Dear Editor,

Oxford University is now under pressure to remove all honours to Cecil Rhodes, that British explorer whose name is associated with the Rhodes scholarship with which many of us in this region are so familiar, and whose name was also removed from the honour list of a South African University. Black protesters are also demanding that the name of Woodrow Wilson — the former American president of World War I, and an alleged Klan member — should be removed from all of the prestigious Princeton University’s honour lists.

Most of these movements to have the names of these supposed racists and imperialists removed are being pushed by us blacks. I always wonder why it is that we blacks are always so selective in our memories and why we take such delight in failing to dance away from the raindrops! Seeing that we are hell-bent on removing the names of these supposed racists and imperialists, why must we stop at only white ones?

Cecil Rhodes may best be remembered as the man who colonised Africa for Britain. However, he is certainly not the only imperialist in Africa’s history. Indeed, if Rhodes is a “hated” imperialist just because he conquered, some well-respected African leaders are too, and their names should be removed from honour, wherever they may be.

Perhaps the best one that comes to mind is Ethiopia’s last emperor, Selassie, who marched his army into neighbouring Eretria – thus earning him the dubious title of “conquering lion of the tribe of Judah” by Jamaica’s Rastafarians. Being an imperialist isn’t the only supposed honourable characteristic of Selassie. Those who ousted him would surely have a long list of other colourful titles for him. Now why do you suppose that we blacks aren’t calling for his name to be removed from places of honour too?

The Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, is certainly not a favourite of many Jews, as Jews, among many others, see him as a diehard racist. Will we blacks be demanding that Farrakhan’s name be no longer honoured too?

What about Marcus Garvey? He created the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which stipulates in its constitution that white people should not be allowed to hold certain positions within his organisation. As such, many would deem Garvey a racist! Why don’t we also demand that Garvey’s name should also no longer be honoured?

Rhodes is even being called a racist for saying that his race, the Anglo-Saxon race, is the best in the world. So what?! Many revered black pan-Africanists say the same thing about the black race. If we are all not entitled to our opinions, why don’t we damn those black nationalists who preach black pride too?

I don’t necessarily see what Garvey, Rhodes or some of the others, both black and white, did as so wrong. They were men of their times. We black people must stop being so self-righteous and stop throwing stones, especially when we live in the biggest glass house. We really do need to grow up!

Michael A. Dingwall

michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com