I have some thoughts about tearing down statues.
👉🏾Communities should make decisions, not mobs
👉🏾 Statues should end up in museums, not seabeds
👉🏾 We need to be building more monuments to showcase our present day role models, not cutting ourselves off from our past
THREAD 1/17
👉🏾Communities should make decisions, not mobs
👉🏾 Statues should end up in museums, not seabeds
👉🏾 We need to be building more monuments to showcase our present day role models, not cutting ourselves off from our past
THREAD 1/17
This is a thread about history, what it means to live in a civilised society and why @SadiqKhan 's hastily announced commission to tear down statues and rename roads across London is both a dangerous and divisive idea.
2/17
2/17
London has historically been an international city, and that means we have an international history.
I'm proud for example that Parliament Square hosts statues not only of British leaders, but international giants like Gandhi, Lincoln and Mandela.
3/17
I'm proud for example that Parliament Square hosts statues not only of British leaders, but international giants like Gandhi, Lincoln and Mandela.
3/17
Because of that, London is a city built on history. We are not Chicago or Las Vegas, cities that sprung into existence quickly because of a new industry or population boom.
We have hosted global debate, trade, ideas for two millenia.
And not all history is good.
4/17
We have hosted global debate, trade, ideas for two millenia.
And not all history is good.
4/17
Traditionally both the far-left and far-right have always sought to control history.
It's the reason why communists as well as fascists destroyed historical artefacts, art and statues as their power grew.
Why? Because when you control the past, you control the present.
5/17
It's the reason why communists as well as fascists destroyed historical artefacts, art and statues as their power grew.
Why? Because when you control the past, you control the present.
5/17
I for one, don't feel comfortable with the Mayor of London engaging in the same behaviour. Living in a society built on history means living with the past.
And I don't mind that. It's how I know that my grandchildren will live in a world that remembers us too.
6/17
And I don't mind that. It's how I know that my grandchildren will live in a world that remembers us too.
6/17
Because if we hold everyone in the past to present-day standards and seek to eradicate those who don't conform to them from our collective memory, then we find ourselves on a very slippery slope.
7/17
7/17
A website (toppletheracists.org) has been set up that identifies aspects of London's history to be removed.
And it's already advocating for the removal of Nelson's Column.
8/17
And it's already advocating for the removal of Nelson's Column.
8/17
The answer to this issue isn't for the Mayor to act like a dictator, seeking to erase large parts of London's history.
The answer is to build more statues, reflecting our present day values and role models.
9/17
The answer is to build more statues, reflecting our present day values and role models.
9/17
We should be constructing statues of heroes in our NHS for our children to remember their sacrifice during the covid crisis.
Of pioneering women in industry, science and the arts.
Of black role-models, for black teenagers to walk past on the way to school each day.
10/17
Of pioneering women in industry, science and the arts.
Of black role-models, for black teenagers to walk past on the way to school each day.
10/17
Because the alternative is mob-rule. Last weekend a mob were seeking to take down a statue of someone we can all agree was a detestable man.
But what happens if next week's mob is made up of the far-right, who decide to tear down Gandhi's statue, or Mandela's?
11/17
But what happens if next week's mob is made up of the far-right, who decide to tear down Gandhi's statue, or Mandela's?
11/17
We live in a democracy in Britain, under the rule of law. That means due process has to be followed.
I know that Londoners agree with me. Recent YouGov polling shows that only 20% of the capital agree with the statue being removed in Bristol, and the way it was done.
12/17
I know that Londoners agree with me. Recent YouGov polling shows that only 20% of the capital agree with the statue being removed in Bristol, and the way it was done.
12/17
Instead, communities should decide if statues or monuments are removed, or roads renamed. Not a faceless commission operating out of City Hall.
That means consultations and local referendums.
Not mobs and hastily organised demolitions.
13/17
That means consultations and local referendums.
Not mobs and hastily organised demolitions.
13/17
And when monuments or road signs are removed - they should be taken to museums.
Because in a civilised society, we remember and learn from our past.
The only people who benefit from an ignorant society that has forgotten its past, are those who want to repeat it.
14/17
Because in a civilised society, we remember and learn from our past.
The only people who benefit from an ignorant society that has forgotten its past, are those who want to repeat it.
14/17
I don't think that Sadiq Khan has suddenly decided to show his authoritarian side. I think he is playing politics.
He is trying to distract from his failures in policing the recent protests, as well as his abysmal record on building opportunity for BAME communities.
15/17
He is trying to distract from his failures in policing the recent protests, as well as his abysmal record on building opportunity for BAME communities.
15/17
London's black youth unemployment is 29%.
Crime, which disproportionately affects poorer and diverse communities, is spiralling out of control.
Public transport is bankrupt and the affordable homes the Mayor promised were never built.
16/17
Crime, which disproportionately affects poorer and diverse communities, is spiralling out of control.
Public transport is bankrupt and the affordable homes the Mayor promised were never built.
16/17
Real action is needed for a fairer and equal city, for everyone who lives here.
That's where the Mayor's focus should be.
Not appeasing the mob.
Instead of trying to forget the past, we should be focused on the future.
17/17
That's where the Mayor's focus should be.
Not appeasing the mob.
Instead of trying to forget the past, we should be focused on the future.
17/17
