Before I begin this post in earnest, I am well aware of the uproar it may bring. I am not perturbed in the slightest, because I do not believe a 'fight' should be taken on which does not make sense.
The Rhodes Must Fall Campaign by students at the University of Oxford is, no doubt, well intentioned.
Whether the University of Oxford agrees or not to the demands of the Rhodes Must Fall Campaign, I can assure you that the history of Cecil Rhodes will remain entrenched within the annals of Oriel College, and within the University itself.
As for the demands made to the University of Oxford administration by the Campaign to include removal of the offending statue and other articles, to make official, public, and permanent acknowledgements of colonial violence, full apologies for this, commitments to that, the establishment of whatever else with deadlines - I will leave all that right where it is. No matter what the University of Oxford administration says in response to the demands by the Rhodes Must Fall Campaign, the colonial, imperial, and exploitive past of Britain's history is the bedrock upon which the University is built.
Decolonising curriculum at the University ( which is another issue) is equivalent to decolonising the endemic racist and colonial mentality of Britain. Unless the Rhodes Must Fall Campaign is planning to step up its objective to advocate for the rebuilding and re-education of Britain to reflect an evenly balanced history for all, it is my view, the Campaign needs to take a step back to get a clear picture of what it is about. If change does happen in places, it will be for show, ineffective, and will make no difference to what exists now. Britain will not allow a cultural assault, be it educational or otherwise, on its own turf.
With that said, the enormous cultural and economic assault on the African subcontinent by Britain and Europe, is still not understood, or more so, conveniently ignored by the intelligentsia, and indigenous blinkered citizens within British society. This should not be a forced issue, nor by demand. Both sides know what the issue(s) of contention are, and would be wise to work together to bring about a reconciliation of Imperial history.
The glorification of The British Empire, and reverence held for past British patriots of that era with questionable endeavours, deliberately blanks out African, Caribbean, Indian history respectively, and all placed under the shadow of The British Empire. Its stubborn resistance towards African history, by segregating it, dismissing it as irrelevant and non-existent, is descriptive of how black lives matter only in monetary terms, but not on an intellectual level. Today Black lives still don't matter, unless there is a specific purpose, or some usefulness which is not in the interest of the black man and woman.
The University of Oxford does not want to soil it's hands with Britain's corrupt colonial history. The same will apply to other British universities even if they agree to make gradual changes in specific curriculum, or with whatever else may arise.
Call me what you will. The truth needs to be told. However, I am aware that a person of my ethnic origin making such pronouncements will cause some readers of this post to feel very uncomfortable. So be it.
Furthermore, the Rhodes Must Fall Campaign needs to reconsider it's position.
This Campaign is doing nothing that is in accordance with The Black Lives Matter Movement. In my view it is doing the opposite very successfully. By the Campaign taking its chosen position, it is, unintentionally, reinforcing the position of the University of Oxford to retain its founders, benefactors, and the cultural heritage of the University which will always take precedence over anything that comes up against it. This is why I have headed this post 'Black Lives Don't Matter' because the Campaign's action on this issue translates to just that.
What about the perpetual disproportionate number of black boys, and black men, who are subjected to Stop and Search? What about the disproportionate number of black men incarcerated in British prisons? What about the disproportionate number of black men who die while in police custody? What about the black men, and black women, who are murdered because of their colour? What about the disproportionate number of black boys, who are excluded from high school and their future blighted? This is where effective change needs to take place, and where the emphasis of a campaign should be - to bring an end to the presumptuous mission to destroy the lives of our black children, black men, and black women.
Slavery and colonialism could have wiped out the black race, but it failed. However, look at what is happening now, and the Rhodes Must Fall Campaign is wasting time on superfluous nonsense.
I was born and raised in Britain. My parents were immigrants to Britain from Jamaica. I've seen racial conflict in Britain, and my parents have seen and lived the colonial, imperial, and exploitation of their island Jamaica under British colonial rule. However, one thing was, and is still sure. Neither my parents nor I were interested in changing Britain's landscape, nor its institutions. It was more important to us to never allow the imperial, colonial, racial prejudice, and false sense of superiority mindset of some of its indigenous people to psychologically undermine us as black people in any form, or any manner, whatsoever.
The late Cecil Rhodes is a part of British Imperial history. Demanding the removal of his statue will not change the past, neither will it help ethnic minorities overcome any race relations difficulties experienced, nor effectively change any position on The British Empire, slavery, imperialism and Colonalism at the University of Oxford. As regurgitating as it is to face that fact, this is the reality. Nevertheless, we can revisit the history of our people, dig it out and put it on display because the intelligentsia, and the ignorant among us, believe black people have no history. Their position is understandable as our history was swept under the carpet, or in some cases buried, to give way for the European sanctified version which our people have been subjected to through teaching in the former Crown Colonies, and within Britain. We need to rise above the exploitation, colonialism, and imperialism experienced by our forefathers, and everything else associated with it. Build past it, build our history, be innovative, and move forward for real change.
Leave the University of Oxford to decide its own future. Removing the statue of Cecil Rhodes or any other controversial statue will not effect any constructive change for ethnic minorities at the University of Oxford, and within Britain, now nor in the future. Where there is no will to bring about real, effective, change, the situation will remain the same.
In the meantime, there are more constructive matters to be dealt with.
Peace
Grace
