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To rename or not to rename? Penny Lane

Blacks in Liverpool question idea of rebranding colonial legacy

I approached Liverpool’s infamous Penny Lane half expecting be blinded by bright camera lights flashing from the cameras of those hoping to archive their visit to the lane made famous by the Beatles in 1967 with the No2 hit of the same name.

Surprisingly an eerie silence greeted me, accompanied by an idle breeze that spiralled past me and worked its way down the lifeless, residential road. I found it hard to believe that this quiet suburban street had become the subject of the recent media hysteria.

Penny Lane, named after the wealthy slave trader James Penny, was one of seven streets in Liverpool that faced renaming after a local councillor made public its links to the slave trade. The proposal, spearheaded by Woolton councillor Barbara Mace was intended to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade next year. But last month Liverpool Council withdrew this proposal.

CONSULTATION

Councillor Mace told The Voice, “I have withdrawn the council motion to allow for wider consultation. This will now be considered along with lots of other suggestions”

Liverpool’s economy benefited enormously from the slave trade in the 18th century and became a lucrative port of call for slave ships travelling between Africa and America. The very idea of a proposal to rename these streets received mixed reviews from Liverpool’s black community with over half of them expressing concern at the council’s attempt to whitewash history.

David Clay, a former race relations officer in Merseyside Community Council said: “You can call Rodney Street Smith Street if you want but as far as I’m concerned it’s still Rodney Street. It’s still the legacy of slavery so it makes no difference whatsoever whether you leave them as they are or you change them because it’s not going to change history.”

Critics have accused councillor Mace of attempting to rewrite history, which has forced her to defend her original motion. She said: “I was not trying to rewrite history. Our city’s history and involvement in the slave trade is well documented in the Maritime Museum. The suggestion was not tokenism or political correctness, but seizing the opportunity to commemorate people involved in the abolition of slavery”.

The councillor is now in discussions with her party about alternative methods of marking the event next year. One of the council’s early plans was to name new streets after celebrated abolitionists like William Wilberforce and William Roscoe and some have speculated that a street will be named after black teenager Anthony walker who was murdered by white youths on his way home last year.

Steve Walker, the father of 18-year-old Anthony told The Voice, “I’m all for it as long as the street is not on a corner somewhere where nobody can see it. I hope it’s on one of the main roads where people can see it and recognise him as kid who was killed for no reason”.

Dressed in his blue overalls and evidently worn down by the whirlwind that has followed his son’s horrific death just under a year ago, car mechanic Walker continues: “Every morning I wake up, I drive past the cemetery and think that he was a kid and I didn’t have any real history of him. I’m hoping that a street named after Anthony will make a difference”.

Racially aggravated murders like the one of Anthony Walker are not isolated cases in the UK. Recently scores of black men and women have died at the hands of racist murderers.

Occupational psychologist Delroy Constantine Simms, 40, believes that the racism rampant in UK has riddled cities like Liverpool since slavery and believes that the council’s latest drive is further evidence of institutional racism.

CONCERNS

He said: “I’m concerned that a city that has been given the Capital of Culture does not take on the thoughts and the feelings of people. I think in many respects the black community is being whitewashed and being systematically erased from the history of Liverpool.”

Race Relations Officer David Clay added: “The black community is actually the group who revealed that Liverpool’s street names are from slave traders but now the council is just talking around us. It’s a white discussion, our culture is being run for us.”

The barman of the Penny Lane Wine Bar told me his opinion about the proposed renaming: “I think it’s fair enough to change street names but Penny Lane is more associated with the Beatles than slavery. We wouldn’t get the trade if it wasn’t Penny Lane.”

Tony Excell, chairman of the group Campaign Against Racial Terrorism, said he is opposed to the complete removal of slave traders’ names from Liverpool’s street signs.

He said: “We will not begin to tackle the legacy of slavery by wiping out a key piece of history, which undoubtedly made a major contribution to the social, economic, and political development of Liverpool. CART believes that it is vital to learn important lessons from the past to address peoples experience of social justice and racial inequality today”

Published: 27 July 2006
Issue: 1228

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