Útgáfufyrirtæki Bjarkar skiptir út rasísku nafni

epa03167385 Icelander singer Björk performs during the second edition of the International Festival of Alternative Music Lollapalooza in Santiago de Chile, Chile, 31 March 2012. International bands like Artic Monkeys from Great Britain and Foo Fighters

Mynd: EPA - EFE

Útgáfufyrirtæki Bjarkar skiptir út rasísku nafni

11.06.2020 - 15:09

Höfundar

Davíð Roach Gunnarsson

vefritstjórn

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Útgáfufyrirtækið One Little Indian, sem meðal annars gefur út tónlist Bjarkar Guðmundsdóttur, Emilíönu Torrini og Ásgeirs Trausta, hefur skipt um nafn. Útgáfustjórinn, Derek Birkett, sendi frá sér yfirlýsingu þar sem hann biðst afsökunar á fyrra nafninu sem honum sé nú ljóst að hafi ýtt undir skaðlegar staðalmyndir af innfæddum Bandaríkjamönnum.

BBC segir frá. Útgáfan, sem nú heitir One Little Independent, var stofnuð árið 1985 af liðsmönnum nokkurra anarkó-pönkhljómsveita. „Undanfarnar vikur hafa verið gríðarlega lærdómsríkar,“ segir Berrett í yfirlýsingunni á Instagram. Þar segir hann að nafn útgáfunnar og einkennismerki hafi verið hugsað sem virðingarvottur við menningu bandarískra frumbyggja. Hann hafi hins vegar séð að sér eftir að bréf frá aðdáanda útlistaði hvernig heitið væri meiðandi. „Ég bið alla þá sem nafnið hefur sært innilegrar afsökunar. Ég átta mig á að nafnið hefur stuðlað að rasisma og hefði átt að endurskoða það fyrir löngu.“

Mynd: One Little Indian - Logo

Fyrrum einkennismerki One Little Independent.

Nafnið One little Indian er fengið úr gamalli barnagælu sem er í raun forveri kvæðisins um Tíu litla negrastráka, en í báðum útgáfum er að finna rasískar staðalmyndir og ýktar skopstælingar á innfæddum Bandaríkjamönnum og þeldökkum. Útgáfufyrirtækið, sem nú heitir One Little Independent, hefur gefið út hljómsveitir eins og Skunk Anansie og Cody Chestnutt auk þess að vera iðin við að gefa út íslensk bönd en fyrir utan fyrrnefnda listamenn eru Fufanu og Samaris á mála hjá þeim.

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ONE LITTLE INDIAN RECORDS NAME CHANGE OF IMMEDIATE EFFECT TO ONE LITTLE INDEPENDENT RECORDS I have immediately started making arrangements to stop using the One Little Indian Records name and logo, with our digital properties in the process of this change right now. From today the label will be called One Little Independent Records. The last few weeks have been a monumental learning curve. Following the receipt of an eye-opening letter from a Crass fan that detailed precisely why the logo and label name are offensive, as well as the violent history of the terminology, I felt equally appalled and grateful to them for making me understand what must be changed. As a teenager living in London in the late 1970s, my friends and I were deeply inspired when we learned about some of the philosophies of the Indigenous People of the Americas, of peace and love for each other and for nature and the planet, and in turn they were of huge influence in our anarchist punk movement. I was naive enough at the time of founding my label to think that the name and logo was reflective of my respect and appreciation of the culture. I’m aware that my white privilege has sheltered me and fostered my ignorance on these issues. I realise now that the label name and logo instead perpetuated a harmful stereotyping and exploitation of Indigenous Peoples’ culture. This is the exact opposite of what was intended. However, I know that it is not the intentions but the impact that is important. I want to apologise unreservedly to anyone that has been offended by the name and the logo. I recognise now that both contribute to racism and should have been addressed a long, long time ago. It is my responsibility to take ownership of my mistakes and I still have so much more work and learning to do. I have begun by immediately implementing the label’s change of name and logo. Furthermore, I have on behalf of One Little Independent, made, and will continue to make, donations to a number of organisations including the Honouring Indigenous Peoples Charitable Corporation and The Association on American Indian Affairs. Sincerely, Derek

A post shared by One Little Independent Records (@onelittleindierecords) on Jun 10, 2020 at 11:06am PDT