[Magdalen] Whoops. We've got the Southern slavers' battle flag in the National Cathedral.

Sally Davies sally.davies at gmail.com
Tue Jun 30 07:27:36 UTC 2015


Noooo!

It is history and when displayed in such a way, serves to commemorate that
which was honorable and brave, not that which was dishonourable.

We have the same issue here - earlier this year we had a student protest
movement "Rhodes Must Fall" aimed at the statue of CJ Rhodes on the
University of Cape Town campus. Rhodes was a rogue of the first water, but
not only that. He was also a generous philanthropist who donated the ground
and the starting capital for that very University.

Angry alumni have threatened to stop donating and supporting the
University...it's a mess. Universities, Cathedrals - they don't just belong
to the people who are currently using them but to the past and to the
future as well.

The movement spread around the country like wildfire, and one victim of it
was our beautiful local Horse Memorial which showed a British soldier (of
the Boer War) kneeling to feed his tired, hungry horse. The soldier was
smashed...later, Megan Hope who runs the Animal Welfare Horse Unit, brought
a bucket to put in the place of the soldier, and a lot of people of all
ages and races brought flowers to support the Memorial. Megan pointed out
that it was one of very few statues in the world that show a human serving
and caring for a horse, as opposed to the horse being part of the supposed
might and magnificence of the (warlike) human on its back.

Other statues all around the country have been damaged or thrown with
paint, with no regard for their intrinsic value. Just a knee jerk reaction
to a very justifiable anger and frustration - and I'm sure it's the same
thing with the Confederate Battle Flag.

Glorifying a sick past is one thing, but allowing it to be forgotten is
another...we clearly need to have an informed discussion in this country
(South Africa) about public art, and some of these statues do need to be
moved (not destroyed), but it must be a well considered and respectful
process, with clarity about what kinds of public art we actually want to
see, and about commemoration of history - everyone's history, not just the
"victors" as it were.

Sally D

On Tuesday, June 30, 2015, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> The dean of the National Cathedral is pointing out that the confederate
> battle flag is displayed in the stained glass windows, along with
> depictions of generals Lee and Jackson.
>
> He suggests that these all need to go, and I think he may be correct.
>
> Folks will say it's a history lesson, which is puzzling, but that's what
> they seem to think.
>
> The history claim is BS, in my opinion. Do we really want to support and
> honor the symbol of a view which was all about slavery anyway?  I'm not so
> sure that's a good thing for our National Cathedral.
>
> But don't listen to me. Make up your own mind. Read all about it:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/npazuqq
>
> However, it would probably be a good idea to discuss the matter.
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>


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