The empire writes back: tackling Britain’s colonial past
- As calls to re-evaluate Britain and its empire have grown, so too has the resistance against it
- Author says failure to adequately teach British colonial history in schools is ‘really dysfunctional‘
The statue of Robert Clive outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in central London depicts him with an imperious gaze, his hand gripping the hilt of a sheathed sword.
But despite often heated debate about monuments to colonial figures with links to the slave trade and the legacy of Britain’s past, “Clive of India” remains in place.
For the British author Sathnam Sanghera, just seeing the monument to the controversial 18th century general who profited massively from the exploitation of India and Indians is “degrading”.
“I wouldn’t mourn the toppling of that Clive statue, which was considered controversial when it was put up,” Sanghera said.
Sanghera’s new book, Empireland, published Thursday, explores Britain’s uneasy relationship with its past, which was thrown into sharp relief by the Black Lives Matter protests last year.