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Down With History!
From Hong Kong to Harvard, erasing history has become a necessity. In the Chinese territory, it is the authorities in Beijing who want to eliminate any memory of the past; in Harvard Square, it is the Law School students. In Hong Kong, memories of its colonial past cannot be missed: the harbor and the main road are named for Queen Victoria and, worst of all in the minds of Beijing's authorities, what TheEconomist calls "the humble post box" stands as a reminder that it was the colonial masters who established Hong Kong's postal system. So paint over the ubiquitous red boxes, making them green. Done, but a first step only on the road to erasing the past. Now the royal symbols on the remaining 59 boxes are to be covered up lest they remind student protesters and others that the British oppressors made real contributions to the quality of life while the current version are concentrating solely on establishing pervasive control over the lives of its colony, including some day making credit, promotions and other advantages only to those whose social media use evidences total support for the regime.
In Harvard it is the students of law, a profession that relies heavily on the continuity provided by precedent and historic case law who find history repugnant. They chant "Royall Must Fall" as part of their campaign to have the official seal "scrubbed", as the Wall Street Journal puts it, of Isaac Royall, Jr., a slaveholder whose bequest led to the school's founding in 1817. "Racially insensitive," proclaim some students. A legal historian and visiting professor responds, "I understand why the students are upset, but this is just a fact of the school." There is something charming, and even reassuring, to know that somewhere on the law school faculty lurks a professor who believes confronting student protestors with "a fact" might have some effect.
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