I was born in Zimbabwe, but raised here in the UK all my life.

Before its independence in 1980, Zimbabwe and Zambia were called Rhodesia, after the British imperialist.

I have always been aware of Cecil Rhodes and his lasting impact on my birth country; members of my family, The Makoni, were politically killed, and the Chief of Makoni was beheaded during the first Chimurenga (liberation struggle) against British colonial forces.

His skull was taken to England for a war trophy, and put on display at the natural history museum until late 2014.

I may certainly have a personal distaste for Cecil Rhodes, like many Africans, but he is widely known as a figure of white supremacy, which is a problem for everyone.

Thankfully, this week Oxford University have announced they will be taking down their statue after renewed protests and petitions calling for him to fall. 

I was one of the people who was demanding the statue come down and seeing Edward Colston’s likeness being thrown into the docks encouraged me to start a petition.

As far as I was concerned, if Colston’s statue is no longer fit for display, surely this father figure of colonialism must fall too.

Back in 2016, when the Rhodes Must Fall movement first gained momentum – after Rhodes’ statue was removed from the University of Cape Town the previous year – Oxford publicly stated they would not be taking theirs down as they found there was overwhelming support to keep it. 

However, according to leaked documents at the time, it was revealed there was also a fear that millions of pounds of alumni donations would be at stake, from those that wanted the monument to stay put. I believe that played a huge role in their decision. 

At the time, I had just finished secondary school and had started applying to universities. Imagine how it made any black student feel to hear them say they would be keeping a statue up of someone who has caused so much devastation to many Africans. 

He has been called the ‘architect of Apartheid’, and he was greatly admired by Hitler. It is these things that need to be taught about the man

It felt, to me, like a message for all people of colour: you don’t belong in academia and shouldn’t feel welcome to walk the grounds of Oxford University.  

I have always observed that academic institutions held a responsibility to the betterment of society and I remember reading their response and thinking they had missed the mark.  

I always felt that Britain’s grim past had been censored – we weren’t taught about it in schools and according to a YouGov poll from 2014, a third of people think the empire should still exist – but I didn’t expect Oxford to be on that so blinded to it. 

I am pleased to hear that this time, the college voted in favour of removing his statue from their facade. It shows they seem to be listening, especially as they’ve also launched an independent inquiry over his legacy and how best to support BAME students going forward.  

I feel now that more black people will feel encouraged to pursue an academic career, because they will not feel like they don’t belong. 

The removal of the statue represents a willingness to partake in this necessary discussion about race. With work, universities can also close the BAME attainment gap, which higher educational institutions have been slow to take action on.

From here we can open a dialogue on racial issues experienced in the UK. 

As for what happens with the statue, it needs to be put in a museum so that people – especially pupils – can see it and learn about Cecil’s ideologies, and the legacies of colonialism. 

I hope that other statues of problematic people, whether those be at universities or in town centres, are now also dismantled and put on display in museums. They should be accompanied by descriptions of all they did – the triumphs and the darker parts of their stories – as well as the context in which these statues were created.

By educating children about the whole history we’ll have a generation who are prepared to have informed discussions on the origins of racial injustice, and how to reform our society to promote unity. 

As for Cecil John Rhodes, his redeeming features fall too short. To his last breath of life on earth, he made it clear that he did not feel any remorse or sympathy for the victims of the colonial era. 

He wrote in his will: ‘the more of the world we [The English] inhabit the better it is for the human race’. 

He has been called the ‘architect of Apartheid’, and he was greatly admired by Hitler. It is these things that need to be taught about the man. 

Oxford has committed to taking the statue down, but I won’t be satisfied until I see that Rhodes has fallen.

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