To feel emotional at the slave trader statue

[Millicent10]

being pulled down earlier.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52954305

This says so much and the symbolism of throwing it in the river is such a suitable ending. Reminds everyone what happened to so many slaves.

‘Instead of pulling down the statue of a man who died 300 years ago, how about calling out some prominent racists who are very much alive and kicking. Remember Nigel Farage.’

Yeah but no one could get away with dumping him in the river.

My friend posted this. I like it. Stop fucking crying over the statue of someone responsible for so much pain and misery.

I am in tears. I did'nt think I would cry at watching a statue fall

Yep, that is some creative cringe

As a pp said, this is mob rule and is not helping the bame cause at all. In fact I imagine most people in this country despise such actions.

’Instead of pulling down the statue of a man who died 300 years ago, how about calling out some prominent racists who are very much alive and kicking. Remember Nigel Farage.’

Yeah but no one could get away with dumping him in the river.

😂

Yeah but no one could get away with dumping him in the river.

Now that would be appalling, such pollution of the river.

I didn't know about this statue before today.
I do know about the slave trade though, and can totally see why protestors took it down.
Pretty disgusted it was there at all really.

And for all those using COVID as a disguise for you racism. I see you. We all do

So if you are apposed to mass gatherings at the moment, that means you are a racist?

To give a bit of context, see this article about other statues now removed - officially or unofficially - in the last few days to their slavery connotations

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monuments_and_memorials_removed_during_the_George_Floyd_protests

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking calling people racist because they don't agree with mob rule and vigilante justice isn't really a strong argument. Added to the fact that it was 'woke white millenials' (as another poster pointed out), that appeared to lead the destruction.

As a non white person I cheered whe n it went into the river. As many pp have said, we don't need statues of Hitler, Goebbels or Stalin to educate us. I lived in Bristol for years and people have campaigned to have the damn thing removed over and over. The time for polite requests is over. Put the damn thing in a museum and explain how he owned 80k slaves by all means but to honour him in a main city square was always an insult

Apparently if you don’t agree with mob rule you’re a racist.

SamG76, I gave other country's examples and ideas on education re history. Ireland was neutral during WW2 because it didn't have an army, it was a 15 year old state, trying to establish a state after hundreds of years of British colonialism.

De Valera signing Hitkers condolences book is truly shocking. De Valera was a monster and most Irish people I know agree.
My point about the Irish people dismantling states if British colonialism stands.
It's still ongoing. There was an attempt recently to commemorate ALL who died in the Irush troubles and I personally agree with that idea but it was vetoed as it included the Black and Tans.

I was using an example of peoples who have quite rightly refused to have statue of their oppressors in their cities.

I'm totally surprised that statue didn't get chucked in the river years ago...considering all the students in Bristol and the drunken antics that go on, although I'm sure lots of other stuff got done to it.

Good riddance, hoping it stays in the river for good.

And hopefully the Colton Hall can be called something else instead- or maybe this has happened already??

I’m afraid when I see footage all I keep seeing is a bunch of thugs creating civil unrest (most of whom probably don’t care what the cause they’re marching for is) it is drowning out the tremendously important message that we really should be hearing.

This ISN’T what I’m seeing. Are you in England and seeing the same news as me?
I’m seeing powerful protest and bravery. I’m feeling uplifted and optimistic, and proud of the people in our country who are pushing change into the stagnant racist accepted norm.

Stop being distracted, intentionally or otherwise, by irrelevant details.

I don't suppose the protestors who started pulling down the Berlin Wall were acting legally...

@ShutUpPigeon

As a pp said, this is mob rule and is not helping the bame cause at all. In fact I imagine most people in this country despise such actions.

You think most people in the country feel so strongly against the pulling down of statues of a slave trader that they actually despise it? Really? I'd be interested to hear your rationale for that, and if it amounts to any more than you not liking it.

And hopefully the Colton Hall can be called something else instead- or maybe this has happened already??

After its refurbishment it is opening under a new name, not sure if the name has been decided on or whether the renovations are still going ahead though! But they decided to change it following pressure about the links with Colston.

At the very same moment social media mobs are in a fennzy over the failure of some to inadaquetly genueflect in the name of social justice, right now, in UK ports along the south coast, crew members from South America, Asia and India are being held captive on cruse ships, not being allowed to disenbark, not allowed to go home, not being paid, being charged for food and water. Many are committing suicide.
Why dont we actually do something about that?

All these statues were the history and founders of the various cities throughout UK and other places.
There are things which were done in the past which are not done now and I am glad that people have learned to live in a better way.
We can not change or erase the history of our cities. They were founded by lots of people for lots of reasons.
What I have seen of these demonstrations is that a lot of people were way out of control of their own actions and following the herd. People have no right to vandalise anything. The scary thing for me was the herd attitude, probably none of these people would have removed a statue on their own.