Edward Colston and the removal of racist statues (7 Viewers)

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Every so often there is a proposal to rename the Colston Hall (the main concert venue), Colston Avenue (the road through the city centre) or Colston school (an independent school) here, and the bile in the local media is off the scale. How the gammons will react to the statue being toppled, I dread to think.
 
Incidentally, where they have chosen to dump Colston in the floating harbour is right next to a footbridge (Pero's bridge - the camera pans around to it at the end of the second video) named after a slave who was brought to the city to serve a plantation owner.

The city's wealth is built on the slave trade. Something it still hasn't learned how to address in the current day. I believe Liverpool has a similar struggle.
 
I can’t believe they still had that statue then.
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
I can’t believe they still had that statue then.
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Even worse - look at the plaque

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lolly said:
The city's wealth is built on the slave trade. Something it still hasn't learned how to address in the current day. I believe Liverpool has a similar struggle.
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Glasgow too. There's a campaign to rename the streets whose names are related to the slave trade. The usual flagwavers are, of course, appalled. Glasgow has a LOT of gammon.
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
I can’t believe they still had that statue then.
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It's an embarrassingly common occurrence in the UK. A lot of people aren't willing to face up to our historical role in the slave trade and colonialism.

WE HAD AN EMPIRE ON WHICH THE SUN NEVER SET. IT WAS THE LARGEST IN HISTORY AND IT WAS GREAT. :manson::manson:
 
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The 'loss of educational value' argument often thrown up when there have been discussions always irritated me. Nobody was suggesting trying to erase history. I've long favoured taking the statue down and considering putting it in the museum alongside a permanent exhibition about the transatlantic slave trade.

But leave it up, with a plaque extolling him as one of the most virtuous and wise sons of the city? What the fuck do you THINK is going to happen?
 
I liked this installation that was placed next to it a couple of years ago. It stayed there pretty much intact for a few months as well, despite the prime late night fighting spot of the city centre taxi rank being just across the road.

 
Slightly upset to see the number of people on my facebook feed who are outraged enough to make a post about the statue being torn down, but who didn't have a strong enough feeling until now about the state of the world this last week or two.
 
Part of the mayor's response:

"I know the removal of the Colston Statue will divide opinion, as the statue itself has done for many years. However it’s important to listen to those who found the statue to represent an affront to humanity."

Predictably some are calling for him to resign for not condemning it.
 
wurst said:
I literally cannot understand people who have the energy to complain about a RACIST STATUE being pulled down

DOES.NOT.COMPUTE.
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I’m actually AGOG that people are expending energy being against this!
 
They disguise their support for the statue with support for "education".

They think they're fooling anyone with that "don't erase history" bullshit, when in fact, the statue is a symbol of a "long lost paradise" to them.

Whenever someone says "it's erasing history" to me, I usually say "Oh no don't worry, it's being taught in history classes for the nasty segment of history it represents". And just watch them scramble for a faux non-racist answer.
 
I hope someone takes down that statue of pioneering NAZI CUNT Nancy Astor while we're at it.
 
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The education argument is a complete misnomer. Most white people walk past the statue without thinking about what it represents.

If you seriously care about teaching the British public about Britain’s colonial past then ADD IT TO THE CURRICULUM!
 
Yeah, the history argument only works if it is presented with appropriate context, like a museum. Not just plonked on the street as a celebration.

I quite like the idea of them retrieving the statue and putting it on display without any restoration and the graffiti left intact, explaining both who he was and why his statue was pulled down.
 
I've seen a lot of memes like this doing the rounds on Facebook, obviously created to discredit the entire movement based on the minority acts of vandalism.

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Obviously bricking a horse is beyond heinous (if it even happened) but the absolute boot lickery to not even think about what sort of an organisation uses horses in potentially volatile situations in the first place. :D
 
Can't think why all those protesters didn't tear down the statue of Neptune just along the road. Or the one of Cary Grant around the corner.
 
Okay, apologies, that can't be my only contribution to this thread

Truth is, I really don't know where to begin, what happened in America is unbelievable. It's a fucking disgrace that this level of oppression still exists today, and although I don't think it's as extreme in this country, I hope that it at the very least it makes people check their own unconscious bias more.
 
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If they care so much about "history", why not a memorial to the slaves or abolitionists?

The same way Germany tributes the murdered Jews, not erect a statue of GOEBBELS in Alexanderplatz. :goodgrief:
 
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