Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Concerning the Possession and Unethical Use of the Remains of the Children of MOVE and the Africa Family: A Collective Statement from the Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA), the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA), and the Black in Bioanthropology Collective (BiBA)
On May 13, 1985, after almost a decade of relentless harassment and confrontation, the City of Philadelphia dropped two bombs on the roof of 6221 Osage Avenue, the compound of the MOVE organization – a revolutionary group of Black people opposed to capitalist growth and committed to environmental justice and interspecies harmony. The bomb caused a fire that ripped through the compound, incinerating 11 of the 13 MOVE members inside, including five children aged seven to 13 (Tree Africa (14), Netta Africa (12), Delisha Africa (12), Little Phil Africa (12), and Tomasa Africa (9)), and razed the neighborhood, destroying at least 61 homes.
This past week, a number of outlets revealed the disturbing history of what became of the remains of one (and perhaps two) of the child victims of the bombing. What emerged was the disturbing complicity of anthropologists and anthropological institutions. Two forensic anthropologists, Alan Mann (at the time, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania), and Janet Monge (at the time Mann’s PhD student) had been hired by Philadelphia officials to identify the remains. While Mann and Monge were unable to make a positive identification, the assumption is that the remains belonged to Tree and Delisha Africa, aged 14 and 12, respectively. After the investigation, apparently either Mann or Monge kept the remains in their personal possession, moving them between the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Princeton University. As late as last week, the remains were the focal point of the Princeton online Coursera course titled, “Real Bones: Adventures in Forensic Anthropology,” taught by Monge. Some 5000 students were enrolled. Princeton claimed not to know the location of the remains; UPenn later admitted that they were in Mann’s possession and that he would release them.
The parents of Tree and Delisha were not notified of the existence of the remains, nor were the remains returned. The Africa family believed that their children were buried, and were not aware that their children’s bones were being used as specimens for the forensic anthropology course. Mike Africa, Jr., speaking on behalf of the family, lamented: “Nobody said you can do that, holding up their bones for the camera. That’s not how we process our dead. This is beyond words. The anthropology professor is holding the bones of a 14-year-old girl whose mother is still alive and grieving.”
The Association of Black Anthropologists, the Society of Black Archaeologists, and the Black in Bioanthropology Collective are painfully aware of the barbaric history of anthropology, especially when it comes to populations of peoples of African descent. We know that our discipline has been mobilized to rationalize eugenics and white supremacy and to justify slavery and colonialism. We also know that ethnographic museums, like Penn’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (which houses the collection of the notorious racist Samuel Morton) , have supported the academic rationale for the institutionalization of racism in anthropology textbooks, courses, and curricula.
It is because of this history of racism in anthropology, and because of the missions of ABA, SBA, and BiBA to counter it, that we as organizations condemn in the strongest possible language the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Coursera, along with Professors Alan Mann and Janet Monge, for their horrific treatment of the remains of Tree and Delisha Africa, and for the unfathomable heartlessness and disrespect shown towards the Africa family. We are outraged by the stunning ethical indifference shown by all parties involved to both Tree and Delisha and to the Africa family, but also by the fact that these entities effectively monetized the remains of Black children murdered in a state terrorist attack – a fact made all the more painful given the heightened public awareness of brutal murders of Black children and youth by the police over the past few years.
Moreover, this revelation represents a painful reminder of anthropology’s history with the Black dead – of which the Penn Museum, as the physical manifestation of Morton’s legacy, provides a potent symbol. Even as UPenn earlier this year has tried to grapple with the legacy of Morton, we are faced with yet another affront to Black life and dignity.
Black anthropologists should not be alone in expressing this outrage and bearing this heavy ethical burden. All anthropologists should be enraged. All anthropologists need to condemn this barbaric and savage act by its own practitioners. And white anthropologists, in particular, should not only hold themselves accountable to the ways that they continue to uphold normalized forms