Slave trader plaque airbrushed out of Cambridge publicity video
A CAMBRIDGE University promotional video has airbrushed away a slave trader plaque after a college had lost a legal battle to remove it.
The clip, posted on the university’s official Facebook page on Monday, showed a guided tour of Jesus College – but a plaque of Tobias Rustat that hangs on the chapel wall was notably absent.
Instead a blurry grey mark attempted to airbrush the memorial to the major benefactor, who invested in the Royal African Company in the 17th century.
It comes after a consistory court hearing in March refused the college permission to relocate the plaque from its central position in the Grade I-listed chapel, after Cambridge dons united to defeat the move. The college had asked the Diocese of Ely if the plaque could be moved, but were told by a judge that their concern rested on a “false narrative” about the source of his wealth.
The airbrushed video, titled “Come to the Cambridge Undergraduate Open Days 2022!” was swiftly removed from the University of Cambridge Facebook page after racking up thousands of views in several hours, student newspaper Varsity reported. A university spokesman said: “A video was posted in error on our social media channels and we have taken it down while we investigate further.”
However, it has reignited a backlash from dons. Prof David Abulafia, a Cambridge historian, said: “This is straight out of the Soviet rule book. Rustat joins Trotsky in being obliterated.”
He was among a group of leading scholars to oppose the proposal to remove the plaque, which was backed by Sonita Alleyne, the Jesus College master and the first black leader of an Oxbridge college.
The college had claimed the plaque is a “serious obstacle” to its ability to provide “a safe space for secular College functions”. It opted not to appeal against the ecclesiastical court’s ruling, which cost college chiefs £120,000, but criticised the Church of England for not “understanding” black Britons.