No one is more racist than the Liberal Establishment. Its standard charge against uppity blacks is "anti-Semitism", so watch out for that one. And taking an episode of Fawlty Towers off a BBC-owned streaming platform is a classic deflection from having to do anything concrete about its own racism. Do not be distracted by this.
Also, do not be distracted by Boris Johnson's ostentatious "protection" of the Cenotaph or of a statue of Winston Churchill, neither of which was under threat. Although when did anyone last put up a statue of Churchill? He entered the "of his time, and let's just leave it at that" category really quite a long time ago. Does Johnson propose to put up a new statue of Churchill anywhere? Well, there you are, then.
Churchill's views and actions were controversial at the time, just as the slave trade had been. There is no argument that the people in question could not have been expected to know any better. The same is true of Abraham Lincoln, of whom, if the only thing that you know about him is that "he freed the slaves", then you know almost precisely nothing about him.
There is still a popular cult of Lincoln, in the way that there is still a popular of Churchill. But neither of them is anything like what it was, and each of them has exactly the scholarly respectability of the other. There does have to be the lore of the tribe, but even that can work only when most people do not know any better. Evidently, they now do.
In both cases, a lot of them always did. It was just a matter of hearing the political voices of the British working classes and of the children of Empire, of the Native Americans and of the people whom Lincoln had wanted to deport to new American colonies that were to have been created for the purpose in Africa. Well and truly, those voices are being heard now.
And Queen Victoria? Well, the Irish do still call her "The Famine Queen". Desmond Tutu does tell the story of how, when he was taught about the "discovery" of Victoria Falls, he asked whether everyone who had been living around it for thousands of years had been blind. And so on. Arguing that she could not have been blamed for actions performed in her name is really an argument against the monarchy itself.
And Queen Victoria? Well, the Irish do still call her "The Famine Queen". Desmond Tutu does tell the story of how, when he was taught about the "discovery" of Victoria Falls, he asked whether everyone who had been living around it for thousands of years had been blind. And so on. Arguing that she could not have been blamed for actions performed in her name is really an argument against the monarchy itself.
As Peter Hitchens tweeted, blame our comprehensive education system for the fact that the people daubing “slave owner” graffiti on statues of Abraham Lincoln (murdered for ending slavery) and Queen Victoria (when slavery was abolished two years before her rule) evidently have no idea who these people were. You may as well attack William Wilberforce because, while he was the first world leader to abolish slavery, he nonetheless opposed Catholic emancipation.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re a purist looking for a “perfect” historical hero you’ll be hard put to find one.
As Simon Heffer says, these people look at history through the “wrong end of the telescope”-applying today’s PC beliefs to yesterday’s figures.
You are out of your depth.
DeleteThis is what we've lost with reverting to Starmer and the old Blairite order. No-one is saying these vital things any more.
ReplyDeleteI am. I am not saying them in Parliament, but that was the explicit choice of the voters.
DeleteYou are out of your depth
ReplyDeleteI’m not the one daubing graffiti on statues of people I’ve never heard of. That’s the teenage Left for you.
I do not necessarily approve of everyone's tactics. But Black Lives Matter have at least heard of those whose monuments they are attacking. Indeed, they know a very great deal about them.
DeleteSave Are Statu's, mind-bogglingly described on the radio as wearing "military-style hats", and choosing to identify specifically as "football supporters" for this occasion, either know only the most superficial things about Churchill, or have simply never heard of any of the others.
It can be difficult to see the direct threat from a small number of the illiterate and obese elderly. But they do collect hangers on. And it only takes one.