Section:GDN 1N PaGe:16 Edition Date:190812 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 11/8/2019 18:53 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Monday 12 Aug ust 2019
(^16) National
PHOTOGRAPH: DEAGOSTINI/GETTY
Haroon Siddique
The mayor of London has endorsed
proposals for a British slavery museum
in the capital as a way of combating
modern-day racism.
The Fabian Society says it could
help address discrimination against
London’s black and minority ethnic
population by challenging centuries-
old tropes about racial inferiority.
Describing the idea as “wel-
come and timely”, Sadiq Khan said:
“It’s right and fair that all London-
ers see themselves and their history
refl ected in our city’s museums and
cultural institutions. Learning more
about the uncomfortable nature of
our city and our nation’s role in the
trans atlantic slave trade can serve to
deepen our understanding of the past
and strengthen our commitment to
fi ght racism and hatred in all its forms.”
The proposal in the Fabian Socie-
ty’s Capital Gains report, published
today , makes several recommenda-
tions for Khan , should he be re-elected
for a second term next year.
In a chapter on racial equality, Omar
Khan, director of the Runnymede
Trust thinktank, writes: “Until, and
unless, Britain comes to terms with
this history it will be impossible to
understand, much less eradicate, the
views that continue to justify racial
inequalities today.
“It is unacceptable that the capi-
tal city of a nation that built a global
empire and its wealth in large part as
a result of its role in the slave trade has
no signifi cant museum or monument
marking the role that London and Brit-
ain played in these historic atrocities.”
London was one of the three
most important British ports in the
slave trade, with Bristol and Liv-
erpool (home to the International
Slavery Museum), which all became
extremely wealthy as a result. The Brit-
ish economy was heavily dependant
on Caribbean sugar, grown on slave
plantations in its colonies.
Omar Khan said history meant the
government and London’s fi nancial
sector had a “moral obligation” to help
fund a museum.
Anti-racism activists have long com-
plained that the discourse around the
slave trade in Britain has been domi-
nated by the nation’s role in abolition,
particularly that of William Wilber-
force , rather than its role in atrocities
spanning more than 200 years.
In the report, the Runnymede
Trust’s director said: “We gain greater
moral refl ection from considering the
times in the past when we failed to live
up to the values of humanity, freedom
and democracy than we do when we
portray ourselves as always being on
the right side of history.”
The proposal comes at a time when
racism is increasing, with the polar-
ised Brexit debate legitimising abuse in
some people’s eyes and as social media
has provided a convenient platform
for the dissemination of hate speech.
Boris Johnson has faced criticism for
his past use of terms including “picca-
ninnies” , a derogatory term that was
often used to refer to the children of
African slaves.
Toyin Agbetu, who disrupted the
commemorations in 2007 to mark the
200th anniversary of the abolition of
the Slave Trade Act , attended by the
Queen and Tony Blair, in protest at
the failure to apologise for enslave-
ment nor commemorate resistance by
the African people, gave the idea his
backing, providing it was done in the
right way.
Agbetu, from the British-based Afri-
can rights organisation Ligali, said:
“Without recognising the pain and
trauma that’s been done by slavery,
there’s this collective amnesia.
“I am defi nitely in favour of some-
thing like a museum but it has to be
done in a way that is not simply reduc-
ing the entirety of African history to a
story of victimhood.”
He also said a museum could help
inform the debate about reparations
in the UK.
London mayor backs
slavery museum to
fi ght rise in racism
▲ Benjamin
Robert Haydon’s
1840 painting of
the British and
Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society.
Critics say the
slavery debate
focuses on the
UK’s abolitionist
movement, not
on its leading
role in the trade
Sadiq Khan,
the mayor of
London, says the
Fabian Society’s
idea for a slavery
museum is
‘welcome
and timely’
‘Learning more
about the slave trade
can strengthen our
commitment to fi ght
racism and hatred
in all its forms’
Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London
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