Destroying our heritage is a step too far
A SHORT while back we saw reports of the statue of a famous slaver in Bristol being knocked down and chucked in a river by an anti-racist mob.
There have been further reports of other statues being removed, based on the idea these statues are a celebration of racism.
Although I greatly sympathise with this political action, I think these demonstrators are wrong. Archaeology is known to be the pinnacle of the historical record, for example Stonehenge or Hadrian’s Wall.
This is also because the written record is less reliable. The pyramids in Egypt teach us more about the ancient world than mythology. Archaeology is primary and the written record is secondary. When you destroy archaeology, you destroy history. This statue is evidence of the racists in government at the time, it is also evidence of the connection between early capitalism and slavery.
I don’t see how this is necessarily a celebration. Auschwitz is not a celebration of Nazi Germany. And if Auschwitz was destroyed holocaust denial would gain strength. If Hut 9 in Bridgend was demolished then the history of the Second World War would lose an important source. You could just as easily claim Roman statues are a celebration of crucifixion and slavery or the pyramids in Peru a celebration of human blood sacrifice. Any society that does not remember its past is doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
Maybe a better idea would be to tastefully deface it, or modify it in a politically correct way – such as decapitation. The historical record is priceless and should be treated as such.
Mr J Bucke Cefn Glas, Bridgend