Not least because for all the merits of the symbolism involved, such action does little to combat the causes of racism. But there is no escaping the reality that many of the statues causing offence to black communities are much more than commemorative. And their location, in pride of public place rather than museums, is an implicit political affirmation of that warped message. In 2019 the Southern Poverty Law Center recorded 780 monuments dedicated to the Confederacy across 23 states, and, following protests at the 2015 Charleston mass shooting of churchgoers, 114 were removed nationwide. In Oxford the university is contemplating removing the statue of arch-ideologue of imperialism Cecil Rhodes to a museum where it now belongs.

Source: The Irish Times June 12, 2020 23:15 UTC