Swiss Review 5/2020

Swiss Review / September 2020 / No.5 20 Society JÜRG STEINER It startedwith a video of a white police officer using brutal force that led to the death of Afro-American George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis. The footage was shared on social media around the world. In mid-June, thousands of mostly young people took part in anti-racism demonstra- tions in Swiss cities. The Black Lives Matter rallies, mostly peaceful, were tolerated by the authorities despite the re- strictions to stop the spread of COVID-19. However, it was not the imported nature of the protests that was exceptional, but how quickly attention turned to the issue of everyday racism towards black people in Swit- zerland, even though Switzerland has never had any colo- nies and has never been known as a country in which the state apparatus clearly discriminates against non-whites. “Switzerland has never existed in splendid isolation” “I think there is a growing realisation among younger peo- ple that Switzerland has never existed in splendid isola- tion,” says historian Bernhard C. Schär. “Which is actually quite astonishing, given that the Swiss history curriculum still mainly takes the opposite view.” Schär, who works at ETH Zurich, is one of a group of historians who are trying to promote a critical reappraisal of Switzerland’s history in the global context. This perspective on Switzerland that many like to ig- nore, is becoming increasingly popular, not least because 40 percent of people who live in Switzerland have an im- migrant background. And because 70 percent of people em- ployed by Swiss companies work abroad. “Switzerland’s story has always beenmore than about what happens only in Switzerland and in Europe,” says Schär. Fewer and fewer people identifywith a viewof history confinedwithin Swit- zerland’s physical borders. Taking a more open approach to Switzerland’s past automatically involves encountering elements of colonialism and racism. This extends to everyday life. According to a report by the Swiss Service for Combating Racism(SCRA), 59 percent of Swiss believe that racism is a serious problem in Switzer- land, while 36 percent of people living in Switzerlandwith an immigrant background say that they experienced dis- crimination in the period from2013 to 2018 –mainly in the work environment or when looking for employment. It is also normal nowadays for young Swiss toworkwith colleagues who have a different skin colour. Thanks to so- cial media too, the YouTube generation are no strangers to the issue of racism. Clips of black American television co- medians such as Trevor Noah, born in South Africa to a Swiss expatriate father, are also viewed in Switzerland. Consequently, the brutal, racist circumstances of George Floyd’s death are evenmore of a cue to question the reality at home, given that police violence also occurs in Switzer- land. In 2018, for example, a black man died in Lausanne fromrespiratory arrest after being pinned to the ground by police officers. Controversial memorials Switzerland has plenty of historical objects that would in- spire the wrath of anti-racism activists. These include me- morials to Swiss economic pioneers and scientists whose involvement in the history of colonial exploitation has long been swept under the carpet. Take David de Pury, who left his home city of Neuchâtel a huge fortune after his death. Themerchant acquired part of his wealth by trading slaves at the Portuguese court in the 18th century. Abronze statue in Neuchâtel honours de Pury’s legacy. Following a Black Lives Matter protest, activists smeared the statue with red paint to symbolise the blood of slaves. A petition was also launched to remove the monument. The controversy surrounding the brilliant 19th-century glaciologist Louis Agassiz, who expounded racist theories that were used by white Americans to legitimise discrimi- nation against blacks, has flared up again after simmering for years. Amountain peak situated on the cantonal bound- ary between Berne and Valais is named after Agassiz. His- torian Hans Fässler, who heads the Dismantle Louis Agas- Switzerland’s “colonialism without colonies” The Black Lives Matter protests began in America, but their reverberations in Switzerland have been surprisingly strong. Why?