Paper short abstract:

Authors argue that recent discussions of "decolonizing" movements within anthropology need the incorporation of the humanistic scholarship from African Diaspora to the study of human biology which will in turn enable a more firm approach to the authentic talk and respect towards spirituality.

Paper long abstract:

Skeletal studies of anatomical collections are foundational to the scientific conceptualizations of race that remain at the center of discussions and debates about genes, health and identity. However, they do not factor into these discussions as a historical or contemporary point of reference. It could be argued that this is largely due to continued investments in the production of scientific knowledge, which includes a naturalized positioning of anatomical remains as always already research subjects. Black feminist theory and critiques of science are used to bring attention to how this investment lends to colonized research practices (Wynter, 2003; Spiller, 2010)

In a similar case of failed research practices, during Croatia's Defense War in 1991 the forensic expertise was advanced 'in excellence' through the USA Smithsonian Institution cooperation. To this day, regardless of the technological investments over a thousand Souls are still missing in the many undetected mass graves. The explanation of this neglect can be sought in the politics of science at the disservice to people and in service of silencing the communistic enslavements of the past (Špoljar Vržina, 2016). Humanity in need of freedom from the process of enslavement of the inferior and superior alike (Fanon, 1967).

Authors argue that recent discussions of "decolonizing" movements within anthropology bring to the fore the need of incorporating the minimal application of humanistic scholarship from African Diaspora to the study of human biology (Harrison 1991, 2016; Watkins 2017) which will in turn enable a more firm approach to the authentic talk and respect towards spirituality.