London College told to remove bust of slavery abolitionist

[Eldorado]

Imperial College London has been told to remove a bust of slavery abolitionist Thomas Henry Huxley because he “might now be called racist”, following a review into colonial links.

An independent history group for the Russell Group university has recommended that a bust of the renowned 19th century biologist, dubbed “Darwin’s bulldog”, be taken down and the Huxley Building on campus renamed.

Independent report at MSN

[+OverSword]

I would tell them to kiss my crotch were I in charge.  This is just ridiculous and out of hand.  time to start drawing some hard lines.

Quote

The group of 21 academics was launched in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests last year to address Imperial’s “links to the British Empire” and build a “fully inclusive organisation”.

OH PULEEZE!!!!  How dare a venerable English Institution be associated with the British Empire.  

God save us from these dolts.

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by OverSword

[Ell]

Undoubtedly another bunch of narcissists. Sociopaths may murder ten times more people than narcissists, but I suspect that narcissists by far cause the most destruction to civilizations.

[+OverSword]

I think you should just rename the entire country and every city, village and building.  Burn all books, films and archived radio broadcasts, lock up any descendants of nobility and change your last names to X to more properly reflect how ridiculous leftist ideologues feel about most of you and all of your history.  

Edited October 26, 2021 by OverSword

[Ozymandias]

1 hour ago, Eldorado said:

Imperial College London has been told to remove a bust of slavery abolitionist Thomas Henry Huxley because he “might now be called racist”, following a review into colonial links.

An independent history group for the Russell Group university has recommended that a bust of the renowned 19th century biologist, dubbed “Darwin’s bulldog”, be taken down and the Huxley Building on campus renamed.

Independent report at MSN

Maybe people should read the article in full instead of going off half-cocked. This is what the report and the university authorities said:

Imperial’s provost, Ian Walmsley, said the university would “confront, not cover up, uncomfortable or awkward aspects of our past” 

Lecture theatres in the Hamilton Building at Silwood Park named after prominent geneticists such as William Donald Hamilton, Ronald Fisher and John Burdon Sanderson Haldane are also recommended for renaming because of links to eugenics. 

The report said that if a building or room is renamed then the reason should be publicly explained via a plaque or a QR code, which can be scanned on a mobile phone. 

It said the process of renaming buildings should be seen not as extraordinary but a periodic event that carefully considers “concerns associated with the namesake’s teachings, views, behaviour, etc”. 

Alice Gast, Imperial’s president, said: “While we cannot change history, we can find ways to clarify what it means, learn lessons from it, and ensure that we are not perpetuating legacies that we find abhorrent. 

“We stand for openness, transparency and freedom of speech – and that will define this dialogue.”

I, for one, could not agree more with them. Imperial College London - and other places - are associated with unsavoury historical events, philosophies and people that are now nothing to be proud of, or to be encouraged or promoted by honouring them with prominently displayed statues or structures named after them. Deciding to also display signs or other means of contextualising them is all to the good, demonstrates a mature objectivity, and should be applauded not derided.  

Edited October 26, 2021 by Ozymandias

[+OverSword]

17 minutes ago, Ozymandias said:

Maybe people should read the article in full instead of going off half-cocked. This is what the report and the university authorities said:

Yeah.  Read all that.  Doesn't change my opinion one bit.  Time to slam the brakes on all this nonsense.  Not just in this instance but across the revisionist left agenda.  

[Ell]

59 minutes ago, Ozymandias said:

Maybe people should read the article in full instead of going off half-cocked. This is what the report and the university authorities said:

I didn't read the article. Consequently I must be either clairvoyant, for it contains the narcissistic insanity that I expected. Or I just happen to be utterly familiar with the narcissistic mind.

It is unfortunate that we lack the psychiatric institutions and the wealth to incarcerate all of them. Besides: as supermen in their own right, they also contribute in positive ways to our populations, so locking them up isn't the answer.

I just wish that there weren't so many of them. Fertile females: don't get impregnated by a narcissist!

[+and-then]

4 hours ago, OverSword said:

I think you should just rename the entire country and every city, village and building.  Burn all books, films and archived radio broadcasts, lock up any descendants of nobility and change your last names to X to more properly reflect how ridiculous leftist ideologues feel about most of you and all of your history.  

OR... laugh in their faces and tell them to grow the hell up or at least stay out of the way of the adults.

