Rhodes Must Fall: Now Oxford University called to remove statue

South Africa’s “Rhodes must Fall” campaign has reverberated across the globe leading an independent commission to call for the removal of a controversial statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

An exclusive report in the Guardian in the United Kingdom has indicated that the independent commission, which was established to investigate the future of a controversial statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes at Oxford University,  has now recommended that it be pulled down.

Oxford University’s Oriel College had earlier voted that the statue should be removed from its campus, and the commission to examine the decision, was then set up in June 2020.

“The commission was asked to look into the issue after a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston was torn down in Bristol at the height of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protest. The decision had been delayed owing to a “considerable volume of submissions” that the commission received and the coronavirus pandemic,” The Guardian reported.

“In the report, seen by the Guardian, the commission recommended that the statue be taken down and that the King Edward Street plaque be removed. A majority of commission members supported the expressed wish of the governing body to remove the statue,” the Guardian reported.

According to the Guardian the commission had also “urged Oriel College’s governing body to publish a definitive statement of its view concerning its association with Rhodes and that the college revise materials to ensure they are consistent with the statement.”

The Guardian quoted Rhodes Must Fall Oxford, a student group that has been campaigning for the statue’s removal as welcoming the commission’s recommendation.

“We’re pleased that the commission came to a decision that recognises the brutality of Cecil Rhodes, and that of the colonial systems of extraction and oppression with which Oxford University’s legacy is tied,” the group told the publication.

The Guardian said the it has contacted Oriel College and Oxford University for comment.