Two women charged over alleged defacement of
Captain Cook's statue in Sydney Hyde Park
has made the news recently. As has Winston
Churchill's statue - which was boarded up in
London. Then there's Edward Colston who made
a fortune in the 17th century from the slave
trade. His statue was toppled and thrown into
the harbour in Bristol, England.

Historical statues across the world have been
removed or defaced amid the Black Lives
Matter protests after the death of Afro-American
George Floyd in Minneapolis, May 25th.

Our country is littered with weathered bronze
statues of men standing proudly with one foot
forward and a plaque beneath them describing their
triumphs. An article in "Crikey" tells us.

We've recently had the statues of our former
Prime Minsters - John Howard and Tony Abbott
spray painted with derogatory statements added
to their bronze statues in Ballarat's "PMs Avenue",
in their Botanical Gardens.

The claim is that many of these white men (they're
almost all white men) have committed crimes and
massacres. That's the rational behind the
defacement of these historical statues.

I think that most of us would agree that the defacement of
any property should not be tolerated.

However, the question is - should any of these statues
fall? And if so, which ones?

The following link explains further:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2020/06/11/looking-to-rewrite-history-here-are-a-few-places-to-start/

Black Lives Matter and if there are any statues of the Black Africans who sold many thousands of their fellow Black Africans into slavery then they should be left alone to remind their fellow black Africans and others of the benefits of enterprise and free trade.

Hi Foxy,

Good to see the WA government standing up and making amends for the wrongful deeds of the past. That is, the naming of a mountain range in the states north 'The King Leopold Ranges' which are named after the former king of Belgium, whose atrocities and violent reign in the Congo Free State led to up to 10 million deaths. That would be as bad as the Germans renaming the Danube River the Hitler River. Not that the Germans would get any protest from certain members of the Forum, in fact they would be applauding the move. I would take it to the local aboriginal community and get their naming rights for that mountain range.

BTW; After reading about that statue of that old codger Edward Colston in Bristol England, it is where it belongs, in the drink!

Many of the wife's people detest many of those colonial statues in NZ.

In Otahuhu there's a 13-metre-tall monument honouring Colonel Marmaduke Nixon who, 200 years ago, was an early settler in the region.

Nixon was also the commander in charge of colonial cavalry forces which stormed the Waikato village of Rangiawhia, killing women, children and the elderly.

He had the town church torched which killed the people who were hiding inside.

There are many more examples of murderous colonial figures displayed around New Zealand, as there is in Australia.

Is Mise and Paul,

Thank You for your comments. I hesitated before putting
this subject up for discussion as I know that it is a
controversial topic and feelings can run high.

I have mixed feelings on this topic.

For example in Ballarat's Avenue of former Prime Ministers
the avenue celebrates all of our PMs, regardless of their
political affiliations and they form a key part of our
history as a nation. I think it's pure vandalism to
deface any one of them.

As to the other statues? I have to admit that I'm uneasy
about defacement of any of them. We should learn from history
not brush it aside or shove it away.

Perhaps if another plaque could be added to some of the statues
describing the full stories of what was done (not only the
positives but the negatives as well), telling the full story
might help - and make it more acceptable?

I don't know. I'll have to give it more thought.

At the moment I don't think that defacing something or
trying to destroy something is the answer.

Hi there Foxy,

"I hesitated before putting
this subject up for discussion as I know that it is a
controversial topic"

Totally agree, I myself never like to put up any controversial topics, as I am very sensitive to the feelings of the Forums "wally brigade"! Just as they are of my little sensitive feelings.

If people don't want to participate in controversial topics then they should get the hell out of here, or join the other forum I am so passionately involved in 'Flower Arranging for Fun and Profit'.

Now on this topic, what about all those statues of Saddam Hussein. Here's the Yanks, giving poor old Sad the horizontal rumba.

And then there's our mate Issy, down at Gunnie HQ he might want to erect a monument to one of the gunnie super hero's, Leopold II of Belgium since he's losing his mountain range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWxszYK6IPU

Dear Paul,

Different countries have different ways of commemorating
their heroes. One country's hero may be another's villain.
Some countries avoid it, or try to avoid it as much as
they can While others go over the top. Of course politics
also comes into play, as does religion.

Just a few examples - in Russia there are
statues of Stalin, Lenin, and others that we in the West
would not approve of.

Jewish aversion to memorializing
leaders is rooted in the Jewish prohibition of idolatry.
Jewish tradition does not encourage admiring individuals.
But rather admiring ideals.

Therefore in Israel there's very few statues.Except for a
few individuals considered worthy like -
former
Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, but he's only got
a bust in Tel
Aviv airport. Former PM Yitzhak Rabin is honoured in
also in
Tel Aviv, Alfred Mund in Tel Mund, and Raoul Wallenberg
in North Tel Aviv.

Did you know that there are no Nazi statues in Germany?
The following link explains:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/20/why-there-are-no-nazi-statues-in-germany-215510