Was Admiral Horatio Nelson really a ‘white supremacist’ and could Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square be removed?
Guardian journalist Afua Hirsch said the monument in London's Trafalgar Square should be felled because the Admiral 'defended slavery'
A JOURNALIST sparked outrage last year after calling for Nelson's Column to be removed, branding the Naval commander a "white supremacist".
Afua Hirsch said the monument in London's Trafalgar Square should be torn down because the Admiral "defended slavery". We reveal all...
Could Nelson's Column be torn down?
Technically if a successful campaign was launched then yes, but the article was met with fury by Londoners and tourists who described the call as an "insult to our history".
Brexit campaigner Daniel Hannan commented: “Now, it seems, #NelsonMustFall. This is where competitive virtue signalling leads.”
Twitter user Andrew Graham said: “Toppling statues? Nelson’s column should be next.” These days someone’s offended by everything… #RewriteHistory”.
Russell Lloyd added: “Tear down Nelson’s Column, what an insult, it’s part of our history, where in the world do these pathetic idiots come from?”
Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Statues and monuments provide the landmarks of our past that define our national identity whether we approve of it or not.
“They should be protected and in many cases revered. ‘Pulling them down polarises society and leads to violence and social breakdown.
“Hadrian’s Wall is a monument to Roman power that was built on slavery.
“Should we destroy the ancient identity of western civilisation. No.”
The piece follows an unsuccessful campaign at Oxford University to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes over fears it might offend ethnic minorities.
But the move sparked concerns students were trying to erase a piece of history - and led to accusations of a "snowflake generation".
Why does Afua Hirsch want Nelson's Column removed?
Writing in The Guardian, the journalist suggested it could be time to “look at our own landscape” in the wake of a spate of statues being removed in the US.
In the article titled, Toppling statues? Here’s why Nelson’s Column should be next, she said the man who helped defeat Napoleon was "what you would call now, without hesitation, a white supremacist".
She added: "Britain’s best known naval hero – so idealised that after his death in 1805 he was compared to no less than ‘the God who made him’ – used his seat in the House of Lords and his position of huge influence to perpetuate the tyranny, serial rape and exploitation organised by West Indian planters, some of whom he counted among his closest friends.
"It is figures like Nelson who immediately spring to mind when I hear the latest news of confederate statues being pulled down in the US."
Her comments come hot on the heels of protests calling for the felling of statues of Confederate leaders across the USA.
Speaking on yesterday on Sky News, Afua added: "He believed that black people were inferior, that they belong on plantations working under conditions of torture and exploitation and he used his incredible position of influence to try and prolong that situation.
"My real issue is when we remember these figures from British history we don't remember the full picture. We only remember the pro Imperial propaganda that he was a good person, that he was a hero.
"Where are the statues to people who were oppressed by people like Nelson? 'These people are as an integral part of our history as figures like Nelson but where are their monuments?"
Who was Lord Nelson?
Nelson was a British naval commander praised as a hero for his naval victories against the French during the Napoleonic wars.
He was born in 1758 in Norfolk and joined the Navy aged just 12 on a ship commanded by his uncle - despite suffering from seasickness.
At 20, he became a captain and carried out services in the West Indies, Baltics and Canada before returning to Britain and marrying Frances Nisbet.
When Britain entered the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, Nelson was given command of the Agamemnon.
He served in the Mediterranean, helped capture Corsica and saw battle at Calvi - where he lost the sight in his right eye - and later lost his arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797.
Between 1794 to 1805, the Royal Navy proved its supremacy over the French under Nelson's leadership.
His most famous engagement, the Battle of Trafalgar, saved Britain from threat of invasion by Napoleon - but it proved to be his last fight.
On October 21, 1805, Lord Nelson sent out the famous signal to his fleet that "England expects that every man will do his duty". He was killed by a French sniper just hours later.
Nelson's Column was constructed in Trafalgar Square to commemorate the Admiral between 1840 and 1843.
