The legacy of slavery
By Dominic Casciani
BBC News home and community affairs
[image: A slave chain gang, 1821] Dehumanised: White faces depicted - but
not black slave faces
*What do we mean by the legacy of slavery? Is it something measurable - or
perhaps a feeling that echoes of a terrible past can still be heard today? *
The legacy of slavery is one of the hardest issues in world history upon
which to find agreement.
The sheer scale of the transactions of slavery - the untold cargo of people
whose names, heritage and culture were extinguished - is, like the Nazi
holocaust, almost impossible to take in.
But 200 years on there are voices around the world who say we still need to
address the legacy of those events.
Steve Martin, a writer and historian of black history, says our failure to
do so is a sign that we still cannot agree on the very basics of what the
slaver trade did to the world.
Mr Martin is an expert in the history of Britain's built environment. He
uses it as a springboard to debate the often unwritten contribution of
minorities to the national story.
*Physical evidence*
He says a simple test of our understanding of legacy is to look for physical
reminders in countries which were part of the trade. Very often, they are
there - but difficult to recognise.
[image: Harewood House] Harewood House: Profits of slavery contributed to
family riches
"Take the English country house and stately home," he says. "Harewood House
in Yorkshire, the home of the Lascelles family, for example. How did they
make their money?
"Then there is [the Georgian] Queen's Square in Bristol. You can walk
through these places every day but how do you know the role that slavery
played in their existence?
"The legacy of slavery in our environment is there - the rise of the
gardening of Capability Brown can be associated with the wealth from
slavery."
If difficult questions are going unanswered - what are they?
*Two centuries of stereotypes*
Ken Barnes is the president of 100 Black Men of London. It's a worldwide
movement, born in the USA, which recruits successful black men to mentor the
next generation.
18th CENTURY BIOLOGY
*European: eyes blue; gentle, acute, inventive. Covered with close
vestments. Governed by laws*
*Asiatic: eyes dark; severe, haughty, covetous. Covered with loose
garments. Governed by opinions*
*Black: phlegmatic, relaxed. African. Crafty, indolent, negligent. Anoints
himself with grease. Governed by caprice*
The System of Nature, Linnaeus, 1735
But Mr Barnes says this work does not take place in a vacuum: the legacy of
slavery is everywhere for his members - and at its heart is racism.
"Slavery was used to justify and reinforce racism and allow it to become
endemic [in Europe and the Americas]," he says.
"All of a sudden you have entire peoples seen as sub-human; if someone is
sub-human then the slaver is justified in what he does.
"This even affects the way black people today perceive themselves. Ask
people what it is to be black. Black is associated with rap music, with
being lazy and uninterested in society. These are traceable back to the
racism of slavery."
This is one of the most challenging arguments of the legacy debate: how much
can the racism of the past be blamed for the racism, culture or inequalities
of today?
Two of the most provocative areas for legacy theory are the caricatures of
black male sexual prowess and sporting achievement. The suggestion is that
today's stereotypical images were born out of slave owners' preference for
the most athletic specimens from among their stock.
Two centuries of these stereotypes and pseudo-science have arguably left a
deep psychological scar on society - both in white perceptions of black
people and the responses of some black people to that projection.
*Just a theory?*
This may sound entirely theoretical but is a deeply sensitive issue. The
Bell Curve was one of the most controversial American books of recent times.
*Empower people and look at their self-identity ... the key factor for
any young person is how expectations of how they will turn out are
reinforced and in turn influence behaviour*
Ken Barnes, 100 Black Men
*Born black in 'post-slavery'
society*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6453973.stm>
Critics accused the authors of perpetuating a stereotype of black physical
superiority and white intellectual dominance.
The authors said their results were scientific. The critics said a straight
line ran from the theory to some of the thinking of slavery.
Ken Barnes says the effect of these generations-old stereotypes can be seen
most starkly in the disproportionately poor educational results of black
boys when compared with other groups.
"There is an expectation of failure for black children in schools," he says.
"And it comes down to how they are historically perceived by the school
system.
"Society's continuing image of black men affects the way teachers address
the children. But this is a vicious circle. If you continually tell a child
that it is naughty then it will act that way.
However some of the legacy arguments have their critics. Last year, an
award-winning BBC drama sparked a furious row when its central character, a
black teacher called Joe, asked why everything bad that had ever happened to
him had involved someone who was black. In one memorable scene Joe tells
people to "get over slavery".
[image: Barack Obama in front of the White House, Jan 2007] Barack Obama:
"Suffered enough" as a black man?
Critics of award-winning playwright Sharon Foster (who is black) accused her
of pandering to racists.
In reality, the film exposed the tensions within black community politics -
and a failure to agree on how to progress on legacy issues such as slavery,
racism and modern identity.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the presidential contender Barack Obama
has faced a hint of this political storm. One genealogist has claimed he
discovered evidence that Obama's mother, who is white, is a descendent of
slave owners. For some activists at least, Obama has therefore not suffered
enough as a black man to be able to speak for African Americans.
So if that is the legacy - what is the remedy?
Historian Steve Martin says the starting point is an open and frank
engagement on the issues - particularly by white people.
"Slavery is very much a case of don't mention the war," he says. "It's a
total emotional trigger and for many people it can't be discussed
rationally.
"Many people don't want to talk about it or would even attack someone for
bringing it up. But when I focus on the built environment -that can't be
walked around - it's there and it's a history that's part of them too."
"What you need to do is instil hope," says Ken Barnes. "Empower people and
look at their self-identity. The key factor for any young person is how
expectations of how they will turn out are reinforced and in turn influence
behaviour."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6456765.stm
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