In the light of all the ongoing hooha from the BLM lot, and assorted bandwagon-jumpers in New Zealand, I found myself thinking about where the outraged protests, statue-defacing and clamour for renaming anything deemed offensive by the braindead mob, might extend.
At the higher end, what about Queen Victoria, for example, who stands dumpily in several public spots in this country – presiding over an empire that included great chunks of the world, acquired largely by vast numbers of troops striding imperiously into hot, dark places, doing away with a few annoying natives before gleefully planting Union Jacks in the earth, and then grabbing all they could stuff into ships to take back home.
Nelson’s Lord Rutherford is another one, (actually both these names demand scrutiny!). If we are going to be consistent in playing the blame-game, surely Rutherford has to be held responsible for every nuclear bomb that has been tested or dropped, since he discovered how to split the atom. Wikipedia supplies a very long list of buildings, schools and other institutions bearing his name, so how could the zealots have missed them?
Of course, writing space doesn’t permit an exhaustive list, but consider these place names: Blackmans in Alexandra; Dunedin and Porangahau’s Blackhead, (racist, or just places known for bad skin?), and I won’t even mention the West Coast’s Blackball!
We should no longer talk about Kaikoura’s seal colony, or the albatrosses near Dunedin – that C-word is totally inappropriate. Colonial Drive, Grove, Place and Road in the North Island have to go, and the mind just boggles at the origins of Colonial Knob in Porirua.
So, yes, just like Nestles, who were extremely disappointed over the omission of their “Redskins” from the “to-be-culled” list, I feel let down.
After all, if you are on a mission, do it properly, thoroughly, and be consistent, if you want credibility! You are letting the side down, guys.
What’s that…..? There are too many… it’ll take too long? Oh, I see, it involves WORK and COMMITMENT, and quite apart from that, I’m just being silly?
Enough said!
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