Or they could take a lesson from the likes of the black tennis star Serena Williams. But perhaps these sensitive souls should be a little more generous in the way they judge the social opinions that were held in another age.

They are, of course, entitled to their view. This, in the eyes of modern critics, is enough to render all of his work verboten. Though many of his famous works, such as the novels Kim and The Jungle Book, contain nuanced and affectionate portrayals of indigenous cultures, some, notably the poem The White Man’s Burden, portray other races as inferior. The reason? Kipling, who was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1865, was, like the vast majority of his countrymen, an advocate of the British Empire. (In its place, they wrote out a poem by the black American writer Maya Angelou.)Īpparently, the Victorian writer’s 300-word celebration of hard work and bloody-minded determination - which has several times been voted Britain’s favourite poem - is offensive to ethnic minorities. This week, Ms Khan presided over a widely reported protest that saw excitable undergraduates daub paint over a new mural of Kipling’s poem ‘If’ that had been added to the Union building in an attempt to motivate students. So says one Sara Khan, a self-styled ‘queer Muslim woman’ who currently rejoices in the job title of ‘liberation and access officer’ at the University of Manchester’s Students Union.

His most popular literary work must therefore be censored. The poet Rudyard Kipling was a terrible old racist who ‘dehumanised people of colour’ and ‘stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment and human rights’. 'Williams, who arguably has done more in her lifetime to advance racial and sexual equality than any other living athlete, is like many fans inspired by the poem’s celebration of stoicism and bravery in the face of adversity'

If by rudyard kipling