bitch if you think african dictators wouldn't wipe their asses with any returned ancient artefact or sell it to the Chinese and keep the money for themselves, you're out of your mind. colonial theft was a terrible thing, but giving those objects back would ensure they're destroyed and lost forever. many Western museums fund the training of archaeologists in Africa and elsewhere - that's the only reparation that makes sense.
Wow, my first anon hate! This means Iâm starting to make it big, right?
So many racist assumptions here I donât know where to begin. Letâs list them, shall we?
All of Africa is a war zone
Western-taught academia is necessary for archeology
Non-Western countries are incapable of being responsible
Non-Western countries are only interested in money and have no desire to connect with their heritage
Only the Chinese buy black market artifacts
I think I got most of them? Feel free to point out any additional racism I missed.
Now, the only reason I am not just ignoring this is because this does bring up complex, important issues that many people genuinely do not have a complete knowledge or understanding of. I did not want to get too in-depth when I made my original post, but I have decided that at this point I do not care how lengthy this ends up being. So I am going to address those issues right here and now. Namely, the belief that Western countries should hold onto objects for the sake of preserving them and how it is thinly veiled racism.
To begin, I would recommend watching Chimamanda Adichieâs TED Talk, The Dangers Of A Single Story. Itâs making big waves in the academic community as it clearly articulates to a general audience how our views of the wider world are shaped by narratives we are told, rather than the lived realities people experience.
You imply that the entire continent of Africa is ruled by corruption. Firstly, itâs not. Hereâs a few pictures of modern day Africa:
They look like real hives of scum and villainy, the lot of them.
These people have a stable government. Artifacts would be just as safe here as anywhere else.
Itâs true that not all regions of Africa have political stability. But those issues are the legacy of colonialism. People in Africa (and other parts of the world) had stable societies for thousands of years before Europeans came along and destroyed any semblance of Native political structure. And yes, while societies rose and fell, and artifacts didnât always survive, it was only 75 years ago when WWII almost caused the complete collapse of European society. Plenty of incredibly important artifacts were lost because of it, yet for some reason I donât see anyone arguing that Western museums arenât âsafeâ enough for artifacts.
Hereâs a comparison: Letâs say you have a priceless family heirloom, passed down for generations. It has important cultural significance, and you could sell it for a high price to private collectors (which, according to our current laws, you would be within your right to do so). You keep it, not only because itâs valuable, but because it has a special meaning to you. Now imagine someone broke into your house and stole that heirloom and put it in a museum. You know exactly the person who stole it, and you have ample evidence of how they violated your rights. So you go the court and present your evidence and ask if you could have your heirloom back. But now the court says that no, you canât have it back, because clearly you werenât responsible enough to prevent it from being stolen in the first place. Plus, the court argues that itâs an important piece of art and shouldnât be hidden away in your house. Maybe, just maybe, if you build a fancy glass case for it and allow people to come see it they will give it back. But you donât have the money to build the case because when they broke into your house they stole all your money too. You canât even go see your family heirloom in the museum; the entrance fee is too high. And funny enough, you might have considered donating that heirloom to the museum eventually. If the museum had waited, and asked politely, and offered to let you help tell your familyâs story with that heirloom, all parties might have been happy. But Iâm willing to bet that now youâre not really feeling in a charitable mood.
The point of all this is, and I canât emphasize this enough, Western museums do not have the right to dictate what other cultures do with their artifacts. We lost that right when we took them by force.
Sometimes an Indigenous community will be the bigger person. Theyâll say hey, we donât have the resources right now to preserve our history in the way we want to, since you took all economic power from us as well. Please keep our artifacts safe until weâre able to. Sometimes, they decide to build bridges and give a museum a selection of artifacts they want to be displayed. But whether or not they do this is entirely up to them.
Oh, and lastly, if you think itâs only the Chinese who buy black market artifacts and help keep colonialism alive, check out the time when the American company Hobby Lobby helped fund Islamic extremist groups by buying black market artifacts. Or if you want something more recent, hereâs a guy who stole from Native gravesites for his personal collection.
Have any other arguments? Feel free to bring them up. Iâd love to discuss them with you. Try to be less defensive, itâll help your case. And this time, try not to use anon. I canât really take you seriously this way.
