Focus should be inequality, not statues – Yorkshire Post Letters

BLACK lives, as do all lives, matter. Are the protesters, who are demanding the removal of various statues, going to demand that all the statues of Queen Victoria be removed? After all, she was the head of the largest Empire covering a third of the world. That Empire was as a result of British pioneers entering India, Africa, Australia etc searching for wealth.

The removal of these statues gains nothing. The past is history and in the enlightened 21st century, slavery would not happen. The focus should be on the inequalities perceived and action taken by the Government to rectify them, not in tearing down statues.

From: Mrs Susan Abbott, Melbourne Road, Wakefield.

THANK you to Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley (The Yorkshire Post, June 11), and to Bill Carmichael (June 12) for your excellent articles.

I have been dismayed by the behaviour of a minority in what is a delicate situation due to the pandemic. Discrimination in all forms is abhorrent, but we cannot erase history; we can only learn from it. All lives matter, so we all have a part to play in aiming for a kinder and more tolerant society. We owe this to future generations.

From: Coun Dale Smith (Con), Wharfedale Ward, Bradford Council.

WHILST I do support the review of all historical statues, plaques, memorials and acknowledgements etc, rather than their removal, renaming, defacing or obliteration, I would advocate a more subtle and thoughtful approach.

Namely that alongside is placed an explanation of their time and place in history, their significance then and a commentary on today’s perspective of the past.

As an area of the UK with one of the most diverse communities we could be a national-lead on the creation of a “history learning-trail” around Bradford.

Only by coming together; learning, debating and understanding history can we, with purpose and at pace, improve the future for all.

From: Bob Watson, Baildon.

THE Home Secretary, Priti Patel, recently spoke about the racism that she had to endure as a child. We then heard the Bradford West Labour MP Naz Shah accuse her of “gaslighting” other ethnic minorities. This is the same Naz Shah who once suggested that Israel be moved to the United States.

How on earth did Sir Keir Starmer ever consider it appropriate to appoint her as his Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion? This appointment would seem to be a disaster waiting to happen, and raises questions about the judgement of the Labour leader.

From: Paul Morley, Long Preston, Skipton.

BY removing or boarding up statues of people from our history, the moronic mob with no understanding of history will have won. Keep them on display and guard them. If anybody tries to deface them, the law has a useful offence called criminal damage. Arrest these idiots and charge them. When convicted, part of the sentence could be compulsory history lessons.

From: Leila Murphy, Sheffield.

WHY are these people so concerned over forgetting history? Taking down statues does not have a correlation with rubbing out of history. There are no statues of Mussolini or Pinochet, yet we have not forgotten their atrocities or their significant role in history.

The taking down of a statue does not equate to “erasing history”. Furthermore, taking a statue down does not detract from the good someone might have done throughout their life, it is just helpful to the ancestors of those degraded, discriminated against and murdered that they aren’t forced to look at a statue of the perpetrator of those crimes.

I’m sure if many of your readers were forced to walk past a statue of someone that would have judged them as less than human, and in many ways has contributed to the racism they still experience today, they would not be happy.

From: Patrick Holdsworth, Robin Hoods Bay.

I WAS shocked to read Christa Ackroyd suggest that Captain James Cook’s statue in Whitby should be toppled (The Yorkshire Post, June 13).

We live in a democracy where decisions are made by majority, within the rule of law. It is not right to give space to people who think they can impose their view of the world on others, and to do so by violence. It’s what my father fought against in World War Two. Captain Cook was a self-made man who bettered himself to become a world-class cartographer and leader of scientific exhibitions. He has nothing to do with issues of race or Empire.

From: Steve Ayton, Haworth.

WE have a situation whereby ill-educated low achievers, who have never been challenged to justify their actions, and who lack the wit or ability to create, turn instead to the act which will grant them the publicity craved by modern society – the act of destruction.

With so many bandwagons to choose from they can easily find something to offend them, and their favourite current noble cause appears to be the destruction of monuments.

Perhaps we should erect monuments to them, so that future generations can gleefully tear them down, thus continuing the cycle.

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