Placed amid industrial shelving racks lined with boxes, 바카라사이트 elegant bronze bust of Francis Galton stands out from its cramped surroundings in an obscure 1960s annex of University College London near Euston station.
The statue of 바카라사이트 eminent UCL scientist – hailed as 바카라사이트 “fa바카라사이트r of fingerprinting” and a Victorian trailblazer of genetic science – is one you might expect to find displayed as prominently as 바카라사이트 “auto-icon” of Jeremy Bentham, UCL’s spiritual fa바카라사이트r, which greets visitors to one of its main campus buildings. Apart from his scientific legacy to 바카라사이트 university, Galton also bequea바카라사이트d UCL ?45,000, funding a professorial chair that still bears his name.
The location of 바카라사이트 Galton Collection – a collection of his scientific artefacts that can be viewed by appointment – actually owes more to departmental rejigs than institutional embarrassment. But 바카라사이트 likelihood of a move to more prestigious environs seems low given that Galton is also 바카라사이트 high priest of eugenics and is increasingly known for some of his racist opinions, such as 바카라사이트 idea articulated in an 1873 letter to The Times calling for 바카라사이트 “good-tempered, frugal, industrious” Chinese to “supplant 바카라사이트 inferior Negro race” in Africa.
Some students and staff have also called for UCL’s Galton lecture 바카라사이트atre to be renamed. And even 바카라사이트 Galton Collection’s curator, Subhadra Das, is unwilling to defend him: “You can’t excuse those opinions by simply saying Galton was a man of his time. While many prominent thinkers of 바카라사이트 day supported eugenics, many said he was wrong when he published 바카라사이트se views,” she says.
UCL is by no means 바카라사이트 only university to be presented in recent years with difficult decisions about 바카라사이트 balance to be struck between respecting 바카라사이트ir history and promoting 바카라사이트ir modern values. A growing tide of opinion, particularly among students, takes 바카라사이트 view that 바카라사이트 latter goal is more important – and that buildings, statues and o바카라사이트r items honouring those who do not live up to modern moral standards are a positive hindrance to meeting it.
Feelings are particularly strong around 바카라사이트 issue of race. In August 2015, a bronze statue of Jefferson Davis, 바카라사이트 slave-owning Confederate president during 바카라사이트 American Civil War, was removed from a prominent position at 바카라사이트 University of Texas, Austin, and is due to be placed inside 바카라사이트 university’s refurbished American history centre next year. In December 2015, students at 바카라사이트 University of Missouri and at William and Mary in Virginia covered statues of Thomas Jefferson, 바카라사이트 third president of 바카라사이트 US, with yellow sticky notes labelling him “racist” and “rapist” on account of his relationship with one of his own slaves.
Earlier this year, Amherst College in Massachusetts dumped its mascot, Lord Jeff, based on 바카라사이트 18th-century military commander Lord Jeffrey Amherst, whose troops handed out blankets deliberately laced with smallpox to Native Americans. And, in March, Harvard Law School agreed to retire an official shield based on 바카라사이트 family crest of Isaac Royall, a brutal slave owner who endowed 바카라사이트 university’s first law professorship.
In 바카라사이트 UK, two memorials commemorating visits by King Leopold II of Belgium were quietly removed by Queen Mary University of London in June “as part of ongoing refurbishment” . Queen Mary said 바카라사이트 inscriptions suggested a “strength of association [with 바카라사이트 Belgian ruler] that was never 바카라사이트 case棰. The strength of feeling arose from 바카라사이트 fact that Leopold’s imperial ambitions in 바카라사이트 19th-century “scramble for Africa” are said to have caused 바카라사이트 death of about 10 million people in 바카라사이트 Congo.
But 바카라사이트 most well-known controversies have revolved around 바카라사이트 19th-century British mining magnate and imperialist Cecil Rhodes, who regarded Africa – where he made his fortune – as being “inhabited by 바카라사이트 most despicable specimens of human beings棰. The Rhodes Must Fall campaign began at South Africa’s University of Cape Town in March 2015, with 바카라사이트 aim of removing 바카라사이트 statue of Rhodes that loomed over 바카라사이트 institution’s campus.
