KATE WILLIAMS: ‘White people must recognise privilege’
As one of Britain’s leading historians and broadcasters, Kate Williams has documented a range of lives for modern audiences, from Elizabeth I and Empress Joséphine to Princess Charlotte and Queen Victoria. ‘We are in the midst of a cultural revolution – and we have to extend this to ensure that the recognition of the lives, work and historic suffering of Black people characterises our society moving forward – and prejudice and inequality across the board need to be overturned,’ she says. ‘Our vision of our history needs to change. Most people outside Bristol didn’t know who Edward Colston was, but now, thanks to the pulling down of his statue, we are being taught our history and coming to recognise the role of the enslavement of Black people in the building of our country.’
Williams describes it as ‘wrong’ that a very small number of leading Black intellectuals are required to carry the lion’s share of the discussion on how we tackle the problem of systemic racism, citing the deplorably low percentage of Black university professors in Britain (fewer than 1% according to figures published this year by the Higher Education Statistics Agency): ‘We should be asking ourselves why there aren’t more Black professors, instead of asking the few there are to do all of the work in educating people.’ But she also recognises that responsibility should be shared: ‘If white people aren’t asked about this subject, and talking about it, we’re not going to make any progress. White people must recognise privilege, and if Black people are not in places and institutions where we are, we must ask, where are they?’
Part of her project is to prioritise ‘historical truth not historical myth’, the kind of truth-telling that would mean we highlight the stories of people such as Olaudah Equiano, a Black bestselling writer and abolitionist, who was one of the leaders of the British anti-slavery movement in the late 18th century. Recently, Williams has commented on the need to mark the significance of court cases brought by Black men, such as Joseph Knight and James Somerset, in turning the tide of public opinion against slavery, and leading to abolition: ‘In the UK, everybody knows about William Wilberforce, but he was building on work done by Black abolitionists. Why not movies about Equiano? Why not Knight or Somerset? Where are the films about them?’
Alongside this, Williams calls for a reckoning with the legacy of slavery, with the myth of a benevolent British Empire that was dismantled voluntarily, as well as the need to dismantle the structures of white privilege. ‘Black people have been in this country for so long, as a full part of our society,’ she says. By promoting this knowledge, and cultivating respect for their accomplishments, Williams is one of the historians poised to play a significant role in transforming this cultural moment to a lasting cultural shift: ‘We’re finally recognising the importance of the stories of Black people, who were in Britain as early as the Romans and were part of society in Tudor times. This is what historians can do. This is what we can contribute.’
Black people have been in this country for so long; it’s important to tell their stories