Larkin put on secret council racism list of ‘statues of concern’
PHILIP LARKIN has been cited in a racism review carried out by a council after officials said they could not be seen to be doing “nothing” in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.
Emails seen by The Sunday Telegraph shared among Hull City Council staff show they began compiling a list of “major statues of concern” in the city, fearing a backlash if they did not act.
Officials stressed the list, carried out “behind the scenes”, would only be made public if they were approached.
But the poet’s name being on the list provoked outrage among his supporters last night.
His biographer James Booth said: “Anyone who reads only Larkin’s published poems will find no trace of racism.”
Larkin, who died ed in 1985, was honoured with a statue in Hull in 2010. 0. He moved there in 1955, 5, and worked as a librarian while penning verse for which he was invited to become Poet Laureate.
He was part of the mid-century “Movement” of writers along with his friend Kinglsey Amis, and rose to prominence with The Whitsun Weddings and the poem An Arundel Tomb, which is often studied in UK schools.
But seven years after his death in 1992, publication of his correspondence, Selected L Letters, revealed his personal view views on race and use of racial epithets, epithe including stating there we were “too many f–––––– n––––– n–––––– about”.
Of Officials warned that a raci racism review of Larkin coul could cause a backlash, and ask asked colleagues to “tread ca carefully” as holding u unpalatable views “does n not equate to being a sl slave trader”. Dissenting staff stated that: “Lumping Larkin into any discussion about slave trading etc is not helpful to anyone.”
His statue was added to an initial list of monuments, including those for Mahatma Gandhi, William III and Andrew Marvell. Zachariah Pearson, who tried to trade cotton with the slaveowning Confederate States, was also named, as was Queen Victoria.
Council officials told colleagues: “It is important we are reviewing things behind the scenes. We are not publicising any of this unless directly approached as [I] agree sometimes raising an issue creates the problem. But if asked, and we said we had done nothing, I think [it] would raise concerns in the current climate.”
Council staff stated that Larkin was a “complicated” figure who many in Hull “recall with affection” for his time working at the Brynmor Jones Library.
Others argued: “Views unpalatable to us may not detract from achievements.”
There will be centenary celebrations of Larkin’s birth next year.