On the face of it, the decisions taken by museums such as the Horniman to return many of the bronzes to Nigeria, from where they were looted by Britain in 1897, have all the hallmarks of the usual “decolonization” campaign. Nigeria has been demanding their return for years. Then Black Lives Matter set all kinds of new hares running, and the bronzes apparently became a “do something” item on the museum’s racial justice checklist. Unfortunately for Horniman, he has run into a dilemma. She proudly stated that during her research into the 73 items to be returned, she “consulted with community members, visitors, students, academics, heritage professionals and artists based in Nigeria and the UK”. Oops. It apparently lost at least one self-appointed set of “stakeholders”: the US Restoration Study Group, a campaign group created to represent the descendants of slaves. You see, it turns out that the kingdom of Benin, apart from exemplifying Africa’s rich cultural heritage, also loved the slave trade and human sacrifice. British visitors described piles of skulls, mass crucifixions and slaves bound and left to die in the sun with their entrails hanging out. The bronzes themselves, according to the Restoration Study Group, were largely made from metal Benin received as payment for the sale of slaves. Several depict and celebrate trade. In short: help! What’s a good colonist to do? In a letter to the Charity Commission published by History Reclaimed, the Restoration Study Group called for the quango to stop the bronzes being moved and keep them where they are, to educate the public about the history of slavery. The colonialists on the other hand point out that the bronzes were taken from Benin as booty after a “punitive expedition”, which massacred hundreds if not thousands of innocents (the expedition was itself revenge for the massacre of a British delegation, but also conveniently met the aims of traders who had long lobbied London to “open up” trade to Benin). There is a coda in the story. The arrival of bronzes in Europe helped inspire a new artistic movement, modernism, which showed a new (albeit racist) appreciation of African art. Not that this would have pleased the old Beninites. Honestly, I feel torn. The Restoration Group’s claim to use cultural artifacts for the universal education of humanity is something I support. But his rationale is troubling. The group bases its legitimacy claims on genealogy. He states that he has moral authority because he has “done DNA testing” to determine the extent of Nigerian slave ancestry among Caribbean and African American peoples and that these people should be considered “co-owners” of the bronzes. In short, this claim revives, for political purposes, the use of bloodlines as a legal instrument. On such a basis, we should all be calculating our share of the historical pie using genetic analysis and assessing our moral turpitude with a mitochondrial dipstick. How many Cossacks must have raped how many Semites before we start handing Ukraine over to the Ashkenazis? What golden share of innocent blood equals a fiduciary veto? No. I reject it all. This racist logic is more disturbing than the historical ignorance it tries to displace. Let the awakened monster eat itself. But along the way, may we all learn something new about our history. The Restoration Study Group has a moral claim not because of its genetic coat of arms, but because it helps educate the world about real historical events using research and scholarship. That the facts she refers to are true is enough to legitimize her claims. Bronzes should, in short, be where they can be best protected, studied and appreciated. This does not preclude an exchange system between European, African or American institutions. But let’s not imagine that such an arrangement would “right historical wrongs” or amount to “reparations.” Rather, it would serve the interests of scientific knowledge and mutual understanding. Whatever our race, these are the ideals that should unite us.
