Wall of Shame

Not to be confused with Walk of shame.

"Wall of Shame" (German: Schandmauer) is a phrase that is most commonly associated with the Berlin Wall.^[1] In this context, the phrase was coined by Willy Brandt, and it was used by the government of West Berlin, and later popularized in the English-speaking world and elsewhere from the beginning of the 1960s. Inspired by its usage in reference to the Berlin Wall, the term has later been used more widely.

The Berlin Wall seen from the western side in the 1980s, with memorials to known and unknown victims

For example, the term "Wall of Shame" can be applied to things, including physical barriers (walls, fences, etc.) serving dishonourable or disputed separation purposes (like the Berlin Wall and the American border wall), physical and virtual bulletin boards listing names or images for purposes of shaming, and even lists in print (i.e., walls of text naming people, companies, etc. for the purpose of shaming them, or as record of embarrassment).

Additionally, "Wall of Shame" may be a significant part in the building of a "Hall of Shame", although, more often, a "Wall of Shame" is a monument in its own right (i.e., a wall not having been erected as part of any "Hall of Shame" endeavour). More recently, the term "Wall of Shame" has been used in reference to the Mexico–United States barrier,^[2] the Egypt–Gaza barrier,^[3] the Israeli West Bank barrier^[4] and Moroccan Western Sahara Wall.^[5]

Applied to Japanese culture

The earliest use of the term, which is a translation of a Japanese phrase, may have been by Ruth Benedict, in her influential book, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1948), and other anthropologists discussing the honor shame culture of Japan.^[6]

Applied to the Berlin Wall

Willy Brandt coined the term Wall of Shame in reference to the Berlin Wall.

The term was used by the government of West Berlin to refer to the Berlin Wall, which surrounded West Berlin and separated it from East Berlin and the GDR. In 1961, the government of East Germany named the erected wall as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart", a part of the inner German border; many Berliners, however, called it "Schandmauer" ("Wall of Shame").

The term was coined by governing mayor Willy Brandt.^[7] Outside Germany it first appeared as "Wall of Shame" in a cover story published by TIME in 1962,^[8] and President of the United States John F. Kennedy used the term in his Annual Message to the US Congress on the State of the Union, 14 January 1963.^[9] Often, graffiti would be painted on points, where a street would intersect with the wall, often reading, "Road blocked by Wall of Shame".

The Berlin Wall was referred to as the "Wall of Shame" in many more recent notable contexts, such as:

• The academic article, "The Democratic Invention", by Mário Soares, former Prime Minister and later President of Portugal (1986–1996)^[10]
• The "Our Europe" speech by Jacques Chirac, President of France, to the Bundestag, 27 June 2000^[11]
• A speech in 2002 by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the European Commission^[12][13]

Other uses

• In 1998, UNIFEM organized a photo exhibit at the United Nations that contrasted a "wall of shame", focusing on women's plight and suffering, with a "wall of hope", showcasing initiatives to end violence against women.^[14]
• An academic paper by M. Lachance (York University) talks about the Quebec "wall of shame".^[15]
• Peru's "Wall of Shame", a ten-foot (3.0 m) high wall outside Lima, separating squatter areas in San Juan de Miraflores and Surco.^[16]
• The 2016 separation wall around the Ain al-Hilweh camp in Lebanon, intended to separate the local Palestinian-Lebanese population from the surrounding society.^[17]
• The Egypt–Gaza barrier^[3]
• The Israeli West Bank barrier^[4]
• The Mexico–United States barrier^[2]

See also

• The Shame

References

1. Greinacher, Uso (1991). The Wall of Shame: The Berlin Wall. University of California, Berkeley.
2. "Walls of Shame: The US-Mexico Border Wall". Al Jazeera. 10 July 2016.
3. "Egypt's barrier along Gaza border called 'wall of shame'". Los Angeles Times. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
4. "General Assembly Adopts Text Requesting International Court Of Justice To Issue Advisory Opinion On West Bank Separation Wall". Un.org. 8 December 2003.
5. "The wall of shame has negative economic, environmental, political and social consequences (Bucharaya Beyun)". www.spsrasd.info. 2 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020.
6. Modell, Judith (1999). "The Wall of Shame: Ruth Benedict's Accomplishment in "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"". Dialectical Anthropology. 24 (2): 193–215. doi:10.1023/A:1007039114733. JSTOR 29790601. S2CID 140748109.
7. Julia Sonnevend (2016): Stories Without Borders: The Berlin Wall and the Making of a Global Iconic Event, p. 47, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780190604325
8. "CNN Cold War - First Draft: Title". Archived from the original on 2 May 2006.
9. Peters, Gerhard & Woolley, John T. (14 January 1963). "John F. Kennedy: "Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union."". presidency.ucsb.edu. The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 26 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. Soares, Mário (1999). "The Democratic Invention". Journal of Democracy. 10 (2): 105–112. doi:10.1353/jod.1999.0040. S2CID 153880392.
11. Chirac, Jacques (27 June 2000). "Our Europe" (PDF). The Federal Trust. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
12. "Enlargement -- the final lap" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
13. "Prodi opens door to 10 successful states". The Guardian. 10 October 2002. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
14. Spindel, Cheywa; Levy, Elisa; Connor, Melissa (2000). Judd, Karen (ed.). With an End in Sight: Strategies from the UNIFEM Trust Fund to Eliminate Violence Against Women (PDF). The United Nations Development Fund for Women. ISBN 0-9679502-9-5. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
15. Lachance, M. (2003). "Geographies of protests: spatialities of social movements activities" (PDF). Polson.cals.cornell.edu. York University. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
16. Mervin, John (9 October 2015). "In Peru water is a high price for Lima's poor". BBC News. Retrieved 21 October 2016. At the very top of the hill, is the final insult that Lima adds to the injurious effects of poverty: a wall, ten feet high, garlanded with razor wire. ... They call it the Wall of Shame.
17. "Lebanon begins building 'security wall' around Palestinian refugee camp". The New Arab. 19 November 2016.