Mark Twain once said
about the weather in New England, rudely changeable, “Everyone talks about the
weather, but no one seems willing to do anything about it.” The same may be
said of the effort on the part of social and political anarchists to destroy
all the emblems of the past in order to build a brave new world. No one appears
willing to put a stop to their anarchic vandalization of history.
None of the
iconoclastic protesters who have defaced statues in Connecticut have yet taken
aim at Elihu Yale, whose statue in Yale University remains strangely
unmolested.
The prestigious
college, known the world over, is in New Haven, whose Democrat Mayor, Justin
Elicker, recently winked at those, himself included, who wish to air-brush
Christopher Columbus from the historical memory of the nation for the crime of…
what? The African slave trade in America began about two hundred years after the
first slaves were shipped to the New World. Columbus personally had no hand at
all in the African slave trade.
Elicker disdainfully
winked at the removal of a statue of Columbus in New Haven in the same manner
that a dentist would regard the removal of a rotten tooth. “The Christopher
Columbus statue for many Italians is a celebration of Italian heritage,”
Elicker said. “But the statue of Christopher Columbus also represents a time of
colonialism and atrocities committed. It is the right decision to remove the
statue. After the statue is removed, I believe it is important that we, as a
community, have a conversation about how to best honor the heritage of so many
Italians who have made New Haven their home.” It may be noted that Elicker
studiously avoided attributing to Columbus directly those defects in character
he reprobated. Columbus was not himself a colonialist, or a conquistador, or a
seller and trader of African slaves.
No one more
officiously represented a time of colonialism than Elihu Yale, who really did,
unlike Columbus, facilitate the monetizing of slavery. Yale money -- some of which
was given to Yale University, an act of generosity repaid when the university
was named after him -- is associated with the slave trade. And, a charge made
of Columbus by those who wished to displace him as an administrator of the
island of Hispaniola, Yale was corrupt as well.
Yale was the
President of Fort St. George in India and, as such, purchased territory for
private purposes with East India funds. Yale, according to a reliable
historical account, “imposed high taxes for the maintenance of the
colonial garrison and town, resulting in an unpopular regime and
several revolts by Indians, brutally quelled by garrison soldiers.” He was, it
has been said, “notorious for arresting and trying Indians on his own private
authority, including the hanging of a stable boy who had absconded with a
Company horse.” In our day, he would have been considered a textbook example of
a privileged, white colonialist, a go-getting, energetic businessman in an age
that dealt in the buying and selling of human flesh that, in our more
enlightened day, has been roundly condemned by both mayors of major cities in
Connecticut and Yale professors, all symbolically marching in protests arranged
by Black Lives Matter (BLM).
According to some
sources, Yale permitted a law specifying that at least ten slaves should be
carried in every ship bound for Europe, and as a judge he sentenced on
several occasions so called "black criminals" to whipping and
enslavement.
Yale months ago
disassociated itself from the foul name of states-righter John Calhoun. But it
remains eponymously attached to a white, privileged colonialist and appears to be blithely undisturbed by any of this. BLM is strangely
unmoved. There, in a quiet Yale courtyard, a statue of Yale sits undaubed with
red paint, as ANTIFA races forward towards its brave new utopia, breaking
storefront windows, setting fire to historic Washington DC black churches,
pulling down the statues of those, like Ulysses Grant, who, in a blood drenched
Civil War, struck the chains from slaves feet, while common Civil War soldiers
such as Oliver
Dart of Vernon, Connecticut wore the marks of liberation on his face
all his life long, a sacrifice remaining unremarked by Yale professors and
students.
The forces, like Black
Lives Matter and its militant enforcement arm, ANTIFA, who wish to repeal
history are missing a most enriching cue. Yale, with its obscenely swollen
endowment, is many times richer than the slaver after whom it is named. With
even mild ANTIFA pressure, the New Haven university and enlightened politicians
blinded by the light such as Elicher and the all-Democrat members of
Connecticut’s US Congressional Delegation, may be able to induce Yale to cough
up for the cause a portion of its great wealth. Statues are poor, defenseless
and mute. But Yale!
Much more so than is
the case with Columbus, the historical record of Elihu Yale’s perfidies screams
for reparations. Historical justice and social justice both demand it. What’s
the hold up on the hold up?
Yale died in 1721, a
white, privileged, colonialist slaver to the end. His tomb in
London is engraved with the following legend:
Born in America, in
Europe bred
In Africa travell'd and in Asia wed
Where long he liv'd and thriv'd; In London dead
Much good, some ill, he did; so hope all's even
And that his soul thro' mercy's gone to Heaven
You that survive and read this tale, take care
For this most certain exit to prepare
Where blest in peace, the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the silent dust.
It’s good to know that the angels have forgiven the slave trader. In both Heaven and Yale, the trade remains today its guiltiest secret.
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