by Laura
Lai/Essay
According to the results of Prof. Nick Wilson these attacks against statues are not a novelty with the Black Lives Matter movement, but they have been existing since the 1930s. Although he relates this aggressively attitude with the past injustices, it may also be the fact that some segments of the population may feel offended to pass by ‘carved’ representations of a political or military historical figure that did not treat their keens fairly. During the debate around the controversial statues there were also a parallel made with the nazi Germany and the reasons why there are no statues of the leader of the Nationalist-Socialist Party in Germany, Adolf Hitler. For the same reasons there are no statues of communist leaders in Eastern Europe or for the same reasons there are not statues of Saddam Hussein, etc.
There are documentaries in which young Germans from poor families were helped by the Nationalist-Socialist Party to go school, to have a meal without knowing that later there would be asked to enroll in the army. There may also be people remembering the urbanization that Ceausescu (Romanian dictator) did, or others praising the way a dictator like S. Hussein kept a religiously diverse country together. Furthermore, the Oxford Dictionary explains that a statue is a ‘sculpture’, ‘figure’, ‘effigy’, ‘statuette’, ‘figurine’, ‘idol’. Therefore, there is no room for such ‘idols’ in a democracy. A statue of Adolf Hitler would not only remind the past injustices, but it would also be disrespectful towards the victims and those who survived. The Blacks are by no means different: besides the long period of historical injustice, then the long struggle for rights and integration, they also have to pass daily by carved representations of some people that did their ancestors lots of harm by enslaving them and God knows what other atrocities.
And once removed what shall we do with them? If there is something I truly love about democracy are the freedom to express our ideas and their free circulation. Sometimes there are so many ideas as heads are. I would not place my opinion to the extreme of melting them, for example, because that would mean to delete culture – in a way. Whatever carved figure it had been done by artists, usually talented ones. Therefore, melting a controversial statue would mean to delete the cultural work of an artist – definitely hard work, more or less paid. Besides, there are documentaries, pictures, artifacts, etc. from different dictatorial times since the Roman Empire. They are part of history. Nobody can delete or change history. History must be remembered in order not to repeat the same mistakes again. Colonialism is a historical time period in the colonial powers’ history, as well as in the history of the colonies. All the removed controversial statues can be placed in a history museum or in a museum of racism as some suggested. In which concerns the question of with what/whom to be replaced, I am convinced that people do not lack ideas and suggestions.
In conclusion, the struggle of the Afro-American people is a long struggle for being recognized as a person, then as a citizen with the right to vote and a struggle for integration in the majority nation-building process, as they do not have any country but the United States and they do not speak any other language but the majority language that is English. The tragic death of the Afro-American George Floyd brought up the injustices and the discriminations that the Black community had to bare so far. The participation of all races to the Black Lives Matter protests all around the world ignoring even the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic (when there is not vaccine yet) shows a world solidarity for the Black community. It also shows that a great deal of people do not agree with the idea of ‘race superiority’. I do not even understand it: Let us only remember that the doctrine of the Nationalist-Socialist Party was based on ‘race superiority’. And in the name of the ‘race superiority’ doctrine a nazi government made of white people killed Jews… who were also white! Logically, it is a nonsense, unless it was just an excuse to kill innocent people, because we are all (regardless of age, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation) innocent until proved guilty. But the American judicial system has some unfortunate examples of Black people who served many years in prison although innocent. Black Lives Matter world movement is a collective voicing that this is not the society we aspire to and a public demand for a change.
Many protesters asked the removal of controversial statues and some local councils started removing them (in Hamilton (New Zealand), in Oxford (UK) the statue of Cecil Rhodes). History can never be outdated. It must definitely be remembered so that the same mistakes not to be repeated again. That is the reason why a decision to melt the statues would mean to delete the hard work of artists and would mean deleting culture. But their relocation to a national history museums or a newly created museum of racism – as some suggested – would make history remembered and culture not deleted. As for what to replace them with, there are no worries that the world lacks ideas. Democracy encourages the free expression of ideas and their free circulation until better choices are made. An assessment of all the controversial ones is necessary as those glorifying racism do not correspond anymore to the values of the current multicultural societies we have become and that we aspire to by constantly improving together. (the end)
― ‘Statement from the University on Anti-Racism’. June 15th, 2020. Website. http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-06-15-statement-university-anti-racism
Anderson, Charles. ‘City of Hamilton in New Zealand Removes Statue of British Naval Captain’. The Guardian. June 11th, 2020. Website. https://www.msn.com/en-xl/australasia/australasia-top-stories/city-of-hamilton-in-new-zealand-removes-statue-of-british-naval-captain/ar-BB15nBsu?li=BBKxOg5&ocid=mailsignout#image=BB14RQOP|93
Bond, Jordan. ‘Statues of historical and political figures more likely to be vandalised – Study’. RNZ. June 17th, 2020. Website.
Cruse, Ellena. ‘Two Women Arrested after Statue of British Explorer James Cook Vandalized in Sydney’. EveningStandard. June 15th, 2020. Website. https://www.msn.com/en-xl/australasia/top-stories/two-women-arrested-after-statue-of-british-explorer-james-cook-vandalised-in-sydney/ar-BB15sSIR?ocid=mailsignout
Kymlicka, Will and Opalski, Magda (eds.). Can Liberal Pluralism Be Exported? Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Osborne, Samuel. ‘Cecil Rhodes: Oxford University to Remove Statue of Imperialist after Anti-Racism Protests’. The Independent. June 18th, 2020. Website. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rhodes-statue-down-oxford-university-black-lives-matter-a9571896.html
Radio LBC on https://www.globalplayer.com/live/lbc/uk/
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