{"id":104450,"date":"2020-07-13T16:03:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T23:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=104450"},"modified":"2020-07-13T16:03:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T23:03:07","slug":"the-hidden-racism-and-naming-of-roads-in-sri-lanka-remembering-george-floyd-and-i-cant-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/13\/the-hidden-racism-and-naming-of-roads-in-sri-lanka-remembering-george-floyd-and-i-cant-breathe\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden racism and naming of roads in Sri Lanka-Remembering George Floyd and \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>By Saroj Jayasinghe Consultant Physician and\u00a0 a Professor in a University of Colombo<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.dailymirror.lk\/assets\/uploads\/image_09f4da6f25.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"129\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A\nsingle incident in the US which was captured on a mobile phone by a teenager\nhas triggered waves of protests against racism, globally. This has included\nbringing down of monuments that represented racists or slave owners in the UK\nand USA. Well-known names of such racists who were being implicitly honoured\ninclude the statue of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford University and the Policy School\nnamed after Woodrow Wilson in Princeton USA, both of which are likely to be\nremoved by the universities.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\nis inevitable that countries in the global financial periphery such as Sri\nLanka, too are touched by these events and reflect about racism. In the next\nfew paragraphs I wish to outline the history behind a few selected names we\ncurrently glorify in Sri Lanka. The fact that Sri Lanka honours white skinned\nlooters, criminals and murderers with road names may illustrate that we have\nlearnt to accept racism within our collective psyche. This brief paper is to\nconfront this by identifying a few well-known road names and delving into their\nhistories.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Human\nrights violators<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.\nThomas Maitland (1805-1811).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A\nsoldier who became a governor, TM came after the blockage of the Kandyan\nKingdom by Governor North. He cannot be considered a benign leader worthy of a\nroad named after him. Maitland was famous for using modified slave labour and\nused deceit to undermine the Kandyan King. His letters to Britain (quoted in\nColvin R. De Silva\u2019s book) stated that \u2018it is by sword alone that we have\nobtained possession of this island and it is by the sword alone we can expect\nit to hold it\u2019. He fleeced the country with innumerable taxes and ensured trade\nrules favourable to themselves: cinnamon, pearl fisheries, etc.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\nwas a soldier at a time when slavery and white supremist ideas would have been\nthe norm. If we are to extrapolate to the past from what Floyd underwent inside\nhis own country under the full glare of mobile phones, it must have been worse\n200 years ago, when absolute unbridled power was with the\ncolonisers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We honour him\nwith the following roads:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maitland\nCrescent in Colombo 7.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maitland\nPlace in Colombo 7.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.\nRobert Brownrigg (1811-1820).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another\nsoldier, we have chosen to honour a military brute for his genocidal approach\nagainst a rebellion. A war criminal by any standards, he implemented a scorched\nearth policy and ordered that all males above 16 years were to be executed,\ndestroyed dams, cut coconut trees, and burnt paddy fields in order to starve\nthe rural populations. (See K.M. de Silva: A History of Sri Lanka). These are\ncrimes against humanity and collective punishments that are despicable by any\nstandards.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The roll call\nof honours:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Brownrigg Road in\n     Colombo 7&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Brownrigg Street\n     Kandy&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/li><li>3. George Torrington\n     (1847-1850).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A\npompous aristocrat who was known to have crushed the second freedom struggle in\nCeylon (1848). Human rights violations were his forte especially executions\nwithout proper trials. Venerable Kudapola, a Buddhist monk was executed by\nTorrington in 1848 for supporting Veera PuranAppu. Those who were associated\nwith the rebels, even remotely were banished. Areas such as Moneragala still\nhave families that fled the British occupation (in puraana gam\u201d- old villages)\nand they continue to suffer, partly as a result of these historical\nevents.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We do honour\nhim with the following:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Torrington\n     Avenue&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Torrington\n     Place&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Torrington Flats\n     Colombo&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Torrington Ground\n     Colombo&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Slave Traders and\n     Ecological destroyers<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>4.