Founder Deadria Farmer-Paellmann of The Restitution Study Group has opposed the return of the famous Benin statues going back to Nigeria.
The statues currently reside in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., despite some who are not in favor of this location.
American and European governments have been forced under certain penalties to return stolen African treasures back to their homeland.
But some argue that the descendants of slaves who live in America are just as entitled to the statutes, if not more than Nigerians are.
“The bronzes looted by British colonialists in the 19th Century from the kingdom of Benin in what is now Nigeria are also part of the heritage of descendants of slaves in America, and returning them would deny them the opportunity to experience their culture and history,” according to BBC News.
Farmer-Paellmann, 56, represents a group of African Americans who have filed a lawsuit to stop the return of the bronze statues.
The Restitution Study Group, which Farmer-Paellmann also runs as an executive director, is a not-for-profit institute based in New York in 2000.
The group’s mission is to examine and execute innovative approaches to “healing the injuries of exploited and oppressed people.”
But some, like 93-year-old David Edebiri, share a different opinion.
“The artifacts are not for the Oba alone. They are for all Benin people, whether you are in Benin or in the diaspora,” Edebiri, a member of the Oba of Benin’s (the king or traditional ruler in southern Nigeria’s Edo state) cabinet, told BBC News.
Farmer-Paellmann told BBC News that about 100,000 slaves from the Benin kingdom were shipped to the west, which indicates that numerous Black Americans have Benin ancestry and are entitled to the Benin Bronzes.
She also stated that manillas brass bracelets, which the Portuguese used as currency for purchasing agricultural produce, also purchased slaves as the manillas paid for the enslavement of African American ancestors.
“Fifty manillas would buy a woman, 57 would buy a male slave,” Farmer-Paellmann explained to BBC News.
“What we are saying is that the descendants of the people traded for these manillas have a right to see the bronzes where they live.”
The manillas were reportedly used to create the sculptures.
Farmer-Paellmann believes there is no reason why African Americans interested in seeing the Benin statues should be bound to travel to Nigeria.
Edebiri disagrees with Farmer-Paellmann’s argument by stating to BBC News that not all manillas used in Benin were from the slave trade.
So far, British, French, and American governments have reportedly committed to returning stolen treasures.
