Mandela statue ....... why ?

[Val & Frank]

⇦ being good Your Moddyship ... see, even Frank has awarded me 2 Brownie points :O)

That reminds me, I haven't polished my halo for a week.

Creep,

deduct one brownie point !!!

Frank

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

My name is quite unusual, and it could give a clue!

Thank you Frank, at least you seem to get my point and share a similar line of thought. I've been Mrs much longer than I was Miss and travelling with the "job" we have been foreigners in other countries much ogf my life.

I see nothing wrong with the term, our daughters partner is Italian and she lives near Modena and our wayward sons partner is of mixed French West Indies extract.

My kids do not even have British passports and have never lived in the UK for any length of time and they do not have English accents as my daugthers first language is Italian and my sons French/German then Italian.

Xenophobia is used as a cheap shot by to many people today rather than except an alternative view or the simple truth.

No offense meant, but I find being called Xonophobic by some one who does not know me quite uncalled for.

Ria

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Re-reading this thread it was interesting (although I agreed with the post) to see SL say ..

But as mentioned at the beginning, we live in a PC country *where it is the policy to denigrate everything we do, and support all that is anathema to us.

Later on Frank posted that *Bomber* Harris warranted a statue. He was one of the people that SL could have been talking about. He was vilified by those of the PC Brigade who wanted to rewrite their version of history.

 

[Darce]

"Bomber" Harris helped us win the war - his strategy and tactics were what was needed.

What then happened after when the Fighter "wings" were lavished praise and the Bomber "wings" brushed under the carpet due to their being ordered to kill civilians in such events as the fire bombing of Dresden was surely one of the biggest "lies" of the war.

In war sh*t happens.

So to say that Mandela should not have a statue in London because he is "Foreign" denotes to me an ignorance of what was there before and of course is still there!

A statue of:-

Abraham Lincoln

Doesn't it just make you fell great to be British?

 

[Val & Frank]

Darce,

Currently at this moment in History we do not have an African leader who is worth a statue.

Jomo Kenyata No

Kenneth Kaunda No

Ian Smith No

Can't think of a Nigerian or anyone from the Congo or any

North African Arabs

So if anyone was casting around for some one suitable I suppose Mandela was the best they could find. Don't forget the likes of Peter Hain had and still has, a lot of dirt on his hands over S Africa.

I worked in Zambia for a couple of years in the 70s not long after independence, and watched it go down hill very very quickly. Look at Zimbabwe today, the people didn't starve under White Rule !!! Zambia or the Congo are not beacons of what's best practice for Africa. So it looks like mandela was the best of a bad bunch.

Frank

 

[Darce]

I agree Frank - But still say that whatever he did in the past, Mandela's calming influence has worked as well as it could.

I have spent some time in Kenya and Daniel Arap Moi was really something else!!!!

What is happening in Zimbabwe is a disgrace - but the reason we do nothing is because it has no oil so we just let them get on with it. Shameful really.

My brother was walking to work in Gabarone (Botswana) when the SA Air Force took out the ANC office. So we are aware of the problems Africa faces.

When we look at Africa we often make the mistake of looking at it through Western eyes - you cannot do that IMHO.

I would be interested in a list of the British, European or US politicians you feel deserve such a statue?

 

[Meister]

Having read all 62 posts it now seems that we are going round in circles.

No-one has been able to answer (to my satisfaction) the question in my original post and I am left feeling that there is

NO GOOD REASON

to have a statue of Mandela in the square.

Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts on this topic, its what forums are all about (I think lol).

Steve

 

[Darce]

However, in my opinion I am proud that we have his statue on display and believe that he deserves to be honoured in such a way because as I have said before he helped forge a nation out of prejudice, and has remained a friend to the UK.

It also shows that we can appreciate the worth of other nationalities.

Are we really saying that the "Little Britain" mentality is correct and that only British people should be so honoured? That is ok if you really want to be the only gay in the village! - but surely such a parochial view indicates a lack of knowledge of the world?

That mentality would be like saying that only a Scandinavian can win Nobel prizes.

Nations honour foreign statesmen not just by statues - for example the US Navy has a guided missile Destroyer named after Winston Churchill - The USS Winston S Churchill. As far as I am aware this is the only US Naval ship named after a non-US citizen.

I wonder if some US citizens objected or had to ask the question why?

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

What is inapproriate is where the statue is, not that he can not be honoured.

The other problem is the criminal start to Mandella's prominence and the way our PC politicians use his fame for some end or another.

It took a while for someone to find the Lincoln Statue link! I also think that is inappropriate but as far as I know Lincoln had a cleaner sheet than Mandella if anyone wants to split hairs.

Darce notes the USA's use of one foreign nationals name being used on one of their ships, of course the fact that Winnies was half American as his mother was from the USA again points to the US honouring one of their own and claiming some of Churchill's record, even if only 50% of him was American! And as his grandfather was part of New York "aristocracy" it also gives some credence to a history pedigree many Americans crave ;-)

Ria

 

[Darce]

I give up!

So Churchill had a US mother - I have an American Grandfather - but I am still a UK citizen as was Churchill.

If you read what I said I referred to it being the first time the US honoured a non US citizen in such a way.

There seems to be little point in debating this anymore. You have your views on life and believe me from what I have read you are welcome to them.

Can I have those flight times LB?