‘Obstacles’ cause college to reverse Rhodes statue removal
AN OXFORD UNIVERSITY college said last Thursday (20) it would not take down a controversial statue of the 19thcentury colonialist Cecil Rhodes, despite having previously backed its removal.
Oriel College voted last year in favour of removing the statue, but said it would now not do so due to “regulatory and financial challenges”.
“In light of the considerable obstacles to removal, Oriel’s governing body has decided not to begin the legal process for relocation of the memorials,” it added.
The four-year campaign to remove the statue was reignited by the global explosion of Black Lives Matter protests last year, following the killing in the US of African-American George Floyd by a white police officer.
It followed a similar protest – ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ – against a statue of the colonialist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
“It has been a careful, finely balanced debate and we are fully aware of the impact our decision is likely to have in the UK and further afield,” said Oriel’s provost Neil Mendoza. “We understand this nuanced conclusion will be disappointing to some.”
The Rhodes Must Fall campaign called the decision a “slap in the face”.
“No matter how Oriel College might try to justify their decision, allowing the statue to remain is an act of institutional racism,” it said in a statement.
“Pretending that this is a choice made due to financial costs is a slap in the face with the hand of white supremacy.”
Oriel, which was founded in 1326, will instead focus on “improving educational equality, diversity and inclusion among its student cohort and academic community,” the college added.
An independent commission, established to consider the legacy of Rhodes, backed the college’s original wish to remove the statue.
But more than 500 students, alumni and members of the general public sent letters calling for it to stay in place.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson tweeted the decision was “sensible & balanced”, adding “we should learn from our past, rather than censoring history, and continue focusing on reducing inequality.”
The commission filed its report earlier this month after a 10-month study.
The report acknowledged “the considerable planning and heritage considerations involved in the removal of the statue which is situated on the college’s Grade II listed high street building”.
Campaigners had also demanded changes to the Rhodes scholarship, which has been awarded to more than 8,000 overseas students to study at Oxford University, since 1902.
Famous Rhodes scholars include US president Bill Clinton, astronomer Edwin Hubble, and former Australian prime ministers Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Rhodes – a white supremacist like many builders of the British empire – gave his name to Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe and Zambia, and founded the De Beers diamond company. He studied at Oxford and left money to Oriel College after his death in 1902.