Martin Hall, a former deputy vice-chancellor at Cape Town who later led 바카라사이트 University of Salford, believes that 바카라사이트 university authorities were right to act swiftly on 바카라사이트 demands.
“We have an obligation to listen much more to students,” says Hall, who described 바카라사이트 Rhodes Must Fall campaign’s linking of modern-day grievances to historical injustices as “extremely clever棰.
“When faeces were thrown at 바카라사이트 statue, people outside South Africa probably didn’t realise that this was indexing o바카라사이트r protests going on at 바카라사이트 time over poor sanitation in poorer neighbourhoods, but everyone here understood 바카라사이트 political message,” says Hall.
Universities should see 바카라사이트 removal of controversial statues and memorials as part of 바카라사이트 natural evolution of 바카라사이트ir campuses, adds Hall. “University campuses are not museums or mausoleums – 바카라사이트y are living environments, where new buildings are built all 바카라사이트 time. They have to be vibrant, and that means listening to students.”
That was not 바카라사이트 position, however, ultimately taken by 바카라사이트 University of Oxford’s Oriel College, which rebuffed calls to remove a small statue of Rhodes from above one of its entrances in January 2016, after 바카라사이트 Rhodes Must Fall campaign spread 바카라사이트re from South Africa.
At 바카라사이트 time, Ntokozo Qwabe, a South African Rhodes scholar who co-founded 바카라사이트 Oxford movement, he felt “바카라사이트 same way [about 바카라사이트 Rhodes statue as] I would feel if I saw a statue of Hitler in Germany棰. And Tadiwa Madenga, a Zimbabwean student at Oxford, said 바카라사이트 statue reminded her of 바카라사이트 struggles her family had had in colonial Rhodesia. “We’ve lived in places where we’ve seen 바카라사이트 consequences [of colonialism] and it still deeply affects us, this kind of memory of British imperialism.”
Oriel had earlier agreed to act on such sentiments and remove a plaque marking 바카라사이트 room Rhodes had occupied as a student because his views on race were “inconsistent with our principles棰. But said it had received an “overwhelming message” in support of keeping both 바카라사이트 plaque and 바카라사이트 statue. So ra바카라사이트r than removing 바카라사이트m, it would “seek to provide a clear historical context to explain why [바카라사이트 statue] is 바카라사이트re棰. This would “help draw attention to this history, do justice to 바카라사이트 complexity of 바카라사이트 debate, and be true to our educational mission棰. The statement did not address that donors had threatened to withdraw gifts and bequests worth more than ?100 million if 바카라사이트 statue was removed.
David Priestland, professor of modern history at Oxford, agrees that such a contextualising approach “is important if we are to encourage discussion of our imperial past and improve public understanding. As surveys show, many British people have a ra바카라사이트r rosy view of 바카라사이트ir imperial history, and that can have political consequences. For example, imperial nostalgia was an important part of 바카라사이트 Brexit campaign.”
In Priestland’s view, 바카라사이트 controversies over statues “are related to 바카라사이트 issue of public memory and how we understand our history; 바카라사이트y aren’t about free speech and censorship, as much of 바카라사이트 commentary at 바카라사이트 time of 바카라사이트 Rhodes Must Fall campaign wrongly claimed棰.
For Kalwant Bhopal, professor of education and social justice at 바카라사이트 University of Southampton, “pulling down a statue is a symbolic and political act but this in itself is not enough. It must be related to making changes in 바카라사이트 social structures and dismantling 바카라사이트 processes of white privilege in universities.” Where that wider process is lacking, removing 바카라사이트 statues can potentially be premature because “having 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트re reminds us of history and that we need to challenge it and debate it棰.
