Royal Holloway to tear down statue of Victoria?

You couldn't make it up! After RhodesMustFall, and the Cambridge Cockerel the latest symbol of Imperialist Oppression which must fall is the statue of the former "Empress of India" on Campus.

You have to feel sorry for the poor students at RHC. They haven't got a decent imperialist villain to protest and tear down the statue of. No, Rhodes, or Smuts.or Codrington. It has to be a figurehead Queen who didn't do much actual evil herself.

Oxbridge even surpasses them in former slave owners and creators of apartheid. Sigh.

Reply 1

draculaura

16

Jesus, soon every building and momentum before 1920 will be ripped down.
Stonehenge is probably next

Reply 2

JezWeCan!

OP

11

Original post by draculaura

Jesus, soon every building and momentum before 1920 will be ripped down.
Stonehenge is probably next

Why not go the whole hog and get rid of "Victorian" architecture, "Victorian" literature, "Victorian" fashion in fact the whole "Victorian" era?

After all she was "Empress of India" so obviously everything connected to her name "must fall." :rolleyes:

Reply 3

Death Grips

5

Original post by JezWeCan!

You couldn't make it up! After RhodesMustFall, and the Cambridge Cockerel the latest symbol of Imperialist Oppression which must fall is the statue of the former "Empress of India" on Campus.

You have to feel sorry for the poor students at RHC. They haven't got a decent imperialist villain to protest and tear down the statue of. No, Rhodes, or Smuts.or Codrington. It has to be a figurehead Queen who didn't do much actual evil herself.

Oxbridge even surpasses them in former slave owners and creators of apartheid. Sigh.

So I googled this story,and the first page I saw on it had these images (2nd image is a link below the 1st). Tbh when there are still people out there who think like this you can understand why people are eager to get rid of anything that stands for hate and oppression.

http://www.consented.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12637372_1071642439523647_274267068_o-1024x575.jpg

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 4

Saturnine.

1

Original post by draculaura

Jesus, soon every building and momentum before 1920 will be ripped down.
Stonehenge is probably next

The whole of Bristol will have to be carpet bombed for its roots in slavery

Reply 5

draculaura

16

Original post by JezWeCan!

Why not go the whole hog and get rid of "Victorian" architecture, "Victorian" literature, "Victorian" fashion in fact the whole "Victorian" era?

After all she was "Empress of India" so obviously everything connected to her name "must fall." :rolleyes:

And why not everything Tudor too? After all, Queen Elizabeth I was connected with the slave trade - and we must purify all of our country to be a perfect left-wing society.

Reply 6

The Epicurean

17

If the statue of Rhodes was not in Oxford, how many people would actually know who Rhodes is or anything about his legacy? His statue keeps his legacy alive and relevant, and we must take the good with the bad. It is fundamental that we understand our history. As the famous saying says: "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." It is of utmost importance that we learn from our history. By condemning Rhodes to the scrapheap of history, we are effectively throwing out an important part of out history, and in our ignorance, we are doomed to make the same mistakes again. Why people are so intent on trying to hide the realities of the past is unfathomable to me.

Reply 7

JezWeCan!

OP

11

Original post by Death Grips

So I googled this story,and the first page I saw on it had these images (2nd image is a link below the 1st). Tbh when there are still people out there who think like this you can understand why people are eager to get rid of anything that stands for hate and oppression.

http://www.consented.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12637372_1071642439523647_274267068_o-1024x575.jpg

What is the connection between the two images and Queen Victoria's statue on campus? #nonsequitur

Reply 8

JezWeCan!

OP

11

Original post by The Epicurean

If the statue of Rhodes was not in Oxford, how many people would actually know who Rhodes is or anything about his legacy? His statue keeps his legacy alive and relevant, and we must take the good with the bad. It is fundamental that we understand our history. As the famous saying says: "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." It is of utmost importance that we learn from our history. By condemning Rhodes to the scrapheap of history, we are effectively throwing out an important part of out history, and in our ignorance, we are doomed to make the same mistakes again. Why people are so intent on trying to hide the realities of the past is unfathomable to me.

They are unhinged, it is as simple as that.

Stark, raving bonkers.

The university authorities are almost as bad mind. Oriel was forced to keep the statue (after initial equivocation though) and the Codrington statue in All Souls looks set to stay. But the cockerel will soon be going back to Africa and I don't have total confidence that RHC will keep the Victoria statue.

Their supine public response makes them appear almost as thick as their students.

Reply 9

MildredMalone

16

Have any of those stupod campaigns actually achieved their goal?

Reply 10

Drewski

19

Original post by MildredMalone

Have any of those stupod campaigns actually achieved their goal?

The Harvard one has.

Reply 11

KimKallstrom

14

each and every day it seems like social justice warriors manage to somehow surpass themselves in their stupidity, ignorance and uselessness. These people are liabilities in our society.

Reply 12

username2228735

15

As an alumnus of this institution, I'm honestly not surprised. The SU was, and I believe still is, run by a bunch of deluded Communist sympathisers.

Reply 13

username521617

17

The reaction seen on the internet against these idiotic campaigns has been encouraging. There are clearly a lot of other students who recognise the stupidity and hypocrisy of these self-righteous goons, but they need to speak up more on campus. These puritanical student unions and activists need to learn that the 'silent majority' are tired of their crap, and that they are an embarrassment to academia.

Reply 14

DiddyDec01

3

Just like the Rhodes statue they can't touch this one either. It is Grade II listed.

Reply 15

Olie

20

By the looks of things I think this was fabricated, both the Independent and the Times had articles but have since taken them down today and someone on twitter says there's been some backlash at the uni, I can't see anyone else reporting it either, so hopefully this never happened cause this really would be an absurd campaign.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 16

JezWeCan!

OP

11

Original post by Olie

By the looks of things I think this was fabricated, both the Independent and the Times had articles but have since taken them down today and someone on twitter says there's been some backlash at the uni, I can't see anyone else reporting it either, so hopefully this never happened cause this really would be an absurd campaign.

The Mail Online is carrying it this morning...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3480122/Now-Cecil-Rhodes-protesters-call-statue-Queen-Victoria-removed-Students-campaigning-colonisation-British-universities-claim-relic-long-reigning-monarch-racist.html

They have over two hundred million browsers a month with a lot of reach in the US, Canada, Australia and so on. This story isn't going away it is growing internationally.

Congratulations RHC Student Union, you are really doing a good job trashing your own institution's reputation!

(As an aside, if you look at the picture of the statue in the Mail story, the RHC building in the background is rather splendid. The Victorians may have been wicked racist colonialist imperialists but they erected some magnificent architecture at their best, didn't they? Very impressive).

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 17

thunder_chunky

19

You see this is why tear gas was invented.

Reply 18

username2228735

15

Original post by Olie

By the looks of things I think this was fabricated, both the Independent and the Times had articles but have since taken them down today and someone on twitter says there's been some backlash at the uni, I can't see anyone else reporting it either, so hopefully this never happened cause this really would be an absurd campaign.

From what I've heard on the grapevine, it isn't fabricated. I'm still in touch with current students at RHUL and there is indeed a push for it in the SU.