re: Bring Us Your Favorite 2021 and Beyond Memes

quote:

---

British statesman and slavery abolitionist Edmund Burke, widely regarded as one of the fathers of conservativism, has been added to a BLM-inspired shame list by UK parliamentarians for historical figures with supposed connections to the slave trade.

Despite never owning slaves himself, and his fierce opposition to the barbaric practice, Edmund Burke’s statues and portraits are now under review for possible removal from the Palace of Westminster by a group of MPs tasked with assessing the building’s artwork to see if they fall in line with woke progressive standards.

According to a report from The Times of London, the father of conservatism has been listed in a review of those who “supported slavery [or] had financial or family interests in the transatlantic slave trade and slavery,” due to his brother profiting from slave plantations in the Caribbean. There is no suggestion that Burke himself profited, however.

The review, which was sparked by the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in Britain in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in America, will seek to transform Parliament’s art collection to become “more representative of diversity”. The cross-party review is being led by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s advisory committee on works of art in the House of Commons and is chaired by Conservative MP Dean Russell.

---

quote:

---

The addition of Burke has led to backlash on historical grounds, with King’s College, Cambridge professor of political thought Richard Bourke describing his inclusion on the list as “nonsense”.

“It’s definitely nonsense that Burke was a supporter of the slave trade. He was a critic of slavery from his first recorded views. He found it abhorrent,” he told The Telegraph.

---