should statues be removed uk

“In our democracy, if one wishes to change the urban landscape, this should be done through the democratic process,” he wrote. “The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation,” said the California Democrat in … The toppling of statues by anti-racism protesters is justified according to this caller, and he argued that such monuments would be removed if white people were offended by them. In a three-page letter, Dowden said heritage should be used to educate people about all aspects of Britain’s morally complex past, “rather than airbrushing history”. Soames told the Daily Telegraph the incident, in which the word “racist” was scrawled on the monument, suggested British society had “lost its compass”. One letter writer to the Times said: "We need not be proud of a man who, for all his professional skill and dedication, committed the force to acts of destruction devoid of direct military value, of which people of humane and Christian sentiments have long been bitterly ashamed. Rhodes believed the English were a "master race" and he was instrumental in the seizure of swathes of African land. The 17th Century businessman and MP was a key figure in the Royal African Company and the transport of many thousands of slaves. "I think it is a process, rather than the actual removal, starting a debate about collective values. The plans were thwarted, however, dozens of local people, some in Scout uniforms, surrounded the statue. Other statue subjects have been controversial from the start. The 1992 unveiling of a statue of Arthur "Bomber" Harris, head of the RAF's Bomber Command in World War Two, created a wave of protest, culminating in sustained vandalism. His sister Emma Soames said she had been shocked to see the statue boarded up, but that she understood why it had been necessary. Video, QAnon in disarray after Biden inauguration, Trump 'prank-called by Piers Morgan impersonator', Canada governor general quits amid bullying claims, Anger at Margaret Court's Order of Australia award, Senegalese student sorry after vanishing in France, Australian Open player with Covid 'sorry' over row, Russia detains Navalny aides as protests go viral, pro-Russian protesters rushed to protect statues at risk of being torn down, a row is rumbling on in Bristol over the commemoration of Edward Colston, intense controversy over whether the statue should be removed. © 2021 BBC. Earlier, this year the #RhodesMustFall movement succeeded in getting the statue of the diamond tycoon and imperialist removed from the University of Cape Town. But he also stands accused of leading massacres in Ireland. The statue of Edward Colston, which was rolled into Bristol harbour, has since been removed by local authorities and taken to a … Imperialist, businessman and politician who played a dominant role in southern Africa in the late 19th Century, driving the annexation of vast swathes of land, Born the son of a vicar in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, in 1853, first went to Africa at the age of 17; grew cotton with his brother in Natal, but moved into diamond mining, founding De Beers, which until recently controlled the global trade, Rhodes's bequest continues to finance scholarships bearing his name, allowing overseas students to come to Oxford University; most famous of these was probably Bill Clinton, Controversial even in his own time, Rhodes backed the disastrous Jameson Raid of 1895, in which a small British force tried to overthrow the gold-rich Transvaal Republic, helping prompt the Second Boer War, in which tens of thousands died. The toppling of a statue of 17th century slave owner Edward Colston in Bristol yesterday has sparked calls for other monuments with links to Britain's colonial past to be removed "The statue represents what is wrong with society." The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Street names could also not be changed without the formal consent of two-thirds of residents who live on the street. .css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link{color:inherit;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:focus,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:focus{color:#B80000;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link::after,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited::after{content:'';position:absolute;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0;z-index:2;}Jonathan Hutchinson/Flickr, Republicans seek delay 'to give Trump fair trial'. Calls have been made to remove statues across the UK that commemorate Britain’s slave trade history (Picture: PA/Getty) Calls to remove statues across the UK … A UK minister first announced the decision in op-ed in the Telegraph on Sunday, in which he argued that public monuments … And there is an argument that removing statues has the potential to harm our understanding of history. But the movement against his statue was aimed at wider targets - continuing domination of education by white academics and generally addressing the lack of change in modern South Africa. One letter writer to the Daily Telegraph argued: "The trouble… is that almost every person of that era held opinions that were commonplace at the time but are at odds with modern thinking. 