Tuesday 9 June 2020

Embarrassing statues


Although I studied a little bit of history at tertiary level, and have taught it from time to time, I hadn't heard of Edward Colston until this weekend.  I've known since childhood of course that William Wilberforce of Hull, and therefore a Yorkshireman,  led the movement to abolish the slave trade.  

I've also known since childhood that:

"In fourteen hundred and ninety-two
 Columbus sailed the ocean blue" 

and so "discovered" America. I've only realised this weekend, by coincidence and from the book I am reading at the moment,* that he too was a slaver.  I presume there are  statues to him in Genoa, and probably in the Americas too.

So one of the lessons of the weekend is that we need a thorough revision of our school history syllabuses to include at least some of the "bad " bits as well as the "good" bits.

This is easier said than done.

 There's a lot of history and no-one's lifetime is long enough to get a grip on all of it.

A few years ago a Conservative politician (I think it was Sir Keith Joseph, not  a Yorkshireman but parachuted into a Leeds constituency) argued that we should cut out the "clutter" from the history syllabuses and just teach the important bits.  

He then went on to cite  such as (I generalise from memory here) the battles of Hastings, Bosworth, Trafalgar and Waterloo, Henry VIII and his wives and the shenanigans of various other monarchs, much  of which many social historians regarded as clutter, crowding out the time to be spent on how ordinary people actually lived and struggled  to improve their conditions.

For the "bad" bits of the UK's more recent  history I offer for consideration the Irish  Potato Famine and the Opium Wars with China, and as questionable, management of Indian independence.

As to statues of people considered great in their time but whose activities are now regarded as unaceptable, the former satellite countries of the Soviet Union have some experience.  I believe some designate an area  as a history park  and transfer such statues and other memorials there.  

We could have several of these in the UK, and local people could  debate what should and shouldn't be moved there. This should generate lively discussion contrasting the "good " things  the local eminence did with the methods used to achieve them.  Once a decision has been made there should be no further debate for 20 years. A democratic outlet such as this for people's feelings would avoid the need for vandalism.  

Once moved to the "park" information boards could be erected near the statue with the pros and cons of the person's life.  These would become an invaluable resource for the education of both young and old.

*  Human Kind, Rutger Bregman, p 94

17 comments:

  1. I've only realised this weekend, by coincidence and from the book I am reading at the moment,* that he too was a slaver.

    Of course he was. Everyone in almost every society before the British and US abolitionist movements in the eighteenth century was a slaver (or, well, a slave). Slavery was only abolished in Mauritania in 1981; in Saudi Arabia in 1962. Niger in 1960.

    Historically societies which have abolished slavery are very much the exception, not the norm.

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    Replies
    1. (And apparently slavery is only de jure abolished in Mauritania; de facto it is still thriving: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/08/the-unspeakable-truth-about-slavery-in-mauritania )

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  2. We could have several of these in the UK, and local people could debate what should and shouldn't be moved there. This should generate lively discussion contrasting the "good " things the local eminence did with the methods used to achieve them. Once a decision has been made there should be no further debate for 20 years. A democratic outlet such as this for people's feelings would avoid the need for vandalism.

    Don't we already have local councils to take these kinds of democratic decisions? Or do you mean there should be local referendums, and those would settle the matter?

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    Replies
    1. You're quite right: local councils can do this and some are now doing so. However, I do feel that this is one of the subjects which would be suitable for local referendums: they would certainly provoke more discussion, of considerable educational value, so the more people who are involved the better.

      It would be difficult to define and electorate for the memorials in prominent places in London (For example, whether Clive of India should retain a place in Parliament Square is a matter for more than the burgesses of Westminster. But as a general rule I would want to go for the maximum of local involvement.

      I have not argued that the democratic decision, however achieved, should "settle the matter" for ever: just 20 years.

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  3. If we really must have statues - and I'm not at all sure why we should or who started the whole idea (Greeks?) - I have previously suggested that we have plastic ones that can easily be moved around according to prevailing popular tastes.
    (In my far-from-extensive research on this topic, I was interested to see that only Belarus still seems to have a stack of Lenin statues around.)

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  4. I'd be interested in data on Stalin statues if you have any.

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  5. Just consulting Wikipedia...not sure that he's still around, (Georgia, surely?) but the one with Stalin waist-deep in water in The Netherlands sounds interesting. I used to take directions from Lenin in Kiev (!), but recently I have put up with him in the Workers Museum in Copenhagen, (Not sure he was still there last time I looked.)
    (Weather presenters have always annoyed me, so I'm not surprised that Stalin started his career as a meteorologist.)

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    Replies
    1. OK, when I say "take directions", I meant that the Lenin statue was a landmark. I never "platformed" with him.

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  6. Thanks: I didn't know that Stalin was a meteorologist. Could be useful. Richard Wainwright the late great Liberal MP for Colne valley argued that politicians needed to "catch the wind." At the moment the wind in very much blowing in favour of tackling racism. We should not let the moment pass.

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