Rhodes....South Africa
- Thread starter Hedgehog
- Start date
Maybe a history they choose to forget, but those of us who know, realize it is a deep and rich history.
Maybe a history they choose to forget, but those of us who know, realize it is a deep and rich history.
And those of us that don't, are mostly clueless. 
It's being a bit simplistic with the CJ Rhodes statue issue ... nobody's forgetting history, but maybe having statues that glorify individuals that exploited the abusive colonial system, instigated wars, who's minions murdered and pillaged their way through what is now Zimbabwe/Zambia, created with the mining bosses the incredibly dehumanising migrant miner labour system and the pass system that was basically a blueprint for the apartheid system... maybe students who are inheritors of the abuses of that system and the social inequalities and economic hangovers of said system, might not want to be reminded of such individuals in places of prominence?
Don't forget... places like India and Ireland also were not too keen to retain monuments to Empire ... also, not too many statues in USA of King George III after independence from the British.
It's an issue too simple to reduce to social media tweets and facebook posts.
http://www.citypress.co.za/columnists/getting-the-last-laugh/
Don't forget... places like India and Ireland also were not too keen to retain monuments to Empire ... also, not too many statues in USA of King George III after independence from the British.
It's an issue too simple to reduce to social media tweets and facebook posts.
http://www.citypress.co.za/columnists/getting-the-last-laugh/
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Very interesting Article Rico, Justice Albert ‘Albie’ Sachs seems like a wise man with good constructive ideas
Quote...
We weren’t just acquiring knowledge and skills at UCT. We were learning about how to express ourselves, what it meant to be a human being and how best to struggle for a better society. Just like today.
At that time, I would have supported melting down the statue and selling the bronze to support scholarships for students from the Eastern Cape and Zimbabwe. Today, I feel there is a much more meaningful and creative way to go. Instead of extinguishing Rhodes, we should keep him alive on the campus and force him, even if posthumously, to witness surroundings that tell him and the world that he is now living in a constitutional democracy. Unquote
I have been to South Africa many times, Robin Island, Jo-Burg, Cape Town, and the Garden Route, such a lovely Country
I am hoping that the History will be maintained be it bad or not it is still the countries History as you point out with other parts of the world, you can hide all the statues and any thing related but it will never take away the countries History.
Quote...
We weren’t just acquiring knowledge and skills at UCT. We were learning about how to express ourselves, what it meant to be a human being and how best to struggle for a better society. Just like today.
At that time, I would have supported melting down the statue and selling the bronze to support scholarships for students from the Eastern Cape and Zimbabwe. Today, I feel there is a much more meaningful and creative way to go. Instead of extinguishing Rhodes, we should keep him alive on the campus and force him, even if posthumously, to witness surroundings that tell him and the world that he is now living in a constitutional democracy. Unquote
I have been to South Africa many times, Robin Island, Jo-Burg, Cape Town, and the Garden Route, such a lovely Country
I am hoping that the History will be maintained be it bad or not it is still the countries History as you point out with other parts of the world, you can hide all the statues and any thing related but it will never take away the countries History.