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That is why the statue is there. A statue of Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell will be removed from a quayside in Dorset, southern England, as the UK continues to reckon with monuments of its imperialist past. The home secretary, Priti Patel, called for the statue in Parliament Square to be uncovered immediately and criticised the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, for boarding it up. A century later a group of MPs campaigned to have it melted down. .css-14iz86j-BoldText{font-weight:bold;}Activists are campaigning for a statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed from an Oxford college. People weren’t looking at the entire record of people when they put up statues to them. Campaigners say these UK statues with links to racism and slavery should be removed - see the full list. While the statues of Rhodes may be disappearing from South Africa, the giant Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria has remained and - despite its background of Afrikaner nationalism being associated with the later rise of apartheid - been tolerated as a slice of history and an opportunity to discuss the wrongs as well as the rights of bygone eras. Dowden tweeted: “As Culture Sec I would like us to use heritage to educate people about all aspects of Britain’s complex past, good and bad, rather than airbrushing history.”. A statue of the slave owner and philanthropist Edward Colston was torn down and thrown into Bristol harbour while a monument to Robert Milligan, an 18th Century Scottish merchant, was removed … Historic England gave the government its full backing, and said it was against the removal of “contested heritage”. "I do also take the point that if you look at many of the people celebrated in statues, they have been responsible for death and destruction," says Dresser. Calls have been made to remove statues across the UK that commemorate Britain’s slave trade history (Picture: PA/Getty) Calls to remove statues across … "It's better on the whole to keep the statues but to recontextualise them.". The US is undergoing a cultural battle over symbols of the Confederate era that has seen .css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link{color:#3F3F42;}.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited{font-weight:700;border-bottom:1px solid #BABABA;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link:hover,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited:hover,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link:focus,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited:focus{border-bottom-color:currentcolor;border-bottom-width:2px;color:#B80000;}@supports (text-underline-offset:0.25em){.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited{border-bottom:none;-webkit-text-decoration:underline #BABABA;text-decoration:underline #BABABA;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-skip-ink:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;text-underline-offset:0.25em;}.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link:hover,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited:hover,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:link:focus,.css-1xgj2ad-InlineLink:visited:focus{-webkit-text-decoration-color:currentcolor;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:2px;text-decoration-thickness:2px;color:#B80000;}}a statue of Jefferson Davis removed from the University of Texas-Austin. Contentious memorials teach about about Britain’s morally complex past, minister says, Last modified on Sat 13 Jun 2020 17.23 BST. debate over the future of hundreds of statues and monuments. The UK government could make it more difficult for local authorities to take down public monuments to controversial historical figures. Leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters Julius Malema said: "It is through collapsing of these types of symbols that the white minority will begin to appreciate that there's nothing superior about them.". In Moscow the Muzeon sculpture park is known as “the graveyard of Soviet-era statues”. It was later among the statues boarded up before planned anti-racism protests in London. The UK government has come under fire for plans to introduce a law protecting statues from being removed ‘on a whim or at the behest of a baying mob’. The demonstration was organised by the Rhodes Must Fall campaign group and came after activists identified 60 UK statues they want removed for 'celebrating slavery and racism' as … Dowden said in the letter that many of the monuments were listed and could not be removed without planning permission via a quasi-judicial process. “I find it extraordinary that millions and millions of people all over the world who look up to Britain will be astonished that a statue of Churchill and the Cenotaph, our national war memorial, could have been defaced in this disgusting way,” he said. In the UK, a row is rumbling on in Bristol over the commemoration of Edward Colston. “It feels like a society that has lost its compass.”. switch to the UK edition switch to the Australia edition ... his spokesman was ambiguous as to whether he believed no statues should be removed under any circumstances. If they did, we would be living in a country of empty plinths, I think.”. View a PDF version of this topic guide here.. INTRODUCTION. UK statues which anti-racism protesters want to have taken down. The statue of slave owner Robert Milligan in London has already been taken down, while there are plans to temporarily remove the monument for Robert Baden-Powell, the … The legacy of slavery, imperialism and race aren't the only reasons for campaigning against a statue. UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said new legal protections mean that historic statues should be “retained and explained” for future generations and individuals who want to remove any historic statue, whether protected with a “listed” status or not, will now require listed building consent or planning permission. Removal of “ contested heritage ” it 's better on the whole to keep the statues up. It more difficult for local authorities to take down public monuments to who., the vehicle that got a village smiling soon followed statues and.... 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