MP calls for renaming of high school
Gladstone Secondary bears name of former British prime minister whose family owned slaves
If the University of Liverpool can disown one of its own because he defended slavery, a Vancouver MP wonders if the Vancouver school district can do the same and change the name of Gladstone Secondary.
In Liverpool, the university is renaming a building named after William Gladstone, a native of the Merseyside port city who was a four-time prime minister of the U.K. between 1868 and 1894.
Gladstone used his maiden speech in the British Parliament and several other opportunities to oppose the movement to abolish slavery because his family owned human beings on their plantations in the Caribbean.
“I think the Vancouver school board should take the same action,” Don Davies said of Gladstone Secondary, which sits in his Vancouver-Kingsway riding.
“The times we’re in right now, we’ve got a lot of public attention on racism, particularly against the Black community, and it’s a good time to examine whether we should be naming institutions of higher learning after people associated with odious policies.”
The Vancouver school district would need a formal request before starting the process to rename a school, a spokeswoman said. Proposals to re-name a school are considered only in cases where the existing name is deemed to no longer serve the needs of the school population or the community, she said.
She also noted that new schools are being named in recognition of place names traditionally used by local Indigenous Peoples. Dual naming will be considered in new schools in both English and hən̓ q̓ əmin̓ əm̓ , she said.
Gladstone Secondary has a mural on its north side that celebrates cultural diversity.
The school opened in 1950, and has a code of conduct known as RESPECT — respect, empathy, safety, positive attitude, excellence, caring, teamwork. The school’s motto, By Faith and By Courage, was the Gladstone family motto. The family got rich through Caribbean plantations worked by slaves, an associate professor of history at UBC said.
“Gladstone’s father, John, was a Liverpool merchant who, by 1833, was one of the largest enslavers in the British West Indies,” said Joy Dixon, who is associate head of the history department.
“William E. Gladstone was financially dependent on his father during his early political career and, during his early career as an MP, he dedicated himself to protecting the financial interests of men like his father.”
In later years, he came to oppose slavery, but never unequivocally or enthusiastically, Dixon said.
As the mother of a high school student, she feels a change would be good.
“It’s important what we say and what we value in terms of what we commemorate. This is an important opportunity for us to change the stories we tell and who we put at the centre of them,” she said.
The MP for the school’s riding said he would like to see a contest for the community to come up with a new name.
“I know history can be nuanced and I think sometimes it’s difficult to draw a line, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t draw one,” Davies said. “And I think certainly for people who are associated with particularly odious policies, or crimes against humanity, it’s a pretty safe assertion to make that we shouldn’t have those people’s names gracing institutions of higher learning.”
He said few city high schools are named after women.
“There are tons and tons of really worthwhile people who are Canadian, who are not associated with these dark chapters in human history, who are uplifting and inspiring and are associated with the better angels among us.”