Don’t take down the statue – add to it
26 June, 2020
The Boer War statue at Highbury Corner
• DON’T take down the Boer War statue at Highbury Corner. Add to it, (Historian: ‘Don’t pull down Highbury Corner’s Boer War statue’, June 26).
It mourns Islington lads pointlessly killed in a war between two white nations over who gets to exploit black labour.
The Brits wanted the gold and diamonds; the Boers wanted the Africans’ land. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Islingtonians supported the anti-apartheid campaign.
It’s commemorated in Edinburgh by a small bronze figure – an anonymous African woman with her child. Why not put a copy of her beside the Boer War goddess, in that green triangle dedicated to South Africa?
NEAL ASCHERSON
Corsica Street, N5
