Rascal
El Presidente
The problem is nobody appears to know what "our" culture is. Ask ten people and you will get ten different answers. The culture in Manchester is different to London etc.The problem is we all want 'our' culture to prevail and that is the main war being fought, especially in the political area. There are some who want statues of slave traders to remain because they subscribe to the lobby that there were good things about subjects like the British Empire. This isn't because they're racist but because it's a factual part of British history and so they therefore feel it's part of their cultural beliefs and identity.
This just goes back to the problem though because when we talk of the empire there are people who can't accept anything other than the empire was only a bad thing. To them because it was a bad thing we should tear down any reference to it and instead of debating they'll try to cancel, disrepute or ostracize the people who argue otherwise.
As they say there is no light without dark and how we define what's bad and good should always remain open to debate. The problem nowadays is no-one wants to debate, they want what they want and that's it. If they can't get what they want then that triggers anger and the main outlet for that is often places like Twitter or even this forum which is where it gets nasty.
On statues , take the Coulston one, people had lobbied the council in a democratic fashion for years but got nowhere, took matters into their own hands and were found not guilty in court. They tried to talk and debate it and were ignored.
I quite like statues, I even like the one of Churchill and he was no angel, I like the one in Manchester of Lincoln and he has been attributed to having fascist tendencies by Confederate revisionists.
As for history, it is constantly being rewritten, every new Historical book adds or detracts from what has gone before. As evidence is uncovered and facts change it is OK to change your mind.