ADEKEYE ADEBAJO: Cecil Rhodes’s legacy is crumbling but needs to be remembered
Cecil Rhodes set out to achieve immortality by leaving a 4,000-year legacy. His “cult” is still evidenced by 30 biographies, eight novels, six plays and countless films and documentaries. Barely 120 years after his death, however, this legacy is now crumbling.
As the greatest individual symbol of British imperialism, Rhodes’s memorials clearly need no longer occupy prominent places, as these constitute a permanent assault on the descendants of his black victims. However, it is also critical that Rhodes’s monuments not be totally erased. History should be preserved through memorials in museums and theme parks that properly contextualise the atrocities of such imperial figures...
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