GO DOWN MOSES | Rhodes Statues Removed... Next, Robert Moses?

A statue of Cecil Rhodes in Capetown being removed
to an undisclosed location. 

June 21, 2020—The shocking killing of George Floyd has had national and global implications. It reenergized the Black Lives Matter campaign and then the long-time "Rhodes Must Fall" campaign for the removal of statues to Cecil Rhodes.

The campaigns, which have recruited from a wide range of voters, are now coming after the statue to Robert Moses in front of the Village Hall in Babylon, New York. More about that after three paragraphs of background.

Rhodes, of course, was the Brit who had a dream of a "Capetown to Cairo" British Empire in Africa. He helped realize that dream and had two countries named after him for many decades—Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, and Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He created the famed Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford, won by such American political successes as Senators Richard Lugar (Univ College, Oxford) and William Fulbright (Pembroke College, Oxford), and President Bill Clinton (Univ College, Oxford).

The Rhodes Must Fall campaign was successful in Capetown, South Africa, where the statue of Rhodes was lifted from its pedestal. However, the campaign to remove a statue of Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford came to a screeching halt when several alumni threatened to end their giving to Oriel if it acceded to the demands of the campaigners. At the time, the Rhodes Must Fall banner was not one that the Oriel Provost wanted to fight under. The resolution seemed reasonable—balancing the importance of keeping historical valuable monuments while facing up to the moral or other shortcomings of people who were once lionized.

What a difference the video of Floyd's killing has made! On June 9, a thousand RMF protesters descended on Oriel College. On June 17, the governing body of Oriel College voted to remove the statue to its alumnus, Cecil Rhodes. The next day (the 78th birthday of Sir Paul McCartney), Husayn Kassai, founder of the verification company Onfido, revealed that he promised to replace any funding commitments withdrawn by "racist" alumni donors who object to the removal of the memorial to Rhodes.

So, now, what about Robert Moses? His biographer, Robert Caro, has famously documented the man's aggregation of power. Moses was a New York City Parks Commissioner for 26 years. He built parks and parkways all over New York City and Long Island. He used his power to promote the automobile and higher-income residents. For example, he built bridges on his parkway with low clearance, to prevent busloads of poor people coming to use his park. There is a Rhodes connection. After Yale, Moses went to Oxford (Wadham College), graduating with a degree in jurisprudence in 1911. He was not himself a Rhodes Scholar, but he had some strong opinions about those who were Rhodes Scholars. The new campaign to remove his statue in Babylon gives new meaning to Paul Robeson's singing of Go Down Moses.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Virginia is determined to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse in Richmond. Which raises the question: What happens to statues that are taken down?