Letter: Whose heroes?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.I wonder whether the apparent difference of view between Brian Walden and Boyd Tonkin ("Mandela fits the job description for a hero in the modern world", 6 February) would be lessened if each society were allowed to pick its own heroes. Gamel Nasser, not Anwar Sadat, might be the Arab choice; Kwame Nkrumah might be the African choice; Marcus Garvey, and not W E B Dubois might be the Afro-American choice in the pre-war period, while Malcolm X might give Martin Luther King a close shave.
When Western analysts pick non-Western heroes, they go for conciliatory figures, while Western heroes come from the warrior and confrontational class like Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. If non-Western analysts were to pick Western heroes, such figures as Jimmy Carter, Olof Palme and John F Kennedy might figure prominently. History is still dependent on the subjective view of the historian.
Professor A BOLAJI AKINYEMI
Cambridge
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments