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Telegraph
20 minutes ago
- Telegraph
What Edinburgh University's campaign of self-destruction says about modern Britain
Edinburgh University, that most genteel of institutions, is not all it seems: the ancient facades provided cover for white supremacism in the past and continue to harbour racism today. At least, that is, according to a new review of the institution's 'historic racial and colonial injustices'. Apparently, the prestigious university played an 'outsized' role in developing 'racist scientific theories' at the same time as profiting from the transatlantic slave trade. This devastating critique was not commissioned by Edinburgh's rivals but by the university itself. Led by academics, the investigation into the university's historic links to slavery and racism is being lauded as one of 'the most ambitious, wide-ranging and sustained consultations of its kind'. The result is 130 pages of self-flagellation. A light is shone on horrors such as buildings funded by donors who had links to the slave trade and the British empire; a room containing 300 skulls reportedly used in the study of phrenology; and student notebooks from the 1790s that suggest philosopher Dugald Stewart taught that white Europeans were superior to other races. At Edinburgh University, widely recognised the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment, the past itself is now on trial. Fingers are pointed at great scholars such as the aforementioned Stewart, Adam Ferguson, David Hume and Adam Smith. The legacy of these intellectual giants has been assessed by today's pygmies and found to be that most heinous of all things: 'damaging'. What's seemingly missed by the review's authors is that scholars of the past, just like today, reflect the attitudes and values of the era they inhabit. Phrenology, for example, has been so thoroughly debunked that few current students are likely to have ever encountered the word. Taking potshots at long dead scholars for going along with the prejudices of their time overlooks nuance and progress. The Edinburgh review, in its determination to uncover white supremacism, is forced to rapidly brush past the inconvenient fact that Stewart was also an abolitionist. The desperate search for racism ends up discrediting the entire Enlightenment project. Yet, in reality, the intellectual gains of this important period in time benefitted everyone, not just white men. And as a nation we should be proud of this legacy. For example, the work of philosophers such as John Locke was truly revolutionary in promoting the idea that all men (and later women) are created equal. The Enlightenment's scientific advances sowed the seeds of the industrial revolution which lifted people around the world out of poverty. And, ironically, the academic methods developed at this time made modern universities possible. Compared to the astonishing advances in thought made by the Enlightenment philosophers, the academics who compiled the Edinburgh race review are engaged in an anti-intellectual act of self-harm. Their report inevitably leads to calls for reparations in the present. The authors want formal apologies to be issued, buildings to be renamed and scholarships set aside specifically for black students. Scholarships are an important means of making higher education more accessible. Indeed, the money wasted on what's been heralded as 'the most extensive investigation of its kind carried out by any university in the UK' could have been better spent funding current students. But scholarships should be awarded on the basis of economic need or academic merit. Doling out money based on skin colour reintroduces racial categories into the university, turning back the progress the Enlightenment made possible. The Edinburgh review reveals that researching the legacy of slavery now has nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the concerns of today's cultural elite; especially in universities, but across other areas of culture and learning, from museums to galleries. Edinburgh University should celebrate its great philosophers and scientists. Academics cannot stand on the shoulders of giants they have kicked to the ground. This attitude is not only bad for universities, but for Britain as a whole.


BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
Spurn Lighthouse in need of volunteer with 'head for heights'
Nature lovers with "a head for heights" are being sought to volunteer at a remote lighthouse with vistas out over the North Wildlife Trust (YWT) said it was looking for 10 keepers to work at the 128ft-high (39m), Grade II listed lighthouse at Spurn National Nature successful candidates would serve as "a beacon of knowledge" to visitors at weekends and during school holidays, by sharing the area's history through storytelling, the trust six-storey Victorian lighthouse at Spurn Point was built in the 1890s but ceased operating in 1985. It was fully restored by 2016 and is now a tourist attraction. In a YWT promotional video, Lin Sunderland, who is a lighthouse volunteer, said: "To be inside a lighthouse is going back in time, they save so many lives."Other duties also include opening and setting up the lighthouse, as well as welcoming trust said it was looking for 10 more individuals to join its 10-strong volunteering team. Those interested need to have a "good level of physical fitness" to take on the role due to the building's "several flights of narrow stairs".Spurn Point attracts thousands of visitors each year with the lighthouse being a "unique historical structure and one of the key highlights" of nature reserve, the trust said. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
How close are you to your cousins?
Summer holidays are here - which means you hopefully have a lot of free time on your hands to relax and have of you might be spending time with family and friends over the summer want to know if you have cousins, and if so - do you like to hang out with them?Vote below and leave your answers in the comments. Adults today are having fewer children than before. This means we also have fewer cousins compared to previous from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in 2023 found that, on average, British teenagers have around 5 is compared to 7 cousins on average in the predict the average number of cousins will fall to 4 by the end of this us know your thoughts - how many cousins do you have?