This might belong in the political correctness thread but I thought Id throw this out for discussion. The British Columbia Govt is considering removing a mural painted in the 1930's in the Provincial Legislature depicting interaction between Europeans and the aboriginal or (first nations people as they are now called) in a way that the first nations find offensive. Namely, one scene shows 18th& early 19th cent. Europeans (fully dressed) trading with the natives (some of the women) are bare breasted and are carrying fish in baskets to trade. The first nations people are offended by the bare breast and the (supposedly) subservient way they are portrayed along side the Europeans. The current govt. is proposing removing the murals and putting them somewhere else (a fairly expensive and difficult undertaking) as opposed to just painting them over. Some people raise the point that by removing the murals we are covering up the racism that did in fact exist (up until the 20's I believe the practice of Potlatches - was banned as well as children were placed in residential schools away from their parents and the host of other problems that brought about.) Nevertheless, the artist who painted the murals had a deep respect for the first nations people, and while they are probably done in a romanticized style (common in the 30s) they are not necessarily inaccurate. Historians say that in hot weather sometimes women did go bare breasted. The point is do they belong in the legislature or should they be destroyed? moved? and are we covering up the past?