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When discussing why 100,000 pandemic deaths are not being publicly mourned or acknowledged, let's think about the culture of public mourning & commemoration in this country. Whose life is of sufficient value to be publicly, institutionally commemorated in the UK? Here's a ranking
- monarchs
- Winston Churchill
- WWI soldiers (white English)
- other soldiers (white English)
- 'animals at war'
- civilians at war (white English)
- slave traders who built schools idk
These deaths are given institutional markers of commemoration, i.e. a statue near Hyde Park
- Winston Churchill
- WWI soldiers (white English)
- other soldiers (white English)
- 'animals at war'
- civilians at war (white English)
- slave traders who built schools idk
These deaths are given institutional markers of commemoration, i.e. a statue near Hyde Park
The UK's culture of mourning rests on a foundation of racism, colonialism, capitalism & English nationalism. Commemorating the contributions of people who don't fit into narrow parameters of worthiness has usually involved an fighting an establishment totally opposed to it.
The idea that the UK is 'good' at mourning due to the poppy cult & endless World War memorialisation overlooks the political aims of commemoration. It's not simply that the govt doesn't want to acknowledge covid deaths, there's a pre-existing hierarchy of whose life is grievable.
Just as the UK doesn't (publicly, institutionally) mourn deaths by austerity, deaths of homeless people, or migrants trying to reach Europe. Grenfell, Hillsborough, deaths in police custody show us that a fight for recognition has to happen in order for grief to be acknowledged.
The pandemic has taken lives seen as having little value in a racist, capitalist society. It's our duty to fight for the memories of those we've lost & to make sure grief is shared and allowed a political dimension. Sending solidarity to everyone who has lost someone they love.
