More madness from the so-called ‘Liberal Left’. Students at Manchester University have removed Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘IF’ from a wall and replaced it with a poem entitled, ‘Still I Rise’, by Maya Angelou.
Of course, when I mean students, I'm not talking about the majority of the student body but a few students who in their wisdom and arrogance have decided what the student body as a whole should view. If you are unfamiliar with the poem, IF, I suggest you visit a previous post of mine concerning the author. To be honest, I’m not a fan of Rudyard Kipling’s work, especially his poetry. However, I can admire the man’s talent, which is undeniable. Therefore, tis is a matter of taste, which is not absolute or easy to pin down. That said, what right have the ‘strident few’ to act as the arbiters of taste for all? In their own words: “Today, as a team we removed an imperialist's work from the walls of our union and replaced them with the words of Maya Angelou- God knows black and brown voices have been written out of history enough, and it's time we try to reverse that, at the very least in our union.” [Fatima Abid, the general secretary of Manchester's SU].
How nice for a few ‘right on’ liberals to censor material for the students in general. Heaven forbid that students should think and decide for themselves. And there was me a thinking that higher education is a time to develop critical, independent thought unfettered by irrational bias and coercion. More fool me.
Rudyard Kipling is an important British writer and poet. His work should be appraised and read in its historic, contextual setting. Criticise the work on intrinsic artistic merit, but don’t deny people the right to access his work. This is a predictable tactic by the radical Left concerning anything of which they disagree: close it down, deny platform and effectively stifle debate. In a society that considers itself FREE, this is anathema and tantamount to Liberal Fascism and cultural vandalism.
As for the replacement poem, ‘Still I Rise', go read for yourself. However, in my opinion, the poem is shit and the authoress, woefully untalented. But on a positive note, she is black. ARSE.
Was never a fan of "If", but I did hear a more snappy version on Radio 4 many years ago:
ReplyDeleteThere was an old man from New Delhi
Who said, "When you're kicked in the belly,
don't worry and whine,
just sit there benign,
and be mellow, not Machiavelli"
Mick, dat is shit doggerel.
DeleteSo the man who wrote "You're a better man than I, GungaDin." did so because he was an incorrigible racist.
ReplyDeleteIf we were to go back to times when a university education had a value, and only some 10% of school-leavers went on to tertiary education, this snowflake bollocks might just vanish.
Sara Khan, the union’s liberation and access officer, said students had not been consulted about the art that would decorate the union building. “We, as an exec team, believe that Kipling stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment and human rights – the things that we, as an SU, stand for,” she said.
Wonder if she's one of the Cheshire Khans...
I also wonder WTF is a "liberation and access officer".
'Liberation and access officer'. Surely as is the case of the real political world, there is a need to find jobs and titles for the cronies. I wonder if it is the same as: 'Human resource compliance and diversity facilitator'. Probably not as this would constitute another 'job'.
DeleteHopefully, not at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with you, Flax (there's a surprise). When it comes to these idiots' later lives, I would be quite content were they to not have one.
ReplyDelete