[itsnotoutthere]

9 hours ago, Ozymandias said:

Maybe people should read the article in full instead of going off half-cocked. This is what the report and the university authorities said:

Imperial’s provost, Ian Walmsley, said the university would “confront, not cover up, uncomfortable or awkward aspects of our past” 

Lecture theatres in the Hamilton Building at Silwood Park named after prominent geneticists such as William Donald Hamilton, Ronald Fisher and John Burdon Sanderson Haldane are also recommended for renaming because of links to eugenics. 

The report said that if a building or room is renamed then the reason should be publicly explained via a plaque or a QR code, which can be scanned on a mobile phone. 

It said the process of renaming buildings should be seen not as extraordinary but a periodic event that carefully considers “concerns associated with the namesake’s teachings, views, behaviour, etc”. 

Alice Gast, Imperial’s president, said: “While we cannot change history, we can find ways to clarify what it means, learn lessons from it, and ensure that we are not perpetuating legacies that we find abhorrent. 

“We stand for openness, transparency and freedom of speech – and that will define this dialogue.”

I, for one, could not agree more with them. Imperial College London - and other places - are associated with unsavoury historical events, philosophies and people that are now nothing to be proud of, or to be encouraged or promoted by honouring them with prominently displayed statues or structures named after them. Deciding to also display signs or other means of contextualising them is all to the good, demonstrates a mature objectivity, and should be applauded not derided.  

Thats true of churches & mosques.....should we do the same with them? How about the Colosseum in Rome, some pretty unsavory things went on there, should we take away all those statues of dead romans?

Edited October 27, 2021 by itsnotoutthere

[Buzz_Light_Year]

10 hours ago, OverSword said:

I think you should just rename the entire country and every city, village and building.  Burn all books, films and archived radio broadcasts, lock up any descendants of nobility and change your last names to X to more properly reflect how ridiculous leftist ideologues feel about most of you and all of your history.  

Shh! not so loud Do you realize how many Native American words are used in the U.S. that name cities, rivers and geographical locations. They'll have to pass another 3.5 trillion in infrastructure spending just to accomplish the renaming. 

Cultural appropriation and all that ya know.

 

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

11 hours ago, OverSword said:

I think you should just rename the entire country and every city, village and building.  Burn all books, films and archived radio broadcasts, lock up any descendants of nobility and change your last names to X to more properly reflect how ridiculous leftist ideologues feel about most of you and all of your history.  

Don’t give them ideas.

[psyche101]

What the actual f....

You've got to be kidding me. 

This is history. 

Even if some namby pamby numbskull wants to find an excuse to be offended it's no good reason to remove the likeness. If somebody wants to view it in some seriously dumbass view they should still keep a likeness as a reminder of why they chose to be offended.

I hope the university doesn't entertain this ridiculous opinion. 

The decision should be left to a leader in the field of evolutionary biology. 

Like Richard Dawkins. Can't see him entertaining such nonsense. 

[Ozymandias]

3 hours ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Thats true of churches & mosques.....should we do the same with them? How about the Colosseum in Rome, some pretty unsavory things went on there,

This is not a valid counterpoint. Churches, mosques and the Colosseum are not universities, and do not profess to be places for the advancement of learning. If religious idiots want to believe in their own brand of fantasy that is their choice and the choice of people of like mind. If you are attending churches or mosques you are an active believer (or pretender) who does not challenge their irrational philosophy. Places like the Colosseum, Auschwitz, and similar historical ruins are representative of a past age and are no longer actively engaged in promoting what they once did. They are merely of interest for their historical significance and as examples against which we, consciously or unconsciously, juxtapose our own human advancement.    

Quote

should we take away all those statues of dead romans?

I did not suggest removing statues or other physical artefacts. I am all for leaving them in place as public admonishments to the present. I said: 'Deciding to also display signs or other means of contextualising them is all to the good, demonstrates a mature objectivity, and should be applauded not derided.' Contextualising them by giving additional information about their true character is what must be done. It is purely a matter of education. Universities should be centres of inclusiveness, free speech, and objective learning. Imperialism, racism, eugenics, etc, are all discredited today. Allowing memorials to their champions to stand unchallenged in an academic centre of learning is to give tacit support to them and their views.  

Edited October 27, 2021 by Ozymandias

[Setton]

3 hours ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Thats true of churches & mosques.....should we do the same with them?

Can't say I've been in a church yet that celebrates the crusades or the inquisition.

[itsnotoutthere]

1 hour ago, Setton said:

Can't say I've been in a church yet that celebrates the crusades or the inquisition.

Have you been to a university that 'celebrates' slavery?

