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Primary school under pressure to ditch 'Rhodes' from name even though founder has no links to colonalism

Black Lives Matter protest against Cecil Rhodes statue in Oxford - WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock
Black Lives Matter protest against Cecil Rhodes statue in Oxford - WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock

A primary school is facing calls to ditch "Rhodes" from its name in the wake of the Black Lives Matters movement despite its founder having no links to colonialism.

Former pupils at Rhodes Avenue school in Wood Green, North London, are among those calling for a clean break with "Rhodes" because of an apparent immediate association with British imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

But it is understood the school's name was adopted after his great uncle Thomas, once a wealthy landowner in the area.

And while no evidence implicates Thomas Rhodes with colonialism, campaigners have argued the Rhodes family "has a legacy born in white supremacy, imperialism, and apartheid".

Former pupil Alex Wiffin told the Ham & High newspaper: "What we really want to stress is that whatever the link to the family, the fact is that when most people hear the name, they do immediately think about Cecil Rhodes and Rhodesia. Trying to find ways around that is missing the point."

A petition has now been created calling for the school to be renamed after Oliver Tambo, a prominent Anti-apartheid activist.

Frances Browning, founder of the petition and former student, described Cecil Rhodes as "one of the most controversial figures of the British Empire" and argued that the name Rhodes "is a family name which cannot be disentangled from the pursuit of white supremacy and the dehumanisation and subjugation of Black people."

The movement has attracted the support of local politicians such as Joseph Ejiofor, Labour leader of Haringey Council.

He said : "If we were naming roads today, we would never choose Rhodes Avenue, which is named after Thomas Rhodes, great uncle to Cecil, an imperialist, colonialist, and white supremacist."

"The Head of Rhodes Avenue School hopes to be guided by the Mayor’s Commission regarding the changing of the school’s name" .

Thomas Rhodes owned a 450 acre dairy farm across the areas now known as Muswell Hill, Wood Green and Hornsey. Upon his death in 1856, his family inherited Tottenham Wood Farm which later became the site of Alexandra Palace.

However, Trevor Phillips, former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, told the Mail on Sunday that he was puzzled by the outrage over the name.

He said: "I find it puzzling that the most important thing about this school is thought to be its name, which refers not to Cecil Rhodes, but to Thomas, who can hardly be held responsible for his great nephew’s actions."

"Rather than trying to erase a tenuous link with the past, shouldn’t we be focusing on the black lives of the future?"

Haringey Council and Rhodes Avenue Primary have been contacted for comment.