ABSTRACT
The author challenges the assumption that the inclusion of minority heritages in the national story is an uncontested good for those of minority heritage. The benefits of retelling complex stories, of ‘a more complete truth’ and of honest representation cannot be overlooked. In this chapter, they are put in the context of the complex effects of the portrayal of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans on those whose ancestors were/are at the receiving end of enslavement. These are issues of subjectivity that Hall (1999 ) did not tackle in his work. By exploring seven studies on the teaching of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, the author identifies approaches that benefit all without stigmatising those who were/are oppressed. The author then suggests, from analysing the process of producing the booklet ‘African Lives in Northern England’, that these approaches – namely racial literacy, emotional awareness, critical engagement with the evidence, dialogue, transformative aims, and centring resistance by the marginalised – can be usefully transferred to the wider heritage and cultural sector. The author acknowledges that the benefits of even these more positive approaches are circumscribed by hegemonic norms such as white supremacy.
