What is the difference between handcuffs and shackles

Chief vs. Teat vs. Neice vs. Buisness vs. Beeing vs. Amature vs. Lieing vs. Preferred vs. Omage vs. Finally vs. Attendance vs. Latest Comparisons Tubercule vs. Glyptal vs. Faucet vs. Com vs. Destroyable vs. Aboriginal vs. Coelomate vs. Ocean vs. Judge vs. Flag vs. Forbear vs. Awesomely vs. Fat vs. Sonhood vs. Ricochet vs.

Channel vs. Trending Comparisons. Mandate vs. Ivermectin vs. Skinwalker vs. Socialism vs. Man vs. Some of them, like Gardner, may have transported people from the Caribbean to serve in their British homes. Advertisements sometimes mention the hardware used to subdue and control their subjects. While in the US, slave shackles evoke images of crude and rough restraints, in the UK, silver, brass and steel collars and cuffs were carefully crafted and occasionally engraved with the names of enslavers a practice dating back to ancient Rome.

Some of these grisly artefacts survive in museum stores. A single steel shackle is archived in the Blaise Castle Museum, near Bristol. They also made handcuffs, gang chains and collars for the enslaved, supplying the African slave trade well into the nineteenth century and long after it had been outlawed in Britain.

Listed as a leg shackle, this museum object looks similar to the neck collars depicted in many portraits of enslaved people in Britain. Runaway advertisements and metal collars are powerful reminders that the legacy of slavery is not just about police brutality. It also survives in the brutality of citizen policing: the militia-like vigilance of everyday people who violently enforce white supremacy in public spaces.

The crimes of driving while black, shopping while black, sleeping while black, and so on, are the result. Returning to his home in suburban Massachusetts, the eminent scholar of African American history and culture found himself locked out, and a passer-by a neighbour, a citizen-on-patrol reported a potential burglary to the police.

Despite providing proof of his residency, officers arrested him on his front porch. The incident caused a public storm, which led to a summit at the White House with President Barack Obama. It continues to make headlines. Especially after the police killing of George Floyd and the ensuing waves of international protest, it is a cruel reminder that racism remains embedded in the highest levels of American policing.

Even a world-famous intellectual, TV host and educator is not immune. There is another remarkable fact about this case. Seeking to preserve the memory of his ordeal for posterity, Gates donated the handcuffs used during his arrest to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington DC.

Indeed, it is impossible to understand current events in either country as separable from their shared, centuries-long legacy of terrorising, usurping and devaluing black lives. It should be no surprise that the UK continues to suffer from racist policing. With black and brown folks dying or disabled or impoverished in vastly disproportionate numbers, we all remain ensnared in the world created by the slave trade.

The only solution to this seemingly endless cycle of violence and oppression is to confront our shared history and, like the statues and monuments now falling around us, begin to dismantle it. Piecemeal reforms, such as banning choke holds or implicit bias training, are a small step in the right direction, but not enough. As with the ongoing pandemic, a systemic threat requires a systemic response. The first step in any programme of repair, according to the current movement, is to defund the police and redirect that money back into the communities it was meant to serve.

Minneapolis, fittingly, is leading the way, with public schools, universities and cultural institutions divesting from the local police and the city council vowing to dismantle the entire force. In the UK, there is a rich tradition of resistance to the criminal justice system, coupled with an awareness of its international dimensions.

Last month, a broad coalition of MPs demanded an immediate end to export licenses for millions of pounds worth of teargas, bullets, guns, and other weapons used for militarised policing. The next step may be to defund the military itself, which would free up hundreds of billions of dollars to reinvest in the communities hardest hit by a compounding history of injustice. Whatever path we choose, we should remember that actions speak louder than words.

By moving beyond statements of grief and displays of outrage to embrace systemic change, both the US and the UK can begin a liberating and long-overdue process of reparation for the centuries of damage they have inflicted. The authors would like to thank the network members for their excellent and timely contributions and suggestions on this piece. Your email address will not be published. Email Address. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.