Rhodes Debate and Poll: The Result
Latifa Alkhanjary
Voting has ended in a poll that asked students at the Hertfordshire and Essex High School whether the name of the Rhodes Centre in Bishop's Stortford should remain or be re-evaluated. Year 13 student Evie Mellors wrote an article outlining the facts and issues, and included the poll in response to an assembly that discussed the controversy surrounding the Rhodes debate.
‘The Network' poll revealed that 75% of students at the school believed the Rhodes Arts Complex should re-evaluate the use of Rhodes's name. Evie suggests that ‘their response shows that students feel it's inappropriate for today's Bishop's Stortford’. It is clear there is a shared desire for change in the school community.
Evie discussed how Oxford University students campaigned to remove images and statuary seen by many as advocates for oppression, social injustice, and colonisation, with some going as far as describing Rhodes as the “Hitler of Southern Africa”. In a survey at the university, 51% had experienced racial incidents they felt were unacceptable and alienating. Nothing has been done yet following the campaign, even though many believed it would stop the celebration of ‘white British imperialism’.
With regards to the outcome of the Network poll, Evie hopes that ‘as a diverse community we can now have a wider discussion about how to better represent our history and the views of Bishop’s Stortford today’.
‘The Network' poll revealed that 75% of students at the school believed the Rhodes Arts Complex should re-evaluate the use of Rhodes's name. Evie suggests that ‘their response shows that students feel it's inappropriate for today's Bishop's Stortford’. It is clear there is a shared desire for change in the school community.
Evie discussed how Oxford University students campaigned to remove images and statuary seen by many as advocates for oppression, social injustice, and colonisation, with some going as far as describing Rhodes as the “Hitler of Southern Africa”. In a survey at the university, 51% had experienced racial incidents they felt were unacceptable and alienating. Nothing has been done yet following the campaign, even though many believed it would stop the celebration of ‘white British imperialism’.
With regards to the outcome of the Network poll, Evie hopes that ‘as a diverse community we can now have a wider discussion about how to better represent our history and the views of Bishop’s Stortford today’.