Edited October 27, 2021 by itsnotoutthere

[Essan]

There is not one single person in history - or alive today - who has not said or done something which someone else at the time, or later in history, considers (or will consider) repugnant and/or unacceptable.    And the more famous they are, the more unacceptable things they have said and done.  

So who are they going to rename these buildings after?      

We live in what will in time be considered a Dark Age.    When he who does 1001 good deeds is judged only by the single deed that someone later decided was bad.   An Age in which Common Sense is banned and no-one knows the meaning of Context (the single most important word in the English language).

Buy hey, it's your world.  You created it,  Don't blame me.

 

[Ozymandias]

1 hour ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Have you been to a university that 'celebrates' slavery?

Have you?! I am glad to see that Imperial College London, like any self-respecting centre of learning, is taking steps to dissociate itself from discredited and frankly distasteful ideologies and public displays to those who advanced them, especially when doing nothing at all can be seen to be in tacit agreement with them.

24 minutes ago, Essan said:

There is not one single person in history - or alive today - who has not said or done something which someone else at the time, or later in history, considers (or will consider) repugnant and/or unacceptable.    And the more famous they are, the more unacceptable things they have said and done.  

So who are they going to rename these buildings after?      

Do not change the name or remove the statue. Just educate people to know and understand the past as it was, warts and all.  

Quote

We live in what will in time be considered a Dark Age.    When he who does 1001 good deeds is judged only by the single deed that someone later decided was bad.   An Age in which Common Sense is banned and no-one knows the meaning of Context (the single most important word in the English language).

Buy hey, it's your world.  You created it,  Don't blame me.

 And hopefully we will be called out for it when the time comes. It's called progress. Otherwise we may just as well have stayed in caves.

Nobody should be blaming anybody. Nobody today is responsible for the actions of others in the past, but it is incumbent upon us to want to know the truth and to applaud those who want to promote the truth. They should also expect their seats of learning to want to do the same. Otherwise you end up with societies like North Korea.

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Ozymandias

[Ozymandias]

Repeat or Doubled Post

Edited October 27, 2021 by Ozymandias

[aztek]

what has become of a once mighty empire, a rotting empty shell, 

[+OverSword]

5 hours ago, Sir Wearer of Hats said:

Don’t give them ideas.

Do you think that's not the ultimate goal?  It is.  It will never stop unless a stop is put to it.  Time to stop this buffoonery.

Edited October 27, 2021 by OverSword

[itsnotoutthere]

"Have you?! I am glad to see that Imperial College London, like any self-respecting centre of learning, is taking steps to dissociate itself from discredited and frankly distasteful ideologies and public displays to those who advanced them, especially when doing nothing at all can be seen to be in tacit agreement with them."

But they can't 'dissociate' itself from it's own history, all they've agreed to do in reality is hide the evidence. Can the German people 'dissociate themselves from WW2 & how would they do that? by buying up all the film footage from WW2 & burning it. We are told that we should learn from history....hiding history away in a cupboard doesn't change the past & doesn't teach any lessons for the future.

[itsnotoutthere]

2 hours ago, Essan said:

There is not one single person in history - or alive today - who has not said or done something which someone else at the time, or later in history, considers (or will consider) repugnant and/or unacceptable.    And the more famous they are, the more unacceptable things they have said and done.  

So who are they going to rename these buildings after?      

We live in what will in time be considered a Dark Age.    When he who does 1001 good deeds is judged only by the single deed that someone later decided was bad.   An Age in which Common Sense is banned and no-one knows the meaning of Context (the single most important word in the English language).

Buy hey, it's your world.  You created it,  Don't blame me.

 

The left don't do context, and they also don't do alternative opinions, they only do black & white...literally. But they're brilliant at 'don't want to hear' & no platforming. ( Bare in mind that we're talking about a slavery abolitionist)

Edited October 27, 2021 by itsnotoutthere

[Setton]

3 hours ago, itsnotoutthere said:

Have you been to a university that 'celebrates' slavery?

Imperial (as per the article).

Oxford.

Just the ones off the top of my head.

[itsnotoutthere]

5 minutes ago, Setton said:

Imperial (as per the article).

Oxford.

Just the ones off the top of my head.

Celebrate....how exactly?

Edited October 27, 2021 by itsnotoutthere

[Ell]

5 hours ago, Ozymandias said:

Universities should be centres of inclusiveness

Anyone who feels excluded or is excluded - more people ought to be excluded - is free to found a university according to their own weird notions. (Like that Visualise sect in the television series "The Mentalist".)