An Oxford college might remove a statue of the 19th Century politician Cecil Rhodes giving in to a student anti-racism campaign.I'm quite serious. Who in history is worthy of a statue?
The students have claimed hat honouring Rhodes is not compatible with an “inclusive culture” at the university...
The college says it doesn’t “condone his racist views or actions”.
I'm OK with a "warts and all" approach to learning history, what I don't like is the "only the warts" approach, as if everyone in history is no more than the sum of their mistakes--mistakes by our standards, not by the standards of their day.
Dangit. I was hoping that Brits, living as they do with a couple of thousand (or more) years of history in evidence all around them, would be more sensible than this. They're gonna have to rename EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand the sudden mania for renaming things and excising people from history. If Woodrow Wilson's name gets taken off a building, will that mean all that stuff never happened and everything was always great? Personally, I prefer not to pretend history didn't happen. (And if I were a black Yalie living in Calhoun Hall, I'd think "Ha, in your FACE. I won." every time I entered the building.)
Your last point is exactly what I, as a coin collector, think when I look at Nazi or Soviet or East German money :-)
ReplyDeleteHeh. I have a similar stamp collection!
ReplyDeleteDo you object to people in eastern Europe taking down statues of Marx and Lenin?
ReplyDeleteNo more so than removing statues of Hitler.
ReplyDeleteI see and respect your point, but there's more difference in what you're suggesting that just mere degree.