The burden of knowing versus the privilege of unknowing

The British bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade provides a potent example through which to explore the 'burden of knowing' that underpins many acts of national self-reflection. As well as exploring some of the intricacies of remembering illustrated by this example, this chapter also tackles the bicentenary with a view to working this particular example into a wider consideration of British identity. In so doing, the chapter argues that complex strategies of remembering/forgetting have, in this context at least, allowed national policymakers to use the past as an anchor or area of retreat in which to regroup and bolster a particular image of Britishness-an image that has recently been placed under threat by contemporary calls for multiculturalism and cultural parity. This is because it is an image that prioritizes a monological, essentializing, homogenous and inherently white British identity, and thereby fails to bring multiethnic communities fully into historicity as competent and equal members of British society (see Gilroy 1987; Hall 1996). As such, the bicentenary, while carrying an opportunity to critically examine a history of exploitation, became instead a moment through which to contribute to the continuing neglect of the difficulties and anxieties faced by marginalized groups as they struggle against racialized politics of identity {Waterton 2010a). To explore these issues, the chapter draws on the theoretical and methodological tools offered by Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA), which is applied to a range of official publications produced both prior to and during the abolition year of 2007.