Felling of British slave trader statue heats up simmering debate

By Estelle Shirbon

 

Protesters tear down a statue of Edward Colston during a protest against racial inequality in Bristol, Britain June 7, 2020 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Mohiudin Malik/via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The toppling by anti-racism protesters of a statue of a slave trader in the English port city of Bristol has given new urgency to a debate about how Britain should confront some of the darkest chapters of its history.

 

The statue of Edward Colston, who made a fortune in the 17th century from trading in West African slaves, was torn down and thrown into Bristol harbour on Sunday by a group of demonstrators taking part in a worldwide wave of protests.

 

Statues of figures from Britain’s imperialist past have in recent years become the subject of controversies between those who argue that such monuments merely reflect history and those who say they glorify racism.

 

Colston donated widely to charitable causes across his home city of Bristol, which named a street and several buildings after him. A campaign to remove the statue had gathered momentum in recent years, but had failed to persuade the authorities.

 

By taking matters into their own hands, the protesters raised the temperature of a debate that had previously remained confined to the realms of marches, petitions and newspaper columns.

Opinions were sharply divided as to whether their message justified their means.

 

Interior minister Priti Patel called the felling of the statue an “utterly disgraceful” distraction from the protesters’ cause, while policing minister Kit Malthouse denounced “mobs just turning up and deciding to do whatever they like”.

 

The mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said on Channel 4 television he did not support social disorder, but the community was navigating complex issues that had no binary solutions.

 

“I would never pretend that the statue of a slaver in the middle of Bristol, the city in which I grew up, and someone who may well have owned one of my ancestors, was anything other than a personal affront to me,” said Rees, who has Jamaican roots.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-08

 

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Seems like mob rule has taken over in the UK..... police deciding not to intervene..... rule of law broken time and time again.  I'm glad to have left the UK 18 years ago - it's gone to the dogs!

3 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Seems like mob rule has taken over in the UK..... police deciding not to intervene..... rule of law broken time and time again.  I'm glad to have left the UK 18 years ago - it's gone to the dogs!

Look at the videos from all over the world. The same is going on in every country.

 

This is not about George Floyd any more it is something that was floating in the air for a few years already, and they have seen a chance now and grabbed it.

 

Expect this to escalate much further

 

I lived in Otley near Leeds for some years, we had a statue of Thomas Chippendale mounted there, I often thought what a lousy furnature maker he was, but I was never tempted to topple the statue.

The sad part is that the police are as much use as a chocolate fireguard, they just stand and watch as people break the law. A Labour MP has already condoned the mobs actions, same old Labour.☹️

10 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Seems like mob rule has taken over in the UK..... police deciding not to intervene..... rule of law broken time and time again.  I'm glad to have left the UK 18 years ago - it's gone to the dogs!

It’s all gonna end in a bloodbath. I cannot believe  the Police will stand back and watch this weekend. Added to that the presence of the far right to “protect” our statues. 
 

All amongst the back drop of the social distancing measures we are supposed to be employing. 

10 minutes ago, Susco said:

Look at the videos from all over the world. The same is going on in every country.

 

This is not about George Floyd any more it is something that was floating in the air for a few years already, and they have seen a chance now and grabbed it.

 

Expect this to escalate much further

A bit to do with a few months of lockdown also??!!

3 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

A bit to do with a few months of lockdown also??!!

I blame Swampy.

11 minutes ago, vogie said:

I lived in Otley near Leeds for some years, we had a statue of Thomas Chippendale mounted there, I often thought what a lousy furnature maker he was, but I was never tempted to topple the statue.

The sad part is that the police are as much use as a chocolate fireguard, they just stand and watch as people break the law. A Labour MP has already condoned the mobs actions, same old Labour.☹️

Which Party is in Government?

Doing what the city council should have done years ago.

 

27 minutes ago, vogie said:

I lived in Otley near Leeds for some years, we had a statue of Thomas Chippendale mounted there, I often thought what a lousy furnature maker he was, but I was never tempted to topple the statue.

The sad part is that the police are as much use as a chocolate fireguard, they just stand and watch as people break the law. A Labour MP has already condoned the mobs actions, same old Labour.☹️

Is it really a good idea for the police to attempt to stop protesters pulling down a controversial statue (there have been attempts to remove it before) and risk public disorder/safety on a larger scale? The statue's of a slave trader. Let them pull it down and vent their anger. The mayor has said it will go in a museum as a historic account of the city. The vast majority of those pulling down the statue were white! ????

 

1 minute ago, Kadilo said:

Which Party is in Government?

The party that got elected, did you miss the bit where I said Labour is condoning this.

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Doing what the city council should have done years ago.

 

Not according to the residents that live there, is that an answer to everything, if you don't like it, pull it down. You have never been keen on the ballot box have you chomper.

Throwing stuff in the river is a bit of a Bristol tradition.

 

Students of the city’s very fine university don’t get to wear mortarboards at their graduation because male students tossed their mortarboards into the river in protest at female students being allowed to matriculate.

 

 

1 minute ago, vogie said:

Not according to the residents that live there, is that an answer to everything, if you don't like it, pull it down. You have never been keen on the ballot box have you chomper.

