Wentworth Graffiti Highlights Colonial History

WORDS BY EDEN FAITHFULL

Graffiti was found last night on a pillar of the University of Sydney Union’s Wentworth building, drawing attention to the namesake’s racist history. The Wentworth building, so called after William Charles Wentworth, has been the subject of a campaign compelling University management to rename buildings on campus that are accused of celebrating Australia’s colonial past. Wentworth is well known for calling Aboriginal people “wild men” and referring to their language as “the chatterings of the orangutangs”.

The graffiti has come at a time where colonial and confederate statues are being pulled down across the globe after a white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville earlier this month.

The graffiti has since been removed.
 
Keep an eye on this page – we’ll be further discussing the relevance of the Wentworth Must Fall campaign soon.