Mary Seacole statue defaced in ‘despicable racist vandalism’

The statue, which was defaced sometime between the evening of Monday, 12 August and the morning of Tuesday, 13 August, depicts Mary Seacole, a pioneering nurse born to Jamaican and Scottish parents who tended to injured soldiers in the Crimean War.

“Despicable and disgraceful”

Paulette Lewis

Vandals splattered orange, gold, yellow and white paint across the statue itself, as well as a circular backdrop behind the image of Ms Seacole.

On the statue’s plinth, white writing appearing to read “KNNNTT” was graffitied.

Located at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, Ms Seacole’s statue is cherished by the nursing community as a symbol of the contributions of minority ethnic people and immigrants to UK healthcare.

While the graffiti itself does not contain any obvious political symbols, the recent swell of racist violence, Islamophobia, anti-immigrant rhetoric and riots has led many to speculate that the vandalism was racially motivated.

Trevor Sterling, chair of the Mary Seacole Trust – which funded the statue’s creation – said the graffiti was not “typical” and that it was “specific vandalism of a scale which was intended to have as big of an impact as possible”.

Mr Sterling said: “It’s more distinct vandalism, the result of that is that you assume there was probably a motive behind it.

“If you look at the current climate, with all that’s gone on recently, one would think there is a good possibility that this was racially motivated – Mary symbolises diversity and today is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s death.

“Those two things lead me to believe this wasn’t just a chance outing or opportunistic piece of vandalism, I suspect it was targeted.”

The statue was first unveiled in 2016 after a 12-year campaign by the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal, as well as part-funding by the UK Government.

It became the first statue in the UK to be created in the image of a named Black woman.

Mr Sterling added: “Even if there was no racial motivation, this is a beautiful piece of art which has been attacked.

“But it is all the more hurtful because of what Mary stands for.”

He called the vandalism “unconscionable”, and further said: “Anyone carrying out this kind of act at this time ought to know the impact it would have among the ethnic minority communities.

“Those who are carrying out these kinds of acts to symbolic pieces of art: this demonstrates a real lack of education around figures like Mary Seacole, but also displays a great level of ignorance.

“If this were a racially motivated attack linked to the unrest, then it just shows that those who attack this don’t recognise this was someone who served to support British soldiers.”

Paulette Lewis, president of the Caribbean Nurses and Midwives Association (CNMA), aired her personal disgust and disappointment at what had happened to the statue.

“[It] represents us as nurses,” she said. “Not just those of us from the Caribbean but nurses as whole.

“To have someone go and vandalise that statue is despicable. In this day and age, when we have been here all these years, working very hard, and with the recruitment of so many international nurses and midwives in the last two or three years.”

Ms Lewis continued: “Why are we, in this country, still having this sort of behaviour towards us as immigrants?

“We came here to work, to build the NHS, to support the NHS; we’ve given a lot.

“What would happen if all the nurses and doctors from other countries stopped working and left the country? The NHS would be in crisis.

“We are hardworking, decent people.”

Earlier this week, a letter was published by the Federation of Ethnic Minority Healthcare Organisations (FEMHO), of which CNMA was a co-signatory, demanding action on racism and Islamophobia from the prime minister and other senior politicians.

FEMHO called for tougher punishments on hate crime, reforms to policing, better monitoring of racist abuse and other measures to promote unity and stamp out bigotry.

Many members of organisations represented by FEMHO have felt, in recent weeks, scared to go to work because of the far-right riots and rise in hate crime.

Ms Lewis said the vandalism of Ms Seacole’s statue on a hospital grounds hit home particularly hard: “They’ve gone onto a hospital compound, a place where we’re saving lives – not just immigrants but everyone.

“It’s supposed to be a sacred place where people are looked after so for someone to go onto the grounds and deface the statue makes it even worse.

“If people can go onto the grounds to deface the statue of a Jamaican nurse, then nurses, midwives and doctors in a hospital will stop and think – if they can come into this place we think is safe, what about our safety? That sends a message.”

Ms Lewis added: “When they go low, we go high, because we are a group of people who are intelligent, strong and courageous.

“We will not allow people to trample on us. It is despicable and disgraceful.

“We must realise our voices and say this is not tolerated, this is not what we want and not what we should live in.”

Professor Nicola Ranger, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), described the graffiti as an “abhorrent display of racism-fuelled vandalism”, adding: “Mary Seacole is a nursing icon whose dedication to the care of others continues to inspire our profession today.

“This act of sabotage is unacceptable, and the nursing community will not stand for it.

“As the first statue of a named Black woman in the UK, it symbolises not only Mary’s immense contribution to nursing but also the contribution of people from minoritised ethnic communities.”

Professor Ranger added that the RCN would “support” the restoration of the statue.

“As an anti-racist organisation, we will tackle racism wherever it exists and we’re firmly committed to championing the principles the statute embodies, both in nursing and wider society,” she said.