On the Apology that Reads Like an Insult

Apology Not Acceptable

 

As a follow –up on the Swedish cake debacle (April 15, 2012), I would like to inform you of the sequence of events that have taken place thus far.

A group of enraged women of African descent, led by Dr. Claudette Carr, founder and executive director of the Jethro institute for Good Governance, wrote an open letter to the Minister of Culture, demanding an apology for her participation and therefore public endorsement of the highly offensive and racist cake (known as the Venus- Hottentot cake). The full story can be read here .

The open letter was then used to create a petition to which people were asked to append their signatures in protest to this piece of “performance art”. The petition was run for about 4 weeks, and during that time, a representative from our core group, along with a representative from the Afro- Swedish community was asked to participate in an interview on The Stream, a program on Al Jezeera Televison.

One of our partners, the Black women’s Blueprint also provided a platform in the United States on their blog radio show, to discuss the various ways in which the artist Makode Linde, the minister of culture and the people who participated in the performance art exhibit had acted inappropriately. That interview can be accessed here.  

. After four weeks the petition was closed and mailed to the Minister of Culture in Sweden. In the meantime, Dr. Claudette Carr and Mina Salami took part in an email conversation entitled Racism is no Joke: A Swedish minister and a Venus Hottentot Cake, to be published in a forthcoming anthology called Afro-Nordic landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe (Routeledge, 2012), edited by Professor Paul Gilroy.

We are waiting to hear from the Minister of Culture with regards to our petition/ open letter and the points we put forward as a way to make amends for the gross error in judgment that she displayed by part taking of a culturally insensitive and inappropriate spectacle, which has brought into question her publicly stated commitment as an “anti- racist”. 

In the meantime, Mashua Against FGM, an organization we partnered with for this campaign ran their own petition where they simply asked for an apology. They received the apology on June 27, 2012 and you can read it here.

After the initial happiness that an apology had been rendered, I read the apology and to my utter disbelief the apology was exactly the same as the pro- forma apology that Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth had delivered to the press. It was the same non-apology that I blogged about here.

While I am glad that Mashua for FGM is satisfied with this apology. However, I would like to make it clear that I find the apology an insult and therefore do not accept it. The fact that this is exactly the same apology rendered through the press leads me to believe that no effort has been made to grasp the scope of the problem with her involvement in the art project.

I believe I speak on behalf of the original cosignatories to the open letter, when I state that the apology is nullified by the fact that the minister places the problem with her actions squarely on the shoulders of those who were offended by saying that they misinterpreted her actions. In other words, she did not err in any way and the only thing she regrets is that people took it the wrong way. This is insulting on many levels as I have stated before in a previous blog.

We therefore disassociate ourselves from the minister’s second non- apology and look forward to a genuine apology, where it is clear that she has understood why this so called art is a mockery and a dehumanizing act that has sent waves of anger throughout the world. We look forward to an admission of error on the minister’s part,and not this defensive verbiage that insinuates that those who are offended do not understand art.

 We also look forward to a solid response to the other requests presented in the open letter. I would also like to make it clear that we will not accept to being condescended to; neither will we go away quietly. This issue is huge and it will remain an issue to be discussed and resolved for as long as it takes for the minister of culture to do the right thing and render a genuine apology. To relent now is to have failed ourselves and those for whom we speak. This would also set a bad precedent, whereby African women can be objectified and belittled with no real consequences. Now is the time to stand up and refuse to be the portrayed through negative stereotypes and oppressive, racist images which only serve to marginalize us further from mainstream discourse about our issues vis-à-vis development and empowerment. It is time that we are front- and- center of such discourse and it is imperative that we lead and direct this discourse. This issue of Swedish racism has provided us a conduit to the fore front of discussions about who we are in relation to the other women in the world and history will not look favorably on us if we “drop the ball” at this juncture.

 It is very disappointing that the minister chooses to play politics in an issue where vulnerable women are further victimized, and Black people in general have been affronted.  As I have stated before, this non-apology is reflective of and consistent with the Swedish government’s own reticence to address the pressing racial issues and race-based disparities that negatively affect the Afro-Swedish community. We stand in solidarity with the Afro- Swedish community and we stand together with all the African women and all women affected by FGM, whose dignity we seek to restore by passionately seeking redress in this degrading, racist spectacle, which got the seal of approval from a government minister, a woman for that matter. What a shame.

 

WAKE UP SWEDEN!

On why the Swedish minister’s Apology is really a non-apology

"I am sincerely sorry if anyone has misinterpreted my participation," the
minister said in a statement.

