One of the colleges within Oxford University says it wants to remove a statue of 19th century colonialist Cecil Rhodes from its facade.
This is the same Rhodes for which the famous Rhodes Scholarship is named, but also a controversial figure in Britain’s colonial past.
Oriel College has been under pressure for several years from the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign, which argues the statue glorifies racism and is an insult to black students – a crusade reinvigorated by the global anti-racism protests.
Rhodes was a mining magnate that played a critical role in the British project in South Africa. He founded the De Beers diamond empire.
But he also expressed racist beliefs, implemented racial segregation measures that paved the way for apartheid, and it’s Rhodes for which the country Rhodesia was named – now present day Zimbabwe.
The old name Rhodesia is often evoked by modern day white supremacists.
He was a student at Oriel in his youth and endowed the Rhodes Scholarships, which have allowed more than 8,000 students from around the world, including Bill Clinton, to study at Oxford.
The decision over whether his statue will be taken down will, however, be made by an independent commission.
Elsewhere, in Bristol restoration work on the statue of 17th century English slave trader Edward Colston is underway.
The statue’s been retrieved from the harbor after being toppled and pushed there by a Black Lives Matter demonstration.
After its restoration, it’ll be displayed in a museum.
In London, work to remove protective hoarding around a statue of Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill also began on Wednesday (June 17).
It’s been confirmed the uncovering was linked with the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (June 18).
The visit marks the 80th anniversary of General Charles de Gaulle’s radio address to France after the Nazi invasion in 1940, broadcast from London by the BBC.
