Oxford University’s head warns against “hiding our history”
7202 Mins Read
In the row over the statue of Cecil Rhodes, Oxford University’s head has warned against “hiding our history”.
Protesters want to pull down Oriel College’s statue of the 19th century imperialist, saying it is a symbol of racism and imperialism.
But vice-chancellor Louise Richardson said the views of the past had to be seen in the context of the time.
“We need to confront our past, we need to learn from it,” said Prof Richardson.
Police guards in front of Oriel College during a protest of the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign within the Black Lives Matter movement calling for the removal of the statue of British 19th century imperialist, politician Cecil Rhodes from the college, in Oxford, Britain. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER
After the removal of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol attention has switched to other statues, including that of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford, commemorating the Victorian imperialist, businessman and funder of scholarships.
The statue belongs to Oriel College, rather than the university, and Prof Richardson said she did not want to give a “binary” view on whether to remove it.
But she gave no indication of backing protesters wanting to take down the statue, instead warning against trying to hide the past and calling for a recognition that views from the past needed to be judged in their historical context.
Oxford’s MPs and a number of local councillors have supported calls to remove the Rhodes statue, arguing that it represented imperialist values that were no longer acceptable.
