‘Only bad people live to see their likeness set in stone.’

That is among my favourite Lorde lyrics. If it’s were 100% true then it’s really bad news for former All Black flanker Michael Jones, whose magnificent likeness stretches out for a try outside the entrance to Eden Park . It’s really bad news for Richard O’Brien, the creator of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I reckon his Riff Raff statue is maybe the best thing on Hamilton’s main drag. 

Of course no one is suggesting we do anything to the Iceman or to Richard O’Brien, yet.

But times change. I suppose a few hundred years ago it would have seemed crazy to some that in 2020 we would rip down a statue of Captain John Hamilton. Of course it would seem just as crazy to others that we would even name a city after him in the first place.

Sadly, I don’t think pulling down statues stops us from being racist.

I also don’t think that repeatedly being confronted by an idealised glorified likeness of someone who raped and murdered your ancestors is a way to feel like you haven’t been born into a society that is systematically pitted against you.

Both of those opinions can exist.

I actually quite like Tame Iti’s solution, which was maybe inspired by the former Communist countries that in the last 30 years have gone through a bit of an internal rebranding exercise.

The former Communists and Soviet Union LOVED a good statue. In Hungary once, I went to an amazing park where all sorts of brutalist statues that were ripped down at the end of communism have been stored, grouped, and arranged as an artistic attraction. There are statues of Lenin and Marx, and castings of Stalin’s boots. The park’s official slogan says it’s dedicated to the victory of democracy over dictatorship. Anyone monitoring Hungary’s current political trajectory will sadly note that neither removing the statues from their original locations, NOR preserving that history, has done anything to stop the rise of a new totalitarian regime. 

But that’s Tame Iti’s solution. Tear down colonial monuments, sure, but don’t destroy them. Chuck them in a park instead. Maybe flesh out the little plaque or blurb a bit as well. 

• Historian says removing colonial statues would be a mistake

My opinion is this: History is nuanced. It’s messy. It’s complicated. And so are people. No one anywhere is 100% good or 100% bad. Who deserves to stay and who deserves to go? Would we erect a statue today of someone who murdered people or promoted racist ideas? I certainly hope not! But judging by the Facebook comments of the last few days, dragging down a slab of concrete and metal may even fuel racism as much as anything. 

If I can offer any advice… it’s this: Read. Don’t take your sense of identity from whatever bronze figure is plumped up in your city. Read. History is far more complex and important than any long-dead man with seagull shit on his head will ever be able to convey.