Johnson Criticizes Oxford College's Plans To Remove Statue Of Cecil Rhodes

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2020) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he opposes the recent decision of Oriel College, the fifth oldest of the University of Oxford's constituent colleges, to take down the statue of Victorian-era colonialist Cecil Rhodes, as, according to the prime minister, attempts to silence mistakes of the past look sneaky.

In June, the governing body of Oriel College voted to remove the statue amid student-led Rhodes Must Fall campaign outside the college that was initially started in 2015 but has been recently revived amid Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country. According to protesters, the Rhodes statue symbolizes racism and inequality. The college's decision also followed by the toppling of a statue of 18th-century slave trader Edward Colston on Bristol on June 7.

"I am pro-heritage. I am pro-history, and I am in favor of people understanding our past with all its imperfections. I want to build people up, not tear people down. If we go around trying to Bowdlerise or edit our history in this way, it's like some politician sneakily trying to change his Wikipedia entry," Johnson told The Evening Standard in an interview.

Statues and monuments commemorating individuals linked with slavery or racism have become a major target of Black Lives Matters demonstrators in the wake of George Floyd's death on May 25 in the city of Minneapolis.