We have already see clear examples of the folly of allowing complex issues to be decided by plebiscite. Unfortunately, the UK has a long history of lionising some of the worst people in history. It is time that we grow up and recognise how much damage our anscestors did around the world, rather than continuing to laud them. 

10 minutes ago, vogie said:

The party that got elected, did you miss the bit where I said Labour is condoning this.

So the two Dicks, Cressida and Boris telling everyone on Friday it was an unlawful protest and they had to socially distance themselves, then standing back and watching them doing nothing is not condoning it? 

 

Who gives a <deleted> what Labour are saying. Its the Tories who make the decisions and Its your hero who was the bottler. 
 

Party of Law and Order ????????

Let's just pretend there is no world history until the present generation started removing it from our lives.

 

"Historical Lives Matter"!

8 minutes ago, BillStrangeOgre said:

Is it really a good idea for the police to attempt to stop protesters pulling down a controversial statue (there have been attempts to remove it before) and risk public disorder/safety on a larger scale? The statue's of a slave trader. Let them pull it down and vent their anger. The mayor has said it will go in a museum as a historic a account of the city.

 

Whether the statue should be there or not is not up to us to decide but the residents of Bristol and lets not forget that a lot of the world was built by slaves, should we knock the pyramids down, should we pull the acropolis and the parthenan down or what about the Whitehouse, it is all part of our culture now and all built by slaves. Thank god those days have gone but it was the norm just a few hundred years ago infact wasn't it a Yorkshireman Wilber Wilberforce who led the way in slave abolishment.

11 minutes ago, vogie said:

Not according to the residents that live there, is that an answer to everything, if you don't like it, pull it down. You have never been keen on the ballot box have you chomper.

When did anyone put it to a vote?

 

Nothing like a bit of citizen action to clear the air, and polite the harbor.

I dont know much about this or about Edward Colston, but was the statue erected because he traded in slaves or was the statue for some other reason he was famous?  

33 minutes ago, Susco said:

Look at the videos from all over the world. The same is going on in every country.

 

This is not about George Floyd any more it is something that was floating in the air for a few years already, and they have seen a chance now and grabbed it.

 

Expect this to escalate much further

Spreading like the virus, social media posts pitting left vs right, black vs white, nasty stuff going on underneath.

Reminds me of the north and south arguments in the US over confederate symbols. Definitely offensive to those whose families history runs parallel to these atrocities that were committed. Don't blame the folks a bit for throwing the ol' boy in the drink, it was actually the funniest video I've seen in months  ????  

11 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Let's just pretend there is no world history until the present generation started removing it from our lives.

 

"Historical Lives Matter"!

Let’s just pretend slave traders deserve a statue in a public place.

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I dont know much about this or about Edward Colston, but was the statue erected because he traded in slaves or was the statue for some other reason he was famous?  

He traded in slaves, he does not merit a statue.

 

And now he hasn’t got one.

Trying to burn the Union Jack at the Cenotaph today ^

8 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

So the two Dicks, Cressida and Boris telling everyone on Friday it was an unlawful protest and they had to socially distance themselves, then standing back and watching them doing nothing is not condoning it? 

 

Who gives a <deleted> what Labour are saying. Its the Tories who make the decisions and Its your hero who was the bottler. 
 

Party of Law and Order ????????

Please don't you jump to conclusions that Boris is my hero, my avatar is my concern and nothing to do with the topic.

But just for the record the Tories will be making decisions for a lot of years to come, no opposition see.

4 minutes ago, vogie said:

Whether the statue should be there or not is not up to us to decide but the residents of Bristol and lets not forget that a lot of the world was built by slaves, should we knock the pyramids down, should we pull the acropolis and the parthenan down or what about the Whitehouse, it is all part of our culture now and all built by slaves. Thank god those days have gone but it was the norm just a few hundred years ago infact wasn't it a Yorkshireman Wilber Wilberforce who led the way in slave abolishment.

None of the examples you cite glorify the people responsible for the slave trade. The Bristol statue even bore testament to the man as being of good and virtuous character - that in itself must be offensive to black people. 

5 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I dont know much about this or about Edward Colston, but was the statue erected because he traded in slaves or was the statue for some other reason he was famous?  

Sounds like the Council used slave labour to pull it down. Kinda ironic really. 

1 minute ago, from the home of CC said:

Reminds me of the north and south arguments in the US over confederate symbols. Definitely offensive to those whose families history runs parallel to these atrocities that were committed. Don't blame the folks a bit for throwing the ol' boy in the drink, it was actually the funniest video I've seen in months  ????  

And the video went viral and the protesters started on the Churchill statue in London. There were groups of protesters protecting the plinth and arguing with other protesters that he was not racist, eventually the police moved all of them along and it got spray painted. I read on a Facebook group this morning that it was Millwall fans protecting the statue, more fake news to spread the division.

6 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I dont know much about this or about Edward Colston, but was the statue erected because he traded in slaves or was the statue for some other reason he was famous?  

He built many of the schools and hospitals and things in Bristol and helped to develop the place