STATUES and place across the Western world names honouring figures such as slavers and colonial military figures are being reassessed worldwide in response to anti-racism protests sparked by the police killing of African American man George Floyd. In London, authorities boarded up several statues, including of World War II leader Winston Churchill, after previous damage and with further demonstrations planned. Statues and monuments that figure Britain’s colonial past and international slave trade have rapidly become the targets of anti-racism activists over the last week.
On Sunday, crowds in southwest England toppled a statue to a local slave trader and philanthropist, Edward Colston, and threw it into the harbour, prompting calls for others to be removed. British premier Boris Johnson acknowledged the anger of black and minority ethnic communities and said there had been “huge” strides in tackling discrimination in Britain. In New Zealand, the city of Hamilton tore down a statue of the colonial military commander after whom it was named, joining a growing list of places worldwide that are reckoning with their past. The wave of protest against symbols of Belgium’s colonial past intensified with at least two more royal statues targeted by anti-racism activists days before the anniversary of Congo’s independence. In US, statues of Christopher Columbus from Boston to Miami have been beheaded and vandalized as calls to remove sculptures commemorating colonizers and slavers sweep America on the back of anti-racism protests.
Amid the pandemic, when the global political and economic centre is being polarised, popped up new normal situation, hurled challenges to the world and disparity between rich and poor explicitly flaunted, the wave of anti-racism will influence the culture of the new normal. The colonialists must acknowledge their ugly past, correct their legacy and burden and act accordingly like send back the looted materials to the former colonies, seek an apology and be part of their development.
