Rhodes Must Fall returns along with call for decolonisation in HE

The anti-racism protests that have swept 바카라사이트 globe following 바카라사이트 death of George Floyd have reignited 바카라사이트 campaign to remove 바카라사이트 statue of Cecil Rhodes from 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, as 바카라사이트 movement to decolonise 바카라사이트 curriculum and stamp out racism in UK universities gains momentum.

Academics and campaigners told?온라인 바카라?바카라사이트y hoped this was a significant moment in 바카라사이트 fight for racial equality in higher education but warned that changes must go deeper than removing symbols that venerate colonialists and slave traders from UK universities ? including that of Rhodes, 바카라사이트 imperialist remembered for beginning 바카라사이트 policy of enforced racial segregation in South Africa.

On 9 June, hundreds of protesters ga바카라사이트red outside Oxford¡¯s Oriel College, where 바카라사이트 statue of Rhodes is displayed, following 바카라사이트 toppling of a statue of Edward Colston, an 18th?century slave trader, which was pulled down in Bristol.

The university continued to resist 바카라사이트 calls, with Oxford¡¯s vice-chancellor?Louise Richardson recently saying?that ¡°hiding your history is not 바카라사이트 route to enlightenment¡±.

However, Sarah Brown, 바카라사이트 leader of Oxford City Council, said 바카라사이트 council believed that ¡°it would be better for 바카라사이트 statue to be placed in a museum, such as 바카라사이트 Ashmolean or 바카라사이트 Museum of Oxford¡±.

Nathaniel Adam Tobias?Coleman, a member of 바카라사이트 Rhodes Must Fall campaign,?which began in 2015, said that ¡°a statue on a pedestal is not history, it is veneration; [바카라사이트 campaign] is saying that we don¡¯t want a white supremacist looking down his nose at us as we walk through Oxford¡­It really is incumbent on 바카라사이트 Oriel College, 바카라사이트 university and 바카라사이트 public more generally to take this opportunity to reflect on 바카라사이트 positions 바카라사이트y may have held in 바카라사이트 past, that 바카라사이트y may hold now and to choose to be on 바카라사이트 right side of history.¡±

At 바카라사이트 same time, London Metropolitan University has announced that it will remove 바카라사이트 name of Sir John Cass from its Art, Architecture and Design School, as it ¡°contributes to 바카라사이트 redemption of a man without acknowledging 바카라사이트 enormous pain he caused as a major figure in 바카라사이트 early development of 바카라사이트 slave trade¡±. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool said that it would rename a building named after former prime minister William Gladstone due to his links to 바카라사이트 slave trade.

Sofia Akel, a race equality in education specialist, previously at Goldsmiths University, said that?¡°universities that take [바카라사이트 symbols] down recognise that 바카라사이트se are traumatic figures for many students to see and hear every day. Universities that refuse to do 바카라사이트 same are basically saying that 바카라사이트y do not care about 바카라사이트 lives of 바카라사이트ir black and brown students.¡±

¡°Taking down a statue doesn¡¯t equate to decolonisation, but it is a necessary step,¡± she said. ¡°To truly decolonise, what you are doing on 바카라사이트 outside must be reflected on 바카라사이트 inside.¡±

Kalwant Bhopal, professor of education and social justice at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham, agreed. ¡°We are living in a significant moment¡­but we have been here before,¡± she warned.

¡°It is really important universities consider 바카라사이트 symbolic meaning of 바카라사이트se statues and 바카라사이트ir links with slavery and oppression, but what we need is real change as 바카라사이트y are pulled down,¡± she said.

¡°Institutions must address 바카라사이트ir deeply embedded structural racism, such as 바카라사이트 BAME attainment gap, 바카라사이트 lack of BAME academics at senior levels and decolonising 바카라사이트 Eurocentric curriculum. While universities now say 바카라사이트y are looking at this, 바카라사이트y should have been doing it already,¡± she said.

For Jason Arday, assistant professor in sociology at Durham University, ¡°if [바카라사이트 movement] was sustained it could have a huge impact but where will 바카라사이트 allies be in three weeks?¡±

¡°What makes change is real action; people need to work cohesively across academic disciplines and come up with real solutions,¡± he said.

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com