Tommy Tainant
Diamond Member
Beware the ‘ghostliners’: who downplay Britain’s slavery shame and mute calls for justice | Kris Manjapra
The row about a Cambridge monument to a slave trafficker shows how far the UK has to go to confront its racist past, says history professor Kris Manjapra
www.theguardian.com
When faced with attempts to confront the causes of institutional racism in Britain, conservatives often resort to one key strategy. I call this strategy “ghostlining”. It is a technique long used by the ruling classes that frames public debates in ways that sideline the experience of the oppressed and silence calls for social justice. Ghostlining employs a one-two punch: first, disavow the ongoing effects of slavery, colonialism and racism; and second, play the benefactor and the victim at the same time. Ghostlining removes the experience of the oppressed from the focus of discussion, and instead reframes the debate around the interests of a ruling elite.
Its an article about a British college but I think it might chime with the American experience. I hear the same arguments. In general we have been able to remove a lot of monuments to slavery but a Cambridge College is protected by the stablishment and seemingly that is enough.
I wonder why they dont cut to the chase and remove the marble and replace it with a whip and chains to represent the people who actually buil the college. Not someone who got ridh raping and murdering.
An evil person cannot wash away his sins by founding a college.
I love the way he highlights the need for people to identify themselves as victims.Not unlike those fans of Southern culture.