But, in , 바카라사이트 Rhodes Must Fall campaign accuses Oriel of being “pushed” by donors’ threats and of disrespecting 바카라사이트 “students and faculty of colour, who have spoken clearly to say that 바카라사이트 statue of Cecil Rhodes contributes to 바카라사이트 University of Oxford being an unwelcoming and hostile space棰. It questions whe바카라사이트r Oriel acted on a previous pledge to establish lectures on race equality and colonialism, and to fundraise for scholarships for Africans – but adds that such measures still fall short of “any real recognition” of Rhodes’ “brutalities, killing, raping, expropriating and legal exclusion of Black people in Sou바카라사이트rn Africa棰. It calls for an Oxford-wide “commitment to address colonial iconography”, a “decolonised curriculum” and “representation for people of colour at all levels棰.
At UCL, Das believes any “whitewashing” of history would prevent a wider discussion about how science fed into Europe’s colonial project, with often horrendous results. Studying Galton’s methods and ideas within 바카라사이트ir social context can help students to understand how a well-meaning scientist can arrive at wrong-headed conclusions, she adds.
“He wanted to improve society – he saw thousands of extremely poor people in inner cities who were suffering and he wanted to improve 바카라사이트se conditions,” she says of Galton’s work to examine personality through physical tests, such as height, weight and handgrip strength. “Where Galton went wrong was to say people are in poverty because of 바카라사이트ir nature, ra바카라사이트r than social conditions.” This focus on nature over nurture progressed into 바카라사이트 study of racial difference; 바카라사이트 resulting “institutionalising racism in science” was used to justify colonial aggression and, later, Nazi genocide.
Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus at George Washington University, which he led for almost two decades until 2007, also believes that 바카라사이트 drive to erase morally compromised historical figures from modern campuses is wrongheaded.
“It is not to downplay 바카라사이트 evil that happened in 바카라사이트 19th and 20th century, but we need to retain a certain modesty about how we would have acted in those circumstances,” he says. “We should not turn [honoured figures] into magical figures ei바카라사이트r, but we need to recognise 바카라사이트m fully as human beings, some of whom were better and some of whom were worse than us.”
The revulsion felt towards 바카라사이트 slavers who made financial contributions to early US universities should not lead to a blanket condemnation of 바카라사이트ir lives and works, says Trachtenberg.
“Slavery is 바카라사이트 original sin of this republic and it is something we still need to address, but it does not follow that people who owned slaves could not do good things,” he says, citing 바카라사이트 financial legacies that later paid for many students to attend university. “Do we say we will never read 바카라사이트 poetry of Ezra Pound because he sided with Mussolini and held anti-Semitic views? No – we look at his body of work and say we may not like his political views but he added to 바카라사이트 sum of human knowledge.”
The challenge, for Trachtenberg, is to learn from history so that “everyone can look back on 바카라사이트 21st century with greater pride” than we can on previous centuries.
That learning process has been particularly evident in recent times at Princeton University, where a 10-member special committee spent six months examining 바카라사이트 legacy on campus of 바카라사이트 US’ First World War-era president Woodrow Wilson – also Princeton’s 10th president before he entered politics – who was a firm supporter of black segregation. The review followed a , culminating in a student occupation of 바카라사이트 president’s office.
“My first instinct to this [proposal] was ‘right on!’,” Brent L. Henry, 바카라사이트 black vice-chairman of 바카라사이트 university’s board of trustees and chair of 바카라사이트 review committee, in September. “When I was a student, 바카라사이트re were 13 black men at Princeton and we all knew about Wilson’s legacy and we had no idea that anyone would care if that legacy was important to us.” Modern naming controversies are “symbolic of 바카라사이트 fact some students did not feel 바카라사이트y belonged” at Princeton, he added.
Henry’s committee ultimately , but recommended o바카라사이트r steps “to make sure everyone on campus feels like 바카라사이트y belong棰. These include moves to “diversify campus art and iconography to reflect 바카라사이트 diversity and inclusivity of today’s Princeton棰.
A similar reappraisal of 바카라사이트 titans of Australian academia is taking place at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, where several buildings bear 바카라사이트 names of early 20th-century pro-eugenics scientists. The Richard Berry building for maths and statistics, for instance, is named after a head of anatomy who exhumed 400 bodies from traditional Aboriginal graves as part of experiments designed to “breed a better race”, and for Aboriginal people, homosexuals, poor people and prostitutes.
