This is an insight written by Meredith Friedland on the recent Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Symposium on “Inequalities and the Increased Risk of Political Violence” co-sponsored by the Critical Race Initiative and the Department of African American Studies on October 12, 2021.
Professor Geoff K. Ward in his lecture “Haunting Legacies of Racial Violence: Clarifying and Addressing the Presence of the Past” discussed how we must address the horrors of our country’s past in order to move forward to a more peaceful future.
Many Americans see slavery and racial injustice as a thing of our past, something our ancestors are responsible for and that we are not a part of. Professor Ward shared a quote from Tessa Morris-Suzuki that stated that although we are not responsible for the acts of aggression in our history we are implicated in them through the institutions and web of ideas that we, and our society, are built on. Although not conducting the same amount of violent racist acts as in our country’s history, we are responsible for our silence. By not being actively anti-racist or refusing to acknowledge the racial injustice that is still apparent in our country we are committing to ignorance.
We live enmeshed in [violent] structures, institutions and webs of ideas which are the produce of history…[and] though we may not be responsible for such acts of aggression in the sense of having caused them, we are ‘implicated’ in them, in the sense that they cause us.
Tessa Morris-Suzuki (2005), The Past Within Us: Media, Memory, History p.26
In order to begin to make a change, we must acknowledge the wrongdoings of our past and how they continue in our present. Silence is accepting that you are okay with the racist institutions and the inequality that are still happening in our country today. A majority of people allow themselves to take the easy way out, ignoring the hatred around them.
However, some individuals have used art as anti-racist memory work to help people understand the history of racism in America. Sonya Clark created an art installation of the Confederate flag beginning to unravel. Visitors of the gallery were invited to participate in taking the flag apart.
Screenshot of Prof. Ward’s presentation on Oct 12 2021.
Professor Ward explained the importance of an art piece like this for it allows people to gain a metaphoric understanding of how hard it is to destroy certain ideals in our country. It also allows people to come together to dismantle this symbol and hopefully work together to move forward.
Sonya Clark also created another art piece with the purpose of anti-racism. This installation was a loom that allowed visitors to create a Confederate flag of truce. Sonya is using her art to spread an image of peace rather than a symbol of hate. She is someone who is actively trying to acknowledge the acts of our ancestors and providing us with ways we can begin to reconcile our present with these acts.
Screenshot of Prof. Ward’s presentation on Oct 12 2021.
More people must break their silence and speak out against not only our history but the current violence and racism in our country. Idly standing by and waiting for change just allows current institutions and ideas to remain in power. We must come together to take active steps to start on the path towards the world we want the next generation to grow up in.
About the Author:
Meredith is a junior at the University of Maryland majoring in Marketing and minoring in Technology Entrepreneurship. After college, she hopes to travel the world and learn more about different countries and cultures. Meredith wants to combine her interest in business with her passion for helping others.