After Charlottesville

TIME TO MAKE A STAND. Inspired by the brave local politicians in Charlottesville and their decision to fell the statue of Robert E. Lee I have decided I can no longer tolerate the street names in my immediate neighbourhood. We back onto Victoria Road South (I am ashamed to say that I once owned a house on this road) named after the blood-boultered Empress of India. Running off this are Outram Road and Havelock Road named after two British Generals famed for their suppression of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 just before the American Civil War. Again, in the immediate vicinity, is the Jami Mosque and a considerable Bangladeshi community which make the perpetuation of these intolerable imperialist tropes no longer acceptable. On their behalf I demand that these offensive street names be removed and replaced with something more suitable like Unity Avenue or Brotherhood Lane. And then there's Albert Road of course..........Of course, should any unwholesome elements decide to protest these changes, the responsibility for what transpires will be wholly theirs and I will make it my business to demand that politicians of all stripes support that view unanimously. And then there are the statues of Havelock, Outram and Napier in Trafalgar Square but one step at a time........