Readers discuss issues raised by campaigns to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College,Oxford, and a bronze cockerel from Jesus College, and CambridgeTimothy Garton Ash (Rhodes hasn’t fallen,but the protesters are making me rethink Britain’s past, 4 March) is just to highlight that in the UK we often don’t think approximately or discuss the difficult aspects of our colonial history and its legacy. The impact of the UKs historic international policies are often much better remembered and understood around the world, or their effects are often also still felt in other countries.
Recent research by the British Council – Remember the World as Well as the War – has shown that British actions in the first world war and its subsequent peace negotiations continue to play an distinguished role in shaping attitudes towards the UK today in both positive and negative ways. Yet in the UK,our knowledge and understanding of these diverse issues – ranging from the Sykes-Picot agreement that reshaped the Middle East to the huge contribution of Indian soldiers fighting in France and Flanders – remains limited and is seldom discussed.
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Source: theguardian.com