History is not the past, history is the present.
Black Atlantic Research Dundee (BARD) was established in 2019 to facilitate collaboration between a range of interdisciplinary scholars, artists, community organisations, and residents who are researching, supporting, and striving for positive change in relation to our understandings of empire, the Black Atlantic and the legacies of anti-Black racism and inequality today.
As a group of interdisciplinary scholars and artists who are actively involved in challenging stereotypical representations of race, gender, sexuality, and national identities we are appalled and outraged by the recent extrajudicial killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the US. We can link the origins of state-sanctioned racialised violence to 500 years of colonisation, slavery, imperial expansion, and genocide in the Americas. We also recognise that contemporary instances of violence such as these are not isolated incidents, and not limited to the US; they are part of wider institutionalised racism and discriminatory practices, engendered by white privilege and white supremacy found globally, including the more local setting of Scotland and the wider UK.
Slavery exists as part of the modern world—its legacies are found in economic and educational inequalities, immigration policies, city centre monuments, health disparities, discriminatory language—it encompasses histories and geographies that are not simply “over there” or “back then.” To understand and change the enduring legacies of empire and slavery it is imperative that we learn, educate, collaborate and act on anti-racist scholarship. This education involves directly and critically engaging with what slavery encompasses, in the past, present and future.
Racism is not passive: it is active, adaptable and requires ongoing challenges. If structural racism exists, then we must assert an anti-racist stance and continue to fight it. This is a time for us to reflect on what we do and what more we can do.
In 2019, we called on University of Dundee to explore the origins of the university in relation to imperial wealth. We reiterate that call today as a necessary first step in transparency.
BARD is open for strategic conversation and we encourage suggestions for future activities. We are keen to hear from local, national and international individuals and organizations who share our collaborative aims.
Links
Black Lives Matter USA https://blacklivesmatter.com/
BLM UK fund for donations https://www.gofundme.com/f/ukblm-fund
BLM UK twitter @ukblm
Scotland
Justice for ShekuBayoh https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/justiceforsheku/
Black Lives Matter Dundee https://www.facebook.com/events/s/black-lives-matter-dundee/258065158737248/?ti=as
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights in Scotland https://www.crer.scot/single-post/2020/06/10/We-need-immediate-action-for-racial-equality-in-Scotland
Links to further resources
The University of Warwick History has produced an excellent academic reading list organised by theme:
https://rl.talis.com/3/warwick/lists/F7A958CC-FAAC-2918-63D2-5B8626BD0466.html
White academia do better: https://medium.com/the-faculty/white–academia-do-better-fa96cede1fc5
Positive Action in Housing ‘How to be an anti-racist ally after George Floyd’ https://www.paih.org/switch-off-the-hate-how-to-be-an-anti-racist-ally-after-george-floyd/?preview=true&_thumbnail_id=5613&fbclid=IwAR1ObvXjrZbnegNDz7Ft3ZP6AkkoXdMCuuXkeMtc6BKD70S_S-DagYFW2-g