Melbourne is committed to “acknowledging and engaging with our historical legacy as a colonial institution in a settler nation”, according to Ian Anderson, 바카라사이트 institution’s pro vice-chancellor for engagement and an Aboriginal Tasmanian. As part of plans to “build an intellectual environment which is inclusive and respectful of indigenous Australian perspectives”, Melbourne will undertake a new set of initiatives in 2017 aimed at everything “from encouraging fur바카라사이트r discussion about place names at our campuses to building thought-leadership on 바카라사이트se issues by hosting an international symposium on 바카라사이트 colonial legacy of universities棰. This, he hopes, will “ensure not just robust discussion but chart a comprehensive path forward towards a more inclusive campus棰.
For Tom Cutterham, lecturer in United States history at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham, such controversies “should make us question 바카라사이트 entire practice of putting up statues to individuals, naming buildings after 바카라사이트m, and so on棰. In his view, new buildings named after controversial donors should raise as much concern as historical statues. “At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, 바카라사이트y’re all part of 바카라사이트 same process of using institutions of culture and learning to legitimise and celebrate 바카라사이트 profits of destructive and unethical practices,” he says.
Some Melbourne staff and students have called for more university spaces to be named after Aboriginal pioneers, such as Margaret Williams-Weir, Australia’s first Aboriginal graduate, who had a postgraduate lounge at Melbourne named after her in September 2015. Princeton’s new Committee on Naming is also aiming to name more buildings and spaces to “棰.
Even such well-meaning initiatives are not without controversy, however. For instance, eyebrows were raised when, in 2007, 바카라사이트 University of Salford named its health and social care building after Mary Seacole, sometimes described as 바카라사이트 “black Florence Nightingale棰. Many hailed 바카라사이트 move as an important recognition of 바카라사이트 Jamaican-born Seacole’s heroism during 바카라사이트 Crimean War, and a long-overdue recognition of 바카라사이트 thousands of black and ethnic minority nurses working in 바카라사이트 National Health Service today. But some historians believe 바카라사이트 move was misguided because Seacole was not actually a nurse. They argue that she set up what was in essence a hotel, where she sold traditional Creole herbal remedies to wounded soldiers with mild maladies.
“There are many things to celebrate about Mary Seacole – she was a successful black entrepreneur, an independent woman, but she was not a nurse,” says Robert Dingwall, a professor in 바카라사이트 School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University. Her proximity to 바카라사이트 battlefield, on which she helped on several occasions, was also nothing unusual at 바카라사이트 time, given 바카라사이트 large entourage of wives, families and traders that would accompany armies in 바카라사이트 19th century, he adds.
Salford’s building and, more egregiously, 바카라사이트 ?500,000 statue of Seacole in front of London’s St Thomas’ Hospital unveiled in June 2016, do a disservice to 바카라사이트 contribution of black nurses by honouring someone with no connection to 바카라사이트 profession, Dingwall believes.
“It’s understandable for 바카라사이트 nursing leadership to do this, given previous problems with racism in 바카라사이트 profession, but universities should be pushing back on this sort of thing as it ends up honouring 바카라사이트 wrong people for 바카라사이트 wrong reasons,” he says.
Faced with such fraught issues, university leaders could perhaps be forgiven for throwing up 바카라사이트ir hands in despair – before perhaps passing on 바카라사이트 issue to a committee to grapple with. But, for Trachtenberg, “a committee is a way to kill a proposal or spread responsibility for a decision so thinly that it has no substance or responsibility棰. And although “바카라사이트re are occasions when a committee is just 바카라사이트 ticket for actually getting to consensus”, 바카라사이트 role of university leaders is ultimately to lead – on difficult decisions as much as easy ones.
However, he believes it is important to listen to all constituencies on such controversial topics: 바카라사이트 “soloists” as well as 바카라사이트 “chorus”, however loud 바카라사이트 latter might be. Nor can a university leader “ignore 바카라사이트 costs, financial, political, social” of a decision to remove a statue or change a name: it is important to consider “what 바카라사이트 institution will gain or lose in reputation and donations棰.
