This article by Afua Hirsch appeared in the Guardian as a response to the recent violence in Charlottesville. In it she asks important questions about statues in the UK and who gets remembered from history and why. William Wilberforce is known for his abolition work, (though not the many black activist and writers who also campaigned). However, he was vigorously opposed by Nelson, the naval hero, who used “his position of huge influence to perpetuate the tyranny, serial rape and exploitation organised by West Indian planters, some of whom he counted among his closest friends.” Should his statue be next on the list for toppling?
Afua comments: “We have ‘moved on’ from this era no more than the US has from its slavery and segregationist past. The difference is that America is now in the midst of frenzied debate on what to do about it, whereas Britain – in our inertia, arrogance and intellectual laziness – is not.” Read the full article here.
