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.

It's funny how many of the same white people who are quick to distance themselves from the crimes of their ancestors are so insistent that those same ancestors ought continue to be publically venerated.

@Cakecakes2011

Surely it would be hypocritical to even enter a building that any money from the slave trade helped build?! Wouldn’t we be better to knock these buildings down, ease our conscience knowing that we aren’t enjoying anything this money is associated with...and as someone else said, write a new history?

Are you being purposely obtuse. The statue has been pulled down due to recent events, people feel angry and frustrated