Taxpayers funding a £475-a-day expert to 'decolonise' Hadrian's Wall
- Expert to be employed by council-funded Tyne museums group in North East
Taxpayers are to fund a £475-a-day expert to ‘decolonise’ parts of Hadrian’s Wall.
A newly created post aims to address ‘Britain’s colonial past and systemic racism’ at two ancient forts on the wall – even though they were built by the ancient Romans who invaded Britain, leading to the deaths of an estimated 750,000 people.
Critics have pointed to the double standard of seeking to denigrate Britain’s colonial past while celebrating the achievements of the Roman Empire.
The ‘decolonisation specialist’ is to be employed by the council-funded Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums group to cover nine locations in North East England.
They include the Arbeia and Segedunum forts on Hadrian’s Wall, hailed as ‘bastions against barbarian attack’. Experts point out that Celtic Picts were massacred in their thousands during the Romans’ occupation of Britain.
A ‘decolonisation expert’ on £475 a day is to be employed by a council-funded museum group to cover nine locations in the North East including the Arbeia fort on Hadrian’s Wall (pictured)
The job advert offers £5,700 for 12 days’ work across nine sites, with the heritage group saying the role would enable us to ‘better understand enduring legacies of empire, migration, and the experience of diaspora communities in North East England
Last night, historian Jeremy Black, said: ‘Decolonisation is the gravy train for third-raters who hate their country and its history. There is absolutely no merit to this proposal and expenditure.’
And Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education, said the push to ‘decolonise’ museums was obsessed with British rule.
He added: ‘Any evaluation of the British Empire needs to be placed alongside the monstrous imperial rule of so many other empires.
‘As for the Romans in Britain, a museum needs to point out that the Romans, including Africans, were here as an army of occupation and they enslaved and killed people.’
Pictured: The Segedunum fort on the River Tyne. Critics pointed out the apparent contradiction in celebrating the achievements of the Roman Empire while denigrating Britain’s colonial past
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums is supported by grants from Labour-run councils in Newcastle, Gateshead and North and South Tyneside, plus a £4 million grant from Arts Council England last year.
The job advert promises £5,700 for 12 days’ work at nine sites, also including Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle, equating to £475 a day.
The heritage group said its decolonisation strategy ‘provides us with an opportunity to better understand enduring legacies of empire, migration, and the experiences of diaspora communities in North East England; secondly, it provides a space to reimagine a museum where those legacies no longer dictate approaches and practices.’
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