The glorification of the plantation is dog-whistle politics – a nod and a wink to white supremacists the rightwing nationalists, reassuring them that, as far as the powers that be are concerned, black lives do not matter (Plantations kept slaves. They were a place of horror. Why exploit them as a sales brand?, 25 October). This has a long history. Gone with the Wind, for example, portrayed a completely sanitised view of slavery. This is not to suggest that racism is a deliberate conspiracy by a cynical ruling class. Having presided over a system based on the enslavement of Africans in the West Indies for 200 years, they clearly believe their own propaganda and can no longer help themselves.
The thoughtless use of terms like plantation are a reflection of the generalised institutional racism in Britain. Rightwing, pro-business politicians are on the attack with their “war on woke”. The 2021 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report, chaired by Tony Sewell, formalises this approach. When looking for evidence of structural racism in Britain, one has to look no further than the Windrush scandal. It is shocking that one of the principal groups targeted by the Home Office’s hostile environment are the descendants of the enslaved Africans trafficked to the Caribbean with the full support of the British state. They would not even be in the Caribbean were it not for the slave trade organised by British big business. If we can have plantation rum, why not gulag vodka?
Dr Steve Cushion
UCL Institute of the Americas
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
