Jesus takes dim view of ‘racist’ cockerel

For the second time this year, the Forager’s beady eye has been drawn to an article in The Times relating to chickens.

(See also: No multi-tier here, as paper gets it wrong.)

“What a cockadoodle to-do: Cambridge removes ‘racist’ statue” tells the tale of a decision by Jesus College, Cambridge to remove a statue of a bronze cockerel from its main dining hall, because it allegedly celebrates the nation’s colonial past.

The Forager is worldly-wise enough to recognise that there are two sides to most stories.

On the one hand, it seems that the cockerel in question was looted in a raid by British troops in Nigeria in which over 3,000 pieces of art were stolen from a palace. Not good.

On the other hand, that raid was a reprisal for the murder by native Nigerians of a number of British traders working in the country at the time. Also not good.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, the upshot is that the cockerel has now been removed and the college is thinking of repatriating the original and  recommissioning a new work of art in its place.

But why go to the expense? If there’s a vacant plinth in Jesus College or Nigeria, then Gunter is more than happy to offer his services.