The possible fall of Cecil Rhodes
Ever since there have been recordings about human history, important people, whether in politics, economy or elsewhere, existed who polarized.
These days, the most popular one in the UK probably is Boris Johnson. Statements given by him like “bureaucrats in Brussel are using methods from the Nazi dictator because “they share the aim of unifying Europe under one Authority” and “ the EU wants to create a superstate, just like Hitler did” lead to the fact that you either like him or not.
Cecil Rhodes is such a person. Cecil Rhodes, born July 5, 1853 in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England, was British magnate, politician, and empire builder of British South Africa during the time of the British Empire. I could write a long blog about his live, but will only give you the importants facts you have to know:
When 17 years old, he was sent to South Africa where his brother Herbert already lived in 1870 after suffering from tuberculosis.
Herbert and Cecil did in diamond mining succesfully in New Rush (today Kimberley).
In 1889 Rhodes was given carte blanche by the British government to found the British South African Company (BSAC) which was meant to push the development in Africa. Under these terms, Rhodes conquered more land and was able to develop railways there. The actions of Rhodes and his BSAC forever changed the face of Southern Africa and the lives of its inhabitants. He built a large empire in Southern Africa, but in doing so he disregarded the rights of the people — the “natives,” as he referred to them — already living on the lands that he claimed. Rhodes’s treaties with the various African chiefs tended to be of dubious legality, and he routinely pushed against or ignored established boundaries with other European colonial powers, which sometimes put him at odds with Britain’s Foreign Office.
1890 was the year when Cecil Rhodes became Prime Minister of the Cap colonies.
Rhods died March 26, 1902.
His way of acting in the BSAC conflicts sharply with his last will. He left the Oriel College Oxford a large amount of money with which young men from the colonies, Germany and from the United States were supposed to be awarded. Most of his fortune was devoted to the scholarships as his will forbade disqualification on grounds of race.(http://www.britannica.com/biography/Cecil-Rhodes)
But what he is probably most remembered for is his believe.
He considered the British as “the number one race in the world” and dreamt of a reunion of the Anglo-American world under a common, imperial rule.
This believe has an influence on life today. In the beginning of 2016, a debate started within the students body of the Oriel-College whether the statue of Cecil Rhodes must fall or not. (A big statue of Cecil Rhodes sits on top of the portal of Oriel-College.)
“Rhodes must fall” chants the student Ntokozo Qwabe (from South Africa receiving a scholarship) in front of the Oriel-College in Oxford.
Another student claiming Rhodes’ fall is Yasmin Kumi who compares Rhodes with Hitler. She states: “Being half German I can tell you that there is not one statue of Hitler in Germany, although the country still profits from his widening of streets. I compare Hitler with Rhode because they share the same ideology which is found on rassism.”
Supporters of the statue are the chancellor of the university, Lord Chris Patten, and theology professor Nigel Baggar. According to them, it is wrong to accuse Rhodes’ of being the South African Hitler. He was harsh when it comes to his way of leading the BSAC but “he never denied the blacks to develop further culturally due to their heritage. In contrast to current African leaders, he did not keep money to himself. If Rhodes falls, the same applies to Chruchill. He shared the same ideas of that time.“ (http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/cecil-rhodes-proteste-gegen-einen-stifter-der-universitaet.691.de.html?dram:article_id=343438 ; http://www.swp.de/ulm/nachrichten/politik/Cecil-Rhodes-soll-fallen;art4306,3659155)
I find the debate very interesting and it put me on taking a closer look at the life of Cecil Rhodes. But at the same time I ask myself why it is so accepted to compare another person with Hitler as long as you, as the one giving the comparison, is not from Germany? And why is it always Hitler? Rhodes has lived long before Hitler and so have other who have followed a similar ideology. Because for there have been man on earth, have there been man who wanted to rule the world.
I don’t want to play down what Hitler did, under no circumstances. But is the comparison always all right?
And should Rhodes really fall? — The decision is planned to be made this summer.
