Cambridge University has been accused of opening old wounds, but in curing itself of amnesia it might help Britain understand its past
Seldom have so many people taken to print and the airwaves to make the case for academic incuriosity. Rarely has the search for new knowledge, undertaken by a university of world renown, been so vocally condemned. That is what happened when Cambridge University announced a new academic research project to determine the extent to which the university (although not its wealthy colleges) “contributed to, benefited from or challenged” slavery and the slave trade.
Cambridge and its colleges are rich. Staggeringly rich. And – spoiler alert – some of the gifts and bequests buried deep within that mountain of wealth will have come from benefactors who were slave traders and slave owners. This is true of other universities, here and abroad. Yet the same commentators who endlessly accuse students of being closed to new ideas and unwilling to face uncomfortable facts have rushed to condemn the university’s investigation into its own past. Their argument, in essence, is that we’re better off not knowing.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WpuoWF
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