JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: "RIGHTING THE WRONGS OF THE PAST" BY NOT HONORING SOMEONE (AS WAS JUST THE CASE IN BRITAIN WITH ROALD DAHL) HAS A NICE SOUND TO IT - BUT IT IS TRULY AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK - AND THERE ARE SO MANY DARK LITTLE CORNERS IN SO MANY HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC LIVES THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO TOSS A HUGE NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ONES EVEN TO ATTEMPT THE TASK

John Chuckman


COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT



“Royal Mint made the right decision over [in not honoring] Roald Dahl. If only we could say the same for other British institutions

“This is not a matter of censorship; it is a way of righting the wrongs of the past”



The situation is so much more complex than the simplistic presentation we receive in newspapers.

Richard Wagner was an intense, unrelenting anti-Semite, but orchestras everywhere still play his music.

Henry Ford was also an intense anti-Semite, and he wrote a hateful book about Jews. Hitler quite admired him and kept his photo on the wall of his chancellery office. Yet millions drive Ford cars, and governments everywhere do business with the company.

There are many other important cases, including the historical giant, Martin Luther, important scholar, translator of the Bible, religious revolutionary, composer, and major church-founding figure.

And I like to think that not just anti-Semitism is important, but all hatreds, and all equally, and there are just so many of them. That would literally open the floodgates against many hundreds of historical and artistic figures, including important ones like Winston Churchill or the former King of England who gave up the throne for "the woman he loved."

So, I think a little better understanding is much in order, with more balance and a little less absolute self-righteousness.

We aren't trying to praise someone for the darker corners of his life but for a large contribution to literature.

But in a case like this, we lose sight of all balance and conclude a few ugly expressions out of an entire life render him unwelcome.

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An added thought.

Since the author, a black woman, has part of her name as French, I can't help but reflect on Haiti, even though it may have no connection to her.

Napoleon, a much-honored figure, made a huge effort to crush the slave revolt in what was then a French colony. He sent 50,000 troops, and it was a very bloody business.

Just one of Napoleon's many less admirable acts, but we find his name and image everywhere. A true world figure.

Add to that the name of President Thomas Jefferson. That lifetime, unrepentant owner of about 200 slaves, actually worked to assist Napoleon in his efforts to crush the rebellion, going against both his own words about freedom and the right and obligation to revolt, but also very much giving real substance to his well-known writing on the inferiority of blacks.

I haven't seen his statues pulled down or his face expunged from countless government documents (including the American 2-dollar bill) or his name removed from hundreds of schools and institutions.

Only a fairly widespread lack of knowledge of history allows things like the Roald Dahl business to become important. Truth is, overwhelmingly, most people will have had no awareness of his darker remarks, just as they have virtually no awareness of these other dark matters, and yet many more which could be cited.