As #boycottthehumazoo reaches 10,000 supporters we write in the hope that you will consider our position as a large section of the community with valid concerns about the social and racial implications of Brett Bailey’s ‘Exhibit B’. #boycottthehumazoo is not about resisting one man’s rights of artistic expression but to remind us that art, like all other forms of expression, do not exist outside of structural power relations. We reject ‘Exhibit B’ because we recognize this ‘art’ as indistinguishable from the everyday and historical perpetual obsession with ‘the black body’. We recognized that ‘Exhibit B’ feeds into the fixation of the white male gaze that demonstrates his abject fear and continual over-sexualisation of ‘the black body’. We recognize the inability of ‘Exhibit B’ to separate these white male anxieties from the need to demonstrate physical authority over ‘the black body.’ It follows that we reject ‘Exhibit B’ because it further dehumanises the African image. For hundreds of years the world has seen us stripped, shackled and subdued but rather than inspire a turn of conscience, these impressions have served only to further remove our humanity and amplify our ‘Otherness.’ As the opening of ‘Exhibit B’ approaches, issues of race dominate the headlines and the ‘brutality of colonialism’ that Brett describes, plays out in real time. Whatever the crisis, the spotlight shines firmly on the black community. With much irony, our pain, anger and grief are placed under a microscope which white society refuses to place upon itself. ‘Exhibit B’ follows the same tradition. The Oppressor is not made visible but is left to the imagination, thwarting any chance of this being a responsible, progressive piece. At a time when an examination of white privilege is required, ‘Exhibit B’ presents yet another study of black inferiority. Mr Bailey has opted out of providing the only perspective that can bring any kind of resolution. ‘Exhibit B’ looks into the souls of the victims whilst turning its back on the ones who can provide the answers and the solutions. The creative arts are a part of the solution. For so long the black image has peppered an art scene dominated by wealthy white Europeans as the loyal servants of nobility, women carrying water at sunset or the fearless guards ready to die to protect his white master. These pictures of servitude and domesticity paint our picture. ‘Exhibit B’ reaffirms our position for the next generation, a generation already overloaded by illustrations of black inferiority. ‘Exhibit B’ does not pay homage to the ancestors. It sells their pain for 20 pounds a shot. It does not heal but serves to immortalise their suffering. Not even in death are they free from spectacle. In a compassionate society, when people are stripped of their dignity we cover them. We do not use their nakedness to shame the person that stole their clothes. A line must be drawn. Our renaissance must beat a fresh path. #boycottthehumazoo is the voice of 10,000 people. Be the solution #stopthehumanzoo #boycottthehumanzoo #boycottthebarbican