You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Worse Than Than The Na zis?
British Empire was worse than the Na zis': Professor of black studies brands Winston Churchill 'a white supremacist' in controversial debate... at Churchill College
The British Empire was branded 'far worse than the ****' during a controversial debate about Sir Winston Churchill's legacy last night. The wartime prime minister was also described by an academic as a 'white supremacist' who benefited from Britain's 'heavily skewed national story'. The online discussion - held by Churchill College, Cambridge - on 'The Racial Consequences of Mr Churchill' looked at his 'backward' views on empire and race and was held as part of a year-long 'inclusivity' review. Contributor Kehinde Andrews, a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University, said: 'The British Empire was far worse than the ****. They lasted longer and killed many more people.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9252143/Controversial-Cambridge-debate-hears-accusation-Winston-Churchill-white-supremacist.html
The British Empire was branded 'far worse than the ****' during a controversial debate about Sir Winston Churchill's legacy last night. The wartime prime minister was also described by an academic as a 'white supremacist' who benefited from Britain's 'heavily skewed national story'. The online discussion - held by Churchill College, Cambridge - on 'The Racial Consequences of Mr Churchill' looked at his 'backward' views on empire and race and was held as part of a year-long 'inclusivity' review. Contributor Kehinde Andrews, a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University, said: 'The British Empire was far worse than the ****. They lasted longer and killed many more people.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9252143/Controversial-Cambridge-debate-hears-accusation-Winston-Churchill-white-supremacist.html
Comments
Churchill is very much a polarising figure. No other man could have provided such inspirational leadership during World War 2. Similarly, no other man could have lost the 1945 election.
The British Empire did many shameful things. It did not try and wipe out two races (can anyone explain why the Gypsies are ignored?). I do not think it was worse. But I can understand why, in some respects, some people might disagree.
It also never spread the quaint notion of rule by law.
It never spread the notion of democracy.
It never built infrastructures like roads and sewage systems.
It never started out to trade goods from and around the world.
It never became the first block in world to abolish slavery.
It never sent warships to the African continent to enforce it's world wide ban on the slave trade.
It never stood alone as a beacon to the rest of the world against the tyranny of Hitler.
There is a great line in the movie A Few Good Men, where Colonel Jessop played by Jack Nicholson says something along the lines of "You people sleep and rise under the umbrella of protection I provide and then choose to question the way that I provide it".
It must be easy to complain from a position of relative safety and comfort.
Coming soon from Vauxhall, the all new Bandwaggon. It seats as many as you want in total comfort. Test drive one now at your nearest Bandwaggon dealer.
Bandwaggon is available in any colour except white and is on display at facebook, twitter, tik tok and other social media outlets.
Rule by Law? That would be the Romans. We just subjugated millions of people. Did not give them any sort of vote.
We built roads primarily so that we could transport slaves and the appropriated gold/diamonds etc easier. Millions of people torn from their families.
We specialised in robbing Africa of its vast mineral reserves.
The reason we were the first country to abolish slavery is simply because we were the country that first had slaves on a large scale, and we had the most slaves.
You do know that we were responsible for most of the original African slave trade. 11 million people shipped to the Americas alone. Compare/contrast our Rule of Asian/African countries with Australia/Canada etc
We didn't. Russia made more sacrifices than even we did (and we made loads).
"Relative safety and comfort"? For me, yes. For someone of African heritage, a Continent that was subjugated by Europe for 400 years, not so much.
But I just want to give one example as to how history is written by the winners of wars.
If you google "first concentration camp" you will, in all probability, be directed to Dachau in 1930s Germany. "First to use concentration camps"-Germany.
Whereas it is a British invention. At least 48,000 people died in them in South Africa in the 2nd Boer War. Although we couldn't be bothered to keep records as to how many died. And Jacob Rees-Mogg said we created them for the protection of South Africans.
Might be a more difficult thing to do than you imagine.
African tribes sold captured fighters into slavery, as did native American Indians, the Incas, Mayans, Vikings, Persians, Sumarians, Romans, Goths, Han Chinese, Mongolians .....
Think you get my point.
Something else you might want to consider is in this country you're also free to love who you want, worship whichever god you choose and pretty much say what you want.
I'm sick of being held accountable for the sins of the past. It serves only to divide. I'd much rather celebrate the positives in order to extinguish the flames of those who wish to stoke the fires of anger, distrust, guilt hatred and extremism in all its forms.
The erosion of democracy around the world continued for the 14th consecutive year, according to an annual report from Freedom House.
Why it matters: Year after year, many of the world’s democracies become less democratic. This year’s report draws particular attention to India,where policies targeting Muslims are “threatening the democratic future of a country long seen as a potential bulwark of freedom in Asia and the world.”
Breaking it down:
According to the rankings (out of 100), the most free countries in the world are Finland (100), Norway (100), Sweden (100), the Netherlands (99), Luxembourg (98), Uruguay (98) and Canada (98).
The least free are Syria (0), Turkmenistan (2), Eritrea (2), South Sudan (2) and North Korea (3).
The big picture: "Where once democracies might have acted in unison to support positive outcomes to global crises,disparate authoritarian states now frequently step into the breach and attempt to impose their will," the authors write.
Bad news:
Myanmar moved from “partly free” to “not free” because of deepening conflicts between the military and ethnic minorities.
Benin also fell to “partly free” after opposition parties were excluded from parliamentary elections.
El Salvador is now “partly free” because of violence and intimidation from criminal groups and politicization of the judiciary.
Senegal declined to “partly free” after opposition figures were barred from the presidential election.
Indian-administered Kashmir moved to “not free” amid a lockdown there and the revocation of constitutional protections.
Good news:
Mauritania moved to “partly free” after a “credible” presidential election and peaceful transfer of power.
Thailand moved to “partly free” after direct military rule ended, at least nominally, following elections.
There are many people, particularly on the Right wing, who have what I regard as a romanticised picture of my country. and genuinely think that anyone who doesn't share their view isn't patriotic.
Me? I love my country as it is. With all its faults. I love visiting other countries and other cultures. But I would never live anywhere else. I agree with the positives you mention. I think that we have learnt from the past, but there is still more to do.
Can that go too far? Of course it can. I believe it is unfair to apply 21st Century morality to people who lived before then. It can sometimes be divisive. But at its best it helps us going forward.
Because we need to be better than we were. The Daily Mail (who made the article) has improved from the days when it openly supported Hitler. But it still has so far to go.
Its like others have said I'm not going to don sackcloth and ashes and say sorry for things that I have nothing to with.
Thats akin to me holding present day Germans responsible for the death camps or me hating the French because William killed my ancestor.
Things wont get better until the agent provocateurs stop looking back and look forward.
Every nation on Earth has done bad things from humanities standpoint. Get over it and move on TOGETHER.
On a lighter note, I saw the Bayeaux Tapestry a few years ago. I could get all political, and say he invaded because King Harold was duplicitous. But I think there is a far better reason.
Prior to 1066, he was known as William the Bastaard
Obviously the practice of using son and dottier after the fathers name was abolished under the Normans so the name was after just known as Godwin or Goodwin, although to be snobby Godwin is the pure form.
Thank you.
Mark Godwin proud descendant of the viking hordes.
https://make-it-plain.org/2020/12/04/its-time-to-ignore-the-white-house-negro/
I guess he does have a book to sell.
Guess he won't be getting a Xmas card from his white british grandfather.