Harlow racism activists renew demands for name change at Rhodes Arts Complex in Bishop's Stortford
Activists from Harlow, backed by Bishop's Stortford campaigners, have vowed to protest at Rhodes Arts Complex on Wednesday (July 22) – despite trustees' continuing assurances that the venue's name will be changed.
Stand Up to Racism Harlow (SUTR) has "given notice" that it will not be deterred from staging a second demonstration at the South Road site from 6pm and has issued a list of demands, starting with immediate removal of all references to Cecil Rhodes from the building and the venue's website.
The group, backed by Stortford Against Rhodes, not only insists that the centre's connection with the controversial colonialist be severed, but also says that only his replacement with a BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) person as a figurehead will acknowledge "the gravity of the years of racist insult and hurt" caused by the association with the Victorian diamond magnate who was born in the former family home on the site.
SUTR has called for Harlow teacher and musician Felix Cobson, who founded Aklowa, the African village educational centre which operated in Takeley, to be honoured instead.
Rhodes Birthplace Trust (RBT) began the process of changing the centre's name as part of its conversion to Bishop's Stortford Museum and Arts Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) before the Black Lives Matter movement renewed the spotlight on Cecil Rhodes' white supremacist record, but its assurances have failed to placate the protesters.
In their rallying call to supporters, SUTR says: "Could it perhaps be that the Rhodes complex trust think that Black Lives Matter only when people are holding their feet to the fire?"
On Monday (July 20) the trustees reiterated their commitment to changing the name – but made it clear other demands will not be met and the centre will not be renamed "after a person past or present".
Chairwoman Deirdre Glasgow said: "We were disappointed to learn of the intention for another demonstration to take place outside the centre, despite our commitment to implement all the changes as indicated on our timeline.
"Nothing about our promise has changed: we continue to be committed to a name change for the complex. The new CIO has been in existence since June 9, 2020 and we are currently working towards completing the handover arrangements between the existing charity and the CIO by the end of the current financial year, in April 2021.
"Between now and next April, once all other administrative details have been attended to, such as the corporate relaunch and accompanying stationery, road signage and the website, a new name will be applied to the building.
"I am sure the community appreciates that during the pandemic all theatres and museums were closed, including ours, and no income could be generated. We hope you will support us to ensure this wonderful venue stays open."
SUTR Harlow spokesman Michael Szpakowski told the Indie he believed the trustees were prevaricating: "It would be a simple matter to show good faith to remove Rhodes' name from the signage, and to remove it from the website would be a day's work."
He defended the right to issues demands in Bishop's Stortford, saying: "We are a group based in Harlow, we are Harlow and district, but racism is not something that is divisible."
He said that the need to issue a timetable for change was not negotiable: "Because the trust did not act immediately, I would say they are complicit in racism."
Mr Szpakowski rejected the suggestion that the new name should not honour any individual. "It has to be a person and has to be a BAME person to undo the damage of the centre being named after a colonialist. It a matter of reparations. It would be appropriate to show some contrition for that long association with a white supremacist."
He said that choosing a neutral name would be "cowardice and a cop-out" and that Mr Cobson, despite the lack of direct connection with the complex or Bishop's Stortford, would be a fitting choice.
He warned: "We are not going to let them off the hook."
In a statement, Stortford Against Rhodes, which was formed after a series of petitions sprang up to force the name change, said: "Almost six weeks ago, Rhodes Birthplace Trust responded to our petitions by promising that they and the arts complex would soon be renamed. They failed to confirm, however, that the Rhodes name or any variant of it would not be an option. We strongly believe that keeping the Rhodes name in any form celebrates and glorifies a white supremacist who caused untold suffering to millions.
"We sought this simple clarification to their statement, but, despite their initial response to our petitions taking only a few days, six weeks later we're still waiting.
"Local residents may recall times in the past when dropping the Rhodes name was considered. Each and every time the idea was kicked down the road and eventually forgotten about. Our hope is that this time will be different."