"While the symbolism in the piece is despicable, it is unfortunate and highly regrettable that the presentation has been interpreted as an expression of racism by some. The artistic intent was the exact opposite."

http://www.thelocal.se/40348/20120419/

Firstly there are many things wrong with what the minister believes is an apology. It makes an excuse for her participation in the whole project. This is why she is being challenged; not because people are misinterpreting her participation, but that she should not have participated at all once she realized what she was expected to do. As a national leader it is her responsibility to ensure that she does not in any way tarnish her office through dubious or in this case outrageous associations. It is also her responsibility to ensure that all the constituents she represents are treated with equity under the law. The idea that she participated because she had been asked to talk about “freedom of expression and the right to offend”, is no excuse for her involvement in what was a mockery of African women by depicting them as a grotesque caricature. In this day and age, 2012, global village, social media and all that, her gross failure in judgment has left her probably one of the most controversial women around the globe at this time. She has demonstrated a total lack of cultural competence, a lack of awareness that in this day and age it is racist and egregious to use imagery that evokes the despicable era of black slavery and colonialism, evils that the whole world has condemned. The black woman cake is highly offensive and evokes haunting and degrading images of the Minstrel shows in which white actors painted themselves black and performed degrading stereotypes of African Americans and Africans in Europe as stupid, lazy and less than human beings. The African Community in Sweden has, understandably, no faith that this Minister can ever represent them, because her participation in this project placed her squarely on the side of those who believe that racism is not a problem in Sweden. She has placed herself on the side of those who think black people who are offended by this caricature of black womanhood are “too sensitive”, therefore trivializing their genuine hurt and anger.

Secondly it is not the symbolism of this cake that is despicable it is the actual cake itself! What is truly despicable is the enactment of cutting the genital area by the Minister and the accompanying screams by the artist Makode Linde, who then goes on to face book and writes:  “This is after getting my vagaga mutilated by the minister of culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth. Before cutting me up she whispered ‘Your life will be better after this’ in my ear.” This is really a mockery of women who have undergone Female genital cutting, an issue that this project was supposed to highlight. How do you justify mocking and degrading a group of people as a way of raising awareness? So you highlighted the serious and devastating issue of female genital cutting by cutting an ugly cake, while laughing and drinking and taking pictures? The outcry from women who have had experienced genital cutting and women who work for the eradication of this cultural/ public health problem has been enormous.

Thirdly, an apology that contains ‘mis’ words is always suspect.  The phrase “ Anyone who misinterpreted”, apportions blame on those who feel slighted. It insinuates that they are the ones who got it wrong and who do not have the intellectual capacity to understand the artists’ intent. The minister adds more insult to injury with this “non-apology”.

In the light of this global outcry, the minister’s apology rings hollow because she refuses to take ownership of the huge public relations and political blunder that she has made. This renders her less respectable and unfit for the post she holds. The point is that people are angry and people feel insulted. Any politician worth their salt would rush to do damage control instead of uttering patronizing statements in the name of apology.

In the same vein, the Swedish government has been silent about this issue, an issue which has the potential to have political fallout and to tarnish the image of Sweden. It is obvious that they do not care, just the same way that they do not care about the Africans who live and work and pay taxes in Sweden who are subjected to racism but are told again and again that “there is no racism in Sweden”.

In 2011, Jallow Momodou reported to the police that students were having a party in which they were painted black with slave chains around their necks.

“Apart from threats against me and my family, a manipulated picture of me as a slave in shackles was made into posters bearing the words, in Swedish: "This is our runaway nigger slave and he answers to the name Jallow Momodou. If you should find him please call this number." These were put up in several different spots around my workplace, Malmö University. But hey, “there is no racism in Sweden”.

In 2010 a white Swedish man went on a shooting spree in Malmo, shooting more than 20 people of color and killing one. The killer was officially considered to be an isolated case with psychological issues, but not a terrorist with racist motives. This man has still not been prosecuted, and “there is no racism in Sweden”.

In early 2012,  there was uproar over a sex education film in which a black man was having sex with a white girl.  There were over half a million comments by Swedes who were appalled and disgusted that a white girl would degrade herself by sleeping with a black man. Others were lamenting the contamination of the pure Swedish gene pool. Once again, there was no comment about the blatant racist comments by any political leader, because ‘there is no racism in Sweden.”

WAKE UP SWEDEN! Being silent about this issue and denying the existence of a serious human rights violation only means one thing, that you are giving racism a seal of approval, something which goes against the Durban Declaration and Program of Action (September 2001). States were required to sign their commitment to combating contemporary forms of racism against Blacks, Muslims, xenophobia, negrophobia and anti-Semitism. Sweden is a signatory to the Durban Declaration. Honor your commitment SWEDEN!

Sweden is not an island and the context is the global village.

Barbara Mhangami

Dr. Claudette Carr –Director of the Jethrow Institute for Good Governance

 Samantha Asamandu –Black Feminists UK

Minna Salami

Black Women’s Blueprint

On eating Black Women

On World Art Day, April 15 and how they celebrated in Sweden

The social networks are abuzz with the latest sensational story of how the Minister of Culture in Sweden, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, took part in an art event which was supposed to highlight the issue of Female genital mutilation (FGM). The event was held at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the capital's museum of modern art.

In the photographs and video footage making the rounds on the internet, the minister is seen cutting a cake which is in the shape of the torso of a black woman. The cake, which is of a dark, ruby red velvet filling with black icing, was created by a black artist Makode Aj Linde, whose head forms that of the black woman, is seen with a blackened face and he screams each time a guest cuts a slice of the black woman (er, cake). The minister is laughing and she cuts off the genital area (clitoris) of the black woman (er, cake), and artist Makode screams.

Here is the video.

No doubt this footage has infuriated many people and accusations of racism have been leveled at the project. Indeed, there have been calls by the African- Swedish Association for the resignation of the minister for culture for having taken part in what they describe as a “racist spectacle”.

However the fury that I have seen particularly from African women has to do with the fact that this project was supposed to bring awareness of the very painful and complex issue of genital cutting. This is no laughing matter for any sane human being but certainly not for African women. The idea that someone who holds a position of authority and power, and who is a woman as well would take part in what is a humiliating, degrading and offensive project in the name of “raising awareness” shows a disconnect between herself and the women who have to deal with FGM.  That her sensibilities were not assaulted by the callousness of this project signifies a huge gap between African women and their issues and western women. This project is in my view no different from the” Hottentot Venus” Sara Baartman and other African women who were exhibited as freak show attractions in Europe in the 19^th Century.Sara Baartman was tricked into going to Europe, where she and other African women were paraded naked in museums and public squares and gawked at by all and sundry, for their “huge buttocks and peculiar genitalia”. The objectification of African women’s bodies by the west is rife in the pornography industry and there at least one can argue that the women who participate do so willingly. However when this happens in the context of a serious issue such as FGM and it is done in the name of “art”, then there needs to be a strong unequivocal response against such an unacceptable, ugly and insensitive “art”.

The fact that the artist is black does not in any way diminish the gravity of this racist and demeaning project. The black artist who created this may be accused of being a dim witted misogynist, but the racial over tones of this project cannot be denied. His blackness does not legitimize anything done here and the message about the seriousness of FGM is totally crowded out by the hideous manner in which that message has been conveyed. One does not need to watch an ugly cake in the form a black woman having its clitoris cut off to the sound of screaming, while a crowd watches, drinks in hand with smiles on their faces to bring awareness of FGM. This says a lot about the people who were present and who applauded and actually saw nothing wrong with the whole scenario. Gosh that they could even eat the black woman (er, cake) is sobering.

The humiliation and dehumanization that comes with patronage is a huge price that Africans pay in order that their helpers might feel good about themselves. This is one occasion where I question whether many of those who seek to help Africans to solve their myriad problems do so out of a genuine empathetic desire to see an end to debilitating conditions or whether it really is about a thorough ego massage and the kudos that come with “doing good”.

However as long as we Africans continue to have problems for which we are not doing enough to bring solutions, as long as our governments continue to focus on looting and clinging to power, as long as our elite human resources continue to walk away without a backward glance, as long as our intellectuals continue to complain but do nothing, there will be more humiliation, mockery and dehumanization coming our way, and black women (er, cakes) will be eaten in Sweden and other places where African women are exotica. If we as Africans are serious about being viewed as human beings capable of thinking and acting in our own best interests, until we demonstrate that we are our own best advocates, we will continue to be spectators of our own destiny and to be seen as nothing more than strange children who are in a perpetual state of arrested development, disabled beings who don’t know what they want or need. We are treated the way we allow people to treat us. Disrespect of the kind demonstrated in this event is not acceptable in 2012. Only we can put a stop to this debilitating imagery of ourselves.

Since this blog was written I have joined hands with other women and organizations to write an open letter to the Minister of culture in Sweden. The link is below, please sign it and forward this blog to your friends and contacts. Fell free to google this issue and you will become aware of the widespread rage and consternation at this vile project.
http://www.change.org/petitions/minister-of-culture-sweden-apologise-for-the-display-of-offensive-artwork-of-black-women