Where do stereotypes come from? What purpose do they serve ? On @channel4 last night I argued (and won the debate) on the importance of not destroying the racist cartoons illustrated by John Leech in Punch Magazine. The role of visual culture and the racist caricature of people of African descent (Leech also frequently drew racist caricatures of Irish people, so I know he would have just loved me ✌🏽) was central in justifying both #Empire and the enslavement of people of African descent. Destroying evidence like this would be to whitewash history which would serve the agendas of certain parties very well. Moreover this type of popular visual culture shows us where stereotypes about people racialised as black originated and how they were purposely and pervasively spread throughout society.