Why should straight white men ‘pass the power’?

If you happened to be walking through Southwark this week you might have been accosted by a big public sign. ‘Hey straight white men’, the billboard bellowed, ‘Pass the power!’ Similar billboards apparently cropped up in other, equally squalid, parts of London. They are by a black artist from Marseille called Nadina. It will not come as a surprise to anyone who has seen her work to learn that Nadina is self-taught. Her other street art includes posters saying ‘Never forget George Floyd’ and ‘Nobody is free until Palestine is free’. It is brought to us by a gallery run, so far as I can see, by two white males.

Anyhow, if I were a straight white bloke strolling through Southwark I am not sure I would welcome Nadina’s sloganeering. Had I had just left one of the rougher estates looking for work, I might feel especially sore about the mythical ‘power’ I was said to hold. I might also wonder who exactly I am meant to pass this ‘power’ on to. Nadina seems to be doing pretty well. Should I just hand it to anyone who is not white, or not straight? Kemi Badenoch, say? Or Lord Mandelson?

When I see such a piece of public insult, a number of things cross my otherwise tranquil mind. The first is a desire to put a foot through the billboard in question. The second is to wonder whether Southwark council, the Mayor of London or anyone else would permit any similarly bigoted public messages if they happened to turn it round the other way. ‘Oy, black blokes. Give us your rights!’, for example.