Student union leaders scrub ‘racist’ Kipling poem off wall
University of Manchester students removed the poem ‘If ’, saying its author represented oppression
HE WAS once regarded as one of England’s greatest writers, whose poems were taken to the nation’s hearts and whose books were lauded as classics of children’s literature.
But it appears that Rudyard Kipling has fallen out of favour with today’s generation of students, after it emerged that his poem If has been scrubbed off a university building over claims he was a “racist”.
Student leaders at the University of Manchester declared that Kipling “stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment, and human rights”.
The poem, which had been painted on the wall of the students’ union building by an artist, was removed by students on Tuesday, in a bid to “reclaim” history on behalf of those who had been “oppressed” by “the likes of Kipling”.
In lieu of Kipling’s If, students used a black marker pen to write out the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou on the same stretch of wall.
Sara Khan, the liberation and access officer at Manchester’s students’ union (SU), blamed a “failure to consult students” during the renovation of the SU building for the Kipling poem being painted on the wall in the first place.
“We, as an exec team, believe that Kipling stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment, and human rights – the things that we, as an SU, stand for,” Miss Khan said.
Fatima Abid, general secretary of the students’ union, said that after seeing the Kipling poem, student leaders decided within an hour that it must be removed. “God knows, black and brown voices have been written out of history enough, and it’s time we try to reverse that – at the very least in our union,” she said.
The university declined to comment. Kipling, who was one of the most popular writers in the country during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, remains the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
A pioneer of the short story, his books, including Just So Stories and The Jungle Book, are regarded as classics.
But he fell out of favour during the late 20th century, when he was seen as an apologist for colonialism.
Kipling, who was born in Bombay, has been attacked for writing from a British colonialist perspective, with some of his most famous works accused of having racist overtones.
However, Andrew Lycett, Kipling’s biographer, has told how the poet is enjoying something of a revival among a new generation of researchers who have moved beyond the “knee jerk” and have a “wider perspective of the world”.
Lycett said there is “no doubt” that Kipling was a reactionary, but added that his views should be seen in the context of his day. “If you want to know about India in the late 19th century, Kipling is a great place to start.”
It comes as the head of the higher education watchdog says that universities should be places where students encounter “uncomfortable” ideas.
Sir Michael Barber added that debating different views and opinions is a “fundamental part” of higher education and should be encouraged.
‘God knows, black and brown voices have been written out of history enough, and it’s time to reverse that’