Gandhi The Racist Must Fall....

Cliff

Some of these people that want to rip down anything they don't agree with should look at the governments around the world that have done this to destroy the legasy of their predecessors. It should give them a sharp jolt when they realise they are just the same. Unfortunatly some of these alt lefties think they are reinventing a new world order where every thing will be according to their own doctrine and they will crush anything that is not there version of the truth.

Toko Black

What you are describing is iconoclasm and as you say, you just need to look at human history to see that it is littered with examples of such practices across cultures, ideologies and beliefs.
It's hard if not impossible to actually find examples of cultures that haven't resorted to iconoclasm at some point, in fact it appears to be a recurring theme of humanity.

The only real differences are in the motivations, extent, the range of contemporary support and how we view those actions today.
Some may argue that all iconoclasm is bad and an attempt to rewrite or change history, however, there are examples of iconoclasm that have general contemporary support.

For example, you will find little defence of the pulling down of the statue of Saddam Hussain, in fact it was widely seen as an iconic statement of liberation around the world.   
Neither has there been much argument or public outcry at the removal of statues and comemorations of Jimmy Saville.
There are no statues of Adolf Hitler, but it's not a case of anyone forgetting what he did or stood for, it's more a case of not honoring, glorifying or dignifying him.

Marv

Savill and Saddam are recent events so i don't think anyone will have a problem with them being removed.

But Historical figures like Gandhi and Confederate generals should be left in peace.
Everyday the future looks a little bit darker. But the past, even the grimy parts of it, well, it just keeps on getting brighter all the time.

krish

Even Trump himself has rid the White House of a racist eyesore ... he fired Bannon.

NickC4555

Not even close to the lunacy of American right wing Christians removing Darwin from schools with their lunatic Creationism theories.

rancidpunk

For a minute there I thought he'd topped himself. The world's not that lucky.

Toko Black

On what basis ?

What qualifies as recent, how much time, generations or what ever measure is the line set with and what is it ?

Since there are people alive today with direct family members who were slaves, ie parents and grandparents, how do you think they consider being told "that's the past" ?

The confederate generals fought to defend slavery and their contribution to that fight is what their statues were placed.

Ghandi may or may not have been a racist, but any statues of him are for his fight and contribution to the independance of India from the British and the inspiration for later civil rights movements.

How significant that difference is in terms of whether or not people want to defend or denounce those statues is down to subjective political and ideological opinion.
What is not subjective is that there is a significant difference.

Pacifico

Toko - I hope when you visit the US you refuse to handle $1 - $20 - $50 and $100 Dollar Bills as they all celebrate guys who owned slaves.

Werewolfs

Didn't Christopher Columbus take some native americans as slaves though. Will his statues all be taken down. Just a quick google looks like I have been beaten to it.

What about Mount Rushmore wasnt that built on native holy land. Where does it end. Especially with a country like America or even ourselves with some of our murky history.

Toko Black

I used to work in the US, but the argument about currency is again 'different' - there may be some case for debate, but it is simply not the same as a statue that's main and only real purpose is to honor someone for doing precisely what it is the issue is about.

If I make cakes and someone builds a statue of me specifically for my contribution to cake making, it is not the same as a statue of a famous composer or King that happened by pure coincidence to bake the odd muffin.
If in the future baking was considered pretty universally as an abhorrent anachronism, then when the Wheat Protectionist League demanded that my statue be removed, most people would likely not consider it to be too unreasonable.
Most people however might take umbridge to the demands of Anti-Biscuit and Fancies Front wanting to remove the Composers of the Kings effigy because #Biscuits and Muffins Matter