\nEdward Barnes (1824-1831). The man who used a form of slavery to build roads is\nironically honoured by a road named after him. His method was to use existing\nsystems (Rajakariya) to force people to build roads for the colonisers to\ntransport their commercial products from the hill land to the ports for\nexport.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly,\nthe blood, sweat and tears of the peasants who died in the process are forgotten\nand we continue to hail their slave master. Though we venerate tea, what the\nBritish did was close to an ecological catastrophe by denuding the virgin hill\nforests to plant tea. By 1848 almost 250,000 acres of prime hill land had been\nsold at a pittance to British landowners. The land-grab was masterminded by a\nstring of governors whom we don\u2019t fail to honour. The areas were cleared by\nslaves or forced labour brought from India. Hundreds of such labourers died\nduring the grueling treks to locations inland, but none are honoured by any\nmemorials. Its time we honour these generations of Indian labour who perished\nin Sri Lanka, far away from their own homes.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This\ngenerational discrimination is partly responsible for the plight of modern-day\nplantation workers, a fact that is glossed over by most researchers who tend to\nplace the blame only on post-colonial Sri Lanka for the poor health and\nsocio-economic outcomes of plantation workers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Honours for\nBarnes:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Barnes Place Colombo\n     7&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Racists<\/li><li>5. William Manning\n     1918-1925<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A\nmanipulator and deceitful person of no mean repute, credited for having split\nthe emerging independence movement by helping to weaken the Ceylon National\nCongress. He was a racist who promoted divisions based on ethnic groups, the\nmore sanitised words used by V.L.B. Mendis is that he was \u2018a ruthless\ncommunalist\u2019. The impact of his divisive policies which led to 30 years of\nconflict are conveniently forgotten. Instead, we have honoured him with the\nfollowing:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Manning Market, Colombo&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Manning Place,\n     Colombo&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Manning Town Flats,\n     Colombo&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Manning Town Apartments,\n     Colombo&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Manning Town Housing\n     Scheme&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Robbers and looters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\naddition to honouring a few despicable characters, we have also let several\nlooters of our treasures off the hook. There is a treasure trove of items in\nmuseums all over the world plundered during the colonial period (see \u2018Catalogue\nof Antiquities\u2019 by Dr. P. H. D. H. de Siva available at the National Museum\nLibrary in Colombo). Some of these were looted by the governors: the 10th\ncentury golden statue of Tara, was taken out of Sri Lanka in 1830 by Robert\nBrownrigg.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What\nshould or should not be done:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\nneed to confront hidden symbols of racism, in a way similar to debates sweeping\nthe US and Europe. We could be brave and change all these names of previous\ncriminals and replace them with names of local heroes, people or places. The\nother option is to keep their names while placing a bold plaque below each name\nboard that lists their criminal behaviour. Perhaps a group of historians could\nbe appointed to review situations where colonial criminals are being honoured.\nThis could be followed up with proposals to rename certain locations, roads and\nbuildings.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nviews expressed do not reflect those of the institution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PS&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First\na confession. I am not a historian. Second, I wish to lay to rest the\nphilosophical argument as to whether we should or should not reflect on\nhistory. These protests, including the bringing down of statues of racists\noverseas show how deep-seated systemic racism is and how it has blinded\nthinking. In the US, it manifested recently as White Policemen killing Black\npeople, but its tentacles were wide enough to glorify the killers with statues.\nI consider the existing situation in Sri Lanka an insult and would equate it to\nhaving a street named after Hitler in London. Unless we identify the roots of\nsome of our current predicaments, we will continue to be haunted by the ghosts\nof yesteryear. To understand what I mean, please listed to this video on The\nAustralian Dream by Stan Grant\u201d the Australian TV presenter (search the above\nor go the following link:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uEOssW1rw0I\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uEOssW1rw0I<\/a>\n).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally,\nsome may critique me for using harsh words. I shall not defend this because I\nbelieve what the colonists did was infinitely more harsh and cruel.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Saroj Jayasinghe Consultant Physician and\u00a0 a Professor in a University of Colombo A single incident in the US which was captured on a mobile phone by a teenager has triggered waves of protests against racism, globally. This has included bringing down of monuments that represented racists or slave owners in the UK and USA. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}