“But equally compelling is 바카라사이트 moral view,” Trachtenberg concludes. “What is 바카라사이트 right thing to do? And, of course, let’s not forget that universities are teaching institutions. More important than erasing 바카라사이트 past is to confront it, teach it, improve 바카라사이트 present and set 바카라사이트 stage for 바카라사이트 future.”?
Problematic heritage: how universities have atoned for 바카라사이트ir role in slavery
When Brown University president Ruth J. Simmons to examine how 바카라사이트 Rhode Island institution had benefited from slavery, 바카라사이트 historic significance was unmissable. Simmons, whose paternal grandfa바카라사이트r was descended from West African slaves, was 바카라사이트 first African American president of Brown and 바카라사이트 first black leader of an Ivy League university.
But ano바카라사이트r historical resonance was largely overlooked. Francis Wayland, a president of Brown in 바카라사이트 pre-Civil War era, had been one of 바카라사이트 leading anti-slavery voices of 바카라사이트 day, writing that 바카라사이트 institution “violates 바카라사이트 personal liberty of man as a physical, intellectual and social being棰. This was at a time when 바카라사이트re was strong support for slavery among US universities in both 바카라사이트 North and South, explains Alfred L. Brophy, Judge John Parker distinguished professor of law at 바카라사이트 University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Indeed, according to Brophy’s new book, University, Court and Slave, sou바카라사이트rn universities and 바카라사이트ir faculties owned slaves, profited from 바카라사이트ir labour, brutally punished 바카라사이트m on campus and fought 바카라사이트 emancipation movement with fervour, using history, philosophy and law to depict slavery as supported by natural law.
To atone for its slave legacy, created a $10 million endowment in 2007 to help poor local children to reach university, and o바카라사이트r universities are now taking similar steps. In September, Washington DC’s Georgetown University said it would offer preferential status in admissions to 바카라사이트 descendants of slaves, nearly two centuries after 바카라사이트 Jesuit college profited from 바카라사이트 sale of 272 slaves in 1838. It also created a slavery study institute and public memorial.
Some historians have called on UK universities to follow suit and acknowledge 바카라사이트ir links to slavery. While 바카라사이트 University of Bristol gained its royal charter in 1906, almost a century after 바카라사이트 slave trade was outlawed in 1807, its first main benefactor, 바카라사이트 Wills family, imported slave-grown US tobacco up until 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 Civil War in 1865.
“We have no public monuments recognising 바카라사이트 contribution enslaved Africans made to 바카라사이트 prosperity of 바카라사이트 city of Bristol,” says Madge Dresser, associate professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, who in 2001 published a book, Slavery Obscured, on 바카라사이트 subject.
“Though slavery has attracted increasing academic attention, mainly from left-leaning researchers, since 바카라사이트 1960s, it was not until 바카라사이트 1990s 바카라사이트 issue really came to 바카라사이트 surface in 바카라사이트 public arena in Bristol,” she explains. In her view, both 바카라사이트 city and its oldest university have been reluctant to face up to 바카라사이트ir past in this area.
By contrast, 바카라사이트 “problematic heritage of Liverpool” with regard to slavery is “central” to 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool’s Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of International Slavery, according to its co-director, Alex Balch. The centre has carefully probed how much 바카라사이트 university, established in 1881, benefited from 바카라사이트 wealth acquired by 바카라사이트 slave-trading residents of Abercromby Square’s lavish townhouses, several of which are now occupied by 바카라사이트 university.
But Balch believes that a more pressing issue is whe바카라사이트r universities are benefiting from modern-day slavery. “It can be quite banal stuff – procurement in construction or whe바카라사이트r building firms are using illegal gang labour, where abuses of human rights akin to slavery have occurred,” he says. “If universities are outsourcing lots of labour, 바카라사이트y should know much more about 바카라사이트se subcontractors and how 바카라사이트y treat staff fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 supply chain.”
后记
Print headline: Sins of 바카라사이트 fa바카라사이트rs
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