June 20, 2020
Videos and photographs portraying the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue during Bristol’s Black Lives Matter March received global media attention and sparked a wave of action. Taking inspiration from the initiative exhibited by Bristolians, people around the world have recognised the futility of trying to make change through Democratic means, taking matters into their own hands by defacing, disfiguring, and removing public memorials that celebrate key figures in the Slave Trade. Today, Oxford University announced its removal of a statue that was created in order to glorify one of the most violent and barbaric imperialists: Cecil Rhodes. 
Removing Statues Is The Easy Part. Confronting Britains Racist Legacy Will Be Harder
Ironically enough, critics arguing that these statues should have been removed through official channels seem to have erased the history that they are now suddenly so interested in preserving. In recent years, we have seen students in universities around the world democratically campaigning to remove these statues from their campuses, while having their names tarnished at the hands of the right-wing British press. Years of work done by those within the student and academic population led to no change. Within 10 days of the Colston statue being pushed into the docks, supporters of the UK’s #RhodesMustFall movement finally have the outcome that they’ve wanted for years. But with this change has come the revelation that most people in Britain actively fail to acknowledge the nation’s central involvement in slavery and colonialism, and how it impacts Black people today.
The way in which this country approaches racism and the history of the empire goes beyond the presence of statues. Celebrating centuries of genocide through the memorialisation of slave traders’ figurines is emblematic of the epistemic violence that underpins the distorted retelling of our nations’ history. This ignorance leads to the creation of an official version of our social reality that is in service of the reproduction of white supremacy. The claim that the presence of these statues acts as a method of “preserving history” normally arises in tandem with an outright refusal to acknowledge the role colonialism played (and continues to play) in the development of modern society. The removal of these statues has forced the British public to acknowledge the darker, racist side of their history, and how the actions of Britain in the colonial era have structured the world according to a particular racial logic that is universal within our society today. 
Removing these statues across the nation is a step in the right direction. But I guess the question I have is, what now? The British public has a habit of derailing the conversation when movements like this arise in order to avoid doing anything substantial for those who need it the most. This is clearly shown through the ”gingerbread person” debacle that received national media attention, rather than addressing the issues that transgender people face on a daily basis, from the regular misgendering to the lack of gender neutral toilets and changing rooms. We are even seeing it now; reducing the Black Lives Matter movement to the removal of shows such as Little Britain and Fawlty Towers is intentional. It presents the Black Lives Matter as one obsessed with political correctness, rather than one dedicated to fighting racial injustice. 
Removing statues is the easiest thing to do at a time like this. But to interrogate and remove the systems put in place that rationalise the celebration of murderers such as Colston and Rhodes requires a lot more than a mere statue replacement. The legacies of colonialism do not start and stop with the presence of a stone or bronze figure. We need to confront Britain’s racist history and understand that colonialism was the precondition for the development of our modern society. Even more so, colonialism is constitutive of modernity. Ignoring this is destructive for Black people in Britain, allowing for collective modes of denial that manifest in claims that Britain is a ‘post-racial’ society, with everyone being on a level playing field.
Post-racialism and colonialism go hand in hand. A post-racial perception of society cannot exist without the ahistoricism created by colonial ways of thinking. This widespread, systemic production of white ignorance is what makes people in this country feel justified in silencing Black people when they talk about racism, whilst ignoring their calls for change. What we need to see is a change the relationship between knowledge and perception. As the old adage says, “knowledge is power”, the history that we are informed of is heavily structured by relations of racial domination. What we need is to recognise and reorient where this power is drawn from. 
This is a change that requires a mass upheaval of the world as we know it, recognising that, by living in a white supremacist society, it follows that our conceptual apparatus will be shaped by the biases of the ruling group, whether we have these statues in place or not. Clearly this cannot be done overnight. But it can start by refocusing the discussion surrounding racism to the matters at hand, looking at the real ways in which racism affects Black people on a daily basis. We need to actively uplift Black people’s voices and experiences, actively work to combat the structural roadblocks put in place at every stage of their life, and acknowledge the fact that colonialism has shaped, and continues to shape, modern society as we know it.Timi Sotire is a freelance writer.Related... Oxford College Governors Vote To Remove Cecil Rhodes Statue Oxford Uni Chancellor Raises Eyebrows By Defending Cecil Rhodes – Using Nelson Mandela Who Was Cecil Rhodes And Why Do Campaigners Want To Topple His Statue At Oxford University? Sadiq Khan 'Hopes' London Statues Of Slave Traders Are Removed
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.