London Socialist Historians Group
12th June
Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians back protests on statue of slaver Robert Geffrye as Hackney’s Museum of the Home re-opens
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, has backed protests as Hackney’s Museum of the Home re-opens with a statue of slave trader Robert Geffrye still firmly in a central position
Some important and interesting changes have been made to Museum during a refurbishment. One change that hasn’t been made is to remove the statue of slave trader Robert Geffrye (1613-1703) that is in a central place at the old front of the museum.
When the black lives matter movement resurged after the murder of George Floyd a year ago there was a consultation, jointly with Hackney Council, on whether the statue should be moved. 71% of the 2,000 or so local respondents said it should be. This was blocked by Ministers Dowden and Jenrick.
This move reflects the frankly weird ideological obsessions of the present Government. Robert Geffrye funded the almshouses in which the museum, much later from 1914, came to be housed. He is absolutely nothing to do with it and there is no historical reason for his statue to be there (as opposed to elsewhere nearby).
The Daily Telegraph (11th June)has reported that Museum staff feel the statue could be better represented and explained if it was moved from its current central position to the area nearby where Geffrye is actually buried.
The Museum has made some changes to reflect the area in which its based better. There is a new exhibition of a West Indian sitting room from 1976.
It still doesn’t address the central point about the statue and Stand Up To Racism are holding protests on 12th June.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, pretty everyone thinks the statue of Robert Geffrye should be moved except the Tory Culture War Warriors Oliver Dowden and Robert Jenrick. That is not democracy in action. The Ministers are pandering to a bigoted minority who don’t have an issue with the slave trade. That is entirely unacceptable in 2021.
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