"At Least We Don't Do That Here." How Europe (Mis)Understands Black America (Gary Younge)
| Dates: | 12 April 2021 |
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| Times: | 18:00 - 19:00 |
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| What is it: | Talk |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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| How much: | Free |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, General public |
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This talk, from Professor of Sociology, Gary Younge, marks the opening of the British Sociological Association's 70th Anniversary Annual Conference, and it is open to all.
Britain's views on Black America are informed by a range of contradictory tendencies: amnesia about its own colonial past, ambivalence about its racial present, a tradition of anti-racism and international solidarity and an often fraught geo-political relationship with the United States itself. From the vantage point of a post-colonial nation that both resents and covets American power, and is in little position to do anything about it, African Americans represent to many in Europe a redemptive force – living proof that that US is both not all that it claims to be and could be so much greater than it is. This sense of superiority is made possible, in no small part, by a woefully, wilfully incomplete and toxically nostalgic of our own colonial history which has left significant room for denial, distortion, ignorance and sophistry. The result, in the post-war era, has been moments of solidarity often impaired by exocitisation or infantilisation in which Britain has found it easier to export anti-racism across the Atlantic than to practice it at home or export it across the Channel, the Mediterranean and beyond.
This public lecture is free of charge, however, registration is required. Places are limited and we do recommend booking at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.
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