face these inequalities both separately, and together.
So, Intersectionality is just a way to see how each individual inequality affects any group or individual, alongside other inequalities that group or individual face. The reason for this is approach is because you cannot address the inequalities any group or individual face, without addressing EACH inequality they experience, and, HOW it impacts other inequalities they experience.
Intersectionality as an idea may not be all that complicated, but the social issues the approach exists to understand are complicated, and intersectionality can help by allowing us to identify and examine the links between these social issues.
That's it, that's all it is. And it's necessary because the impact it can have just by highlighting and identifying the links and disparities between inequalities is huge. Highlighting and identifying issues is vital in the fight to ending inequalities.
"Intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects. It’s not simply that there’s a race problem here, a gender problem here, and a class or LBGTQ problem there. Many times that framework erases what happens to people who are subject to all of these things."
- Kimberlé Crenshaw
Yes, intersectionality is a Black woman's theoretical approach, and it's an approach that while many seem hesitant to adopt - I can only conclude the damage intersectionality can do to the institutional power structures worries them - feminism specifically has benefited hugely from intersectionality. Because understanding the intersecting points where women are experiencing inequality is a key to ending those inequalities. So, I personally, as a feminist, have adopted this approach to my feminism.
To be quite honest, I stayed away from feminism and the label feminist for many years, and I know now why I did that, because the feminism I knew was not intersectional, it was single issue. A branch of this single issue feminism currently exists under the term 'gender critical feminism'. This single issue feminism is a white, middle-class straight feminism. And yes, there are those who are in the LGBTQ+ category who ascribe to this single issue feminism, I personally do not understand why, but, that is their choice. My view on that feminism is, it's not for me, because I want to focus on fighting all inequalities, not just the inequalities *I* as a white woman face.
- Kimberlé Crenshaw
Intersectionality and Feminism
Yes, intersectionality is a Black woman's theoretical approach, and it's an approach that while many seem hesitant to adopt - I can only conclude the damage intersectionality can do to the institutional power structures worries them - feminism specifically has benefited hugely from intersectionality. Because understanding the intersecting points where women are experiencing inequality is a key to ending those inequalities. So, I personally, as a feminist, have adopted this approach to my feminism.
To be quite honest, I stayed away from feminism and the label feminist for many years, and I know now why I did that, because the feminism I knew was not intersectional, it was single issue. A branch of this single issue feminism currently exists under the term 'gender critical feminism'. This single issue feminism is a white, middle-class straight feminism. And yes, there are those who are in the LGBTQ+ category who ascribe to this single issue feminism, I personally do not understand why, but, that is their choice. My view on that feminism is, it's not for me, because I want to focus on fighting all inequalities, not just the inequalities *I* as a white woman face.
TL;DR
All in all, this has been a time of both outward and inward conflict for each of us, as individuals and as a society. We have been in the middle of a deadly global pandemic - something many of us have never lived through before, either at all or as adults.
We have witnessed yet another brutal, senseless death at the hands of those we should be able to trust with our safety and our lives.
And, we each have our own individual lives, and all that any person can face be it mental health, physical health, debt and poverty, or loss of loved ones.
We have witnessed yet another brutal, senseless death at the hands of those we should be able to trust with our safety and our lives.
And, we each have our own individual lives, and all that any person can face be it mental health, physical health, debt and poverty, or loss of loved ones.
This is a stressful time. And during this time we need to take that bit extra care of ourselves, of our health, of our mind.
Lastly, in regard to BLM
I won't lie, I don't understand racism, I don't understand why we white people have this entitlement and supremacy lurking in our minds, seeping into everything, I have never understood it and I likely never will.
I do now understand my own white privilege. I don't know what it's like to live in fear of police arresting me for no reason and the likelihood it will end in my death. That is my white privilege to not know that.
Lastly, in regard to BLM
I won't lie, I don't understand racism, I don't understand why we white people have this entitlement and supremacy lurking in our minds, seeping into everything, I have never understood it and I likely never will.
I do now understand my own white privilege. I don't know what it's like to live in fear of police arresting me for no reason and the likelihood it will end in my death. That is my white privilege to not know that.
It's on us white people to speak up about this, it's on us to speak up about the abuse of power and use of brutality by white police officers. It's on us to speak up about systemic and institutional racism. It's on us to recognise and accept racism in our country, and in ourselves.
These protests are important.
They are important for all of us to recognise, to be involved in, however we can be - whether that is actively going to protests in solidarity with Black people during this time, whether it be online in some way, or whether it be having conversations irl with friends and family.
They are important because we, as white people, have a responsibility to acknowledge the institutional racism and white privilege we know exists and which we benefit from. It's necessary for us to do this through an intersectional approach, and through making all our political fights intersectional in practice and theory- from feminism to disability and class inequality.
It is also important for people to have full access to and decision making on their own heritage. If people decide a monument no longer belongs in their public space, then it should be taken from that public space, and if it's not removed, they are entitled fully to take it by themselves. I advocate for the empowerment of individuals and communities, if this is how they become empowered, then I will not say a word against their actions.
Heritage professionals record, that's a main bulk of the job, if a statue is gone, you can be safe in the knowledge there are plenty of photographs, drawings, essays, papers and books on it somewhere.
Lastly,
We need to speak up, we need to do more, and we need to stand in solidarity with Black people right now, and always. Not just because the institutional power structures affect us all - which they do - not just because in any fight against any injustice or inequality we need to stand with each other, but also because we know its the right thing to do, because we care, because we are all human beings and we are family.
It is also important for people to have full access to and decision making on their own heritage. If people decide a monument no longer belongs in their public space, then it should be taken from that public space, and if it's not removed, they are entitled fully to take it by themselves. I advocate for the empowerment of individuals and communities, if this is how they become empowered, then I will not say a word against their actions.
Heritage professionals record, that's a main bulk of the job, if a statue is gone, you can be safe in the knowledge there are plenty of photographs, drawings, essays, papers and books on it somewhere.
Lastly,
We need to speak up, we need to do more, and we need to stand in solidarity with Black people right now, and always. Not just because the institutional power structures affect us all - which they do - not just because in any fight against any injustice or inequality we need to stand with each other, but also because we know its the right thing to do, because we care, because we are all human beings and we are family.
If you are going to protests, remember we are still expecting a 2nd wave of COVID19, wear your masks, keep a hand sanitiser to hand, and socially distance as much as possible.
Stay safe, stay hydrated everyone.
Stay safe, stay hydrated everyone.
I'll leave you with George Floyd's last words posted by John Boyega on his Twitter account.
#BLACKLIVESMATTER
https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-lgbtqia-therapy-fund
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7wnbb/tony-mcdade-nina-pop-how-to-help
https://www.gofundme.com/f/liv039s-campaign-for-racial-justice-network utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link-tip
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7wnbb/tony-mcdade-nina-pop-how-to-help
https://www.gofundme.com/f/liv039s-campaign-for-racial-justice-network utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link-tip
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