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What’s next, take Judas out of the Bible? |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Friday, 15 August 2008 |
History is history, warts and all. It cannot be changed or cleansed. Or, as I see it, swept under the carpet. I understand the agony the past invokes on some but it cannot be altered to ease this agony. The existence of Lord Edward Cornwallis a case in point.
If references to the founder of Halifax cause discomfort to some, that is unfortunate. Cornwallis was here, he planted the flag and lived according to the social and political morés of the day. Was it right? Of course not. Killing can never be condoned. But we cannot apply the rich hues that represent today’s social attitudes and our acceptance of cultural and religious diversity to an historical canvas painted two hundred years ago. To do so only trivializes the long road traveled by our indigenous peoples and other minorities over generations, in their courageous struggle to gain this acceptance that should have been theirs from the beginning.
If we take all reference to Judas out of the Bible will it make Jesus' crucifixion any more palatable to Christians?
When a statute of Cornwallis was erected in a park bearing his name, a street with the same moniker was named after him, as was a school located on Preston Street. This wasn’t an endorsement of the slaughter of the native people, nor any other alleged wrongdoings, but to honour the person credited with the founding of Halifax.
The latest attempt to remove all reminders that Lord Edward existed is being fought on a number of fronts. There is an online petition asking for the park bearing his name in front of the Weston to be renamed and the statute of him taken down. CTV interviewed a young junior high student who is advocating that they change the name of Cornwallis Junior High to Nancy Garapick Junior High. Garapick, an Olympian, was a student at Cornwallis Junior High in the mid-70s..
Isn’t there a school bearing the name of Cornwallis in the Valley? What about the former naval base, now a retirement community nestled between Bear River and Digby? How about the pièce de résistance, Cornwallis Street Baptist Church. Guess they haven’t gotten that far. I digress.
Perhaps the greatest champion of the cleansing is Mi’kmaq author Daniel Paul who began this crusade in 1986, when he began “educating” Nova Scotians about Cornwallis’ scalp proclamation (a proclamation that offered a 10-pound sterling reward for the scalp of Mi’kmaq men, women and children). In 1749, two hundred and fifty-nine years ago, that was, as the history books state, life in North America.
It is to Paul’s credit, that he has, as he states, brought us out of the closet and laid the truth about our forefathers at our feet. Paul has also said that a lot of people didn’t like his revelation of the acts of Cornwallis. I am not included in that number.
However, the removal of a statute or the renaming of buildings or parks won’t right a wrong. Someone, in an email to CBC’s Information Morning suggested a statue of Mi”kmaq be erected beside Cornwallis, with an inscription telling their story.
Even better, take the few acres of land on the shore of Bedford Basin near Shannon Park that belong to our native peoples, and construct a memorial centre to the slain Mi’’kmaq, complete with interpretive centre. Staff it with native people. Let the story be told.
Neither the removal of a statue nor the deletion of a name will change or erase the past. What it may in fact accomplish, as Dan Paul himself has gently alluded to, is create anger and resentment, something that would in the end, serve the best interests of none.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster)
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