Block 6
With increased attention on the coronation of King Charles, South Africa a former Dutch-British colony, is requesting the Star of Africa, the largest diamond in the world today(and was mined in South Africa), to be returned to the nation of its origins South Africa. This is also just in addition to the overall events right now with the global requests for colonial pillaged artifacts and objects. This year there have been several returned artifacts internationally including a sarcophagus looted from Necropolis, Egypt, and smuggled into the United States in 2008. Yemen acquired 77 artifacts from the Smithsonian earlier this year, overall this year has been a good year to get stolen artifacts back.
Continuing with the main article, the Kings Coronation is less than a week away, and with this request from South Africa, the decision will likely result in the returning of the diamond as to not return it would paint a bad image of Britain across all former British colonies and the rest of the world, which the image from many nations already is still negative and would be exacerbated if this diamond is not returned. As the article discusses how many African nations and their respective people are starting to realize decolonization also comes with returning of national treasures, it is increasingly in the light that many European nations, specifically the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain, hold objects that are in no way theirs. The logic per modern standard liberal and progressive thinking, nations nowadays can’t just keep objects siphoned off of colonies, as in this specific perspective, that is a sign of a nation not being progressive and not letting go of the past which has them painting in a bad picture. With this recent request from South Africa for the diamond, which Britain can give up as it has a lot of diamonds and diamonds and logically should give back, it will be interesting to see other requests of important artifacts. Specifically thinking of the possibility of Egypt having the Rosetta Stone returned to Egypt, to be placed in either the older Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, or the newer and partially incomplete Grand Egyptian Museum which is only open to smaller groups currently with a very limited access(very limited).
Summing up the event taking place before this coronation of the current Prince Charles and soon to be King Charles, per modern standard, it is increasingly evident that for nations to have colony propagated goods is not a good thing, and is starting to look like people are going to need to start sending everything back. If and when this happens, it will be nice to see how nationalism and former colonies will and can form together possibly despite old conflicts, and band together to have objects returned which of course, will increase a sense of nationalism former colonies will look like they are more in power, and hopefully less average/minimum conflicts in the world, as there is something to unite these poorer war torn nations which have been abused for the longest of time.