Judging the past Rural Ramblings
Political correctness. The definition is: “The avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.” I’m absolutely fine with trying to live up to those heady goals. I stress, try, for I think that most of us would struggle to achieve all of it. We should have done it years ago. I do wonder though that sometimes we’re so worried abut upsetting someone or some group that something doesn’t get done and thus upsets another group or person.
I also wonder how some people, or some organisations can blatantly say what they like, do what they like, upset anyone and any group they like and get away with it just because of who they are. Now, we’re worried about people and what they represented sometimes hundreds of years ago and removing their statues. What comes next? Editing the history books?
I have to say I’m not a fan of statues and monuments glorifying people anyway. However, if they’re there and part of the normal landscape does removing them make any difference to what they did? Taking down the statue of John A MacDonald does not change a thing. Good things and bad things. Canada’s first Prime Minister and one of the architects of the residential school system.
Perhaps worse is the founder of Halifax, Edward Cornwallis. Cornwallis put a bounty on Mi’kmaq scalps. He did more before then. Cornwallis was a British military officer and served in the 1745 campaign putting down the Scottish rebellion. After Culloden he was given a regiment to “pacify” the north. Cornwallis was apparently ordered to bring in no further prisoners. I read Cornwallis instructed his soldiers to chase off livestock and destroy crops and food stores. And, against Cornwallis’s orders some of his soldiers also raped and murdered non- combatants. Brutal men for brutal times. I expect that if you put Cornwallis, MacDonald or any other famous leader on the stand they would say they were doing their job.
Haven’t we got enough things to worry about with living people than to devote endless run time to dead people and their monuments? How about an explanatory notice, an inexpensive one, near the monument saying just what these people did, good, bad and in-between. Let people judge for themselves. If we, collectively, continue to take down statues and monuments based on judging political correctness I fear there will be none left at all. Editing history so to speak. Let it go and work for the living and those to come. The past is already set but we can change the future.