Oxford’s Rhodes statue and the bogus argument against its fall | Letters

Martin Platt says history not censored by the removal of monuments, while Richard Pantlin of the Oxford Zimbabwe Arts Partnership expresses his disappointment over Oriel College's decision

Here we go again - the bogus argument that removing statues is censoring history", as parroted by Gavin Williamson and some bloke at the Policy Exchange thinktank (Oxford college criticised for refusal to remove Cecil Rhodes statue, 20 May). Let us remind ourselves why statues and monuments are erected - to celebrate a person or an event. That is why Rhodes' statue is on the facade of Oriel College. It does not record history; that is in archives, documents, imagery, books and minds. History persists and is not censored, erased or changed by the removal of a few statues.
Martin Platt
London

I am writing on behalf of the Oxford Zimbabwe Arts Partnership (OZAP), a team of Zimbabweans and citizens of Oxford. We formed to offer a constructive, forward-looking artistic response to the debate over the future of the Rhodes statue on Oriel College.