ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

Sin of omission

December 22, 2016

I was reminded of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign when I came across the Explorer¡¯s Monument in Fremantle, Australia (¡°Must Rhodes fall?¡±, Features, 15 December).

The original monument, dating to 1913, commemorated explorers who had been killed by ¡°treacherous natives¡± in 1864. By the end of the 20th century, it was recognised that this was one-sided, to say the least. The solution was not to remove the statue but to add a further plaque, equally prominent, written by those who found the original plaque offensive, noting that the perspective of Aboriginal people had been omitted. The full wording of both plaques . I see this as a good solution: it does not brush the original monument out of history, but it forces one to think about the ways in which a colonial perspective damaged many indigenous people ¨C and perhaps to question other things that are just taken for granted.

Dorothy Bishop, Oxford


<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ>Send to

Letters should be sent to: THE.Letters@tesglobal.com
Letters for publication in Times Higher Education should arrive by 9am Monday.
View terms and conditions.

Register to continue

Why register?

  • Registration is free and only takes a moment
  • Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
  • Sign up for our newsletter
Register
Please Login or Register to read this article.
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Sponsored
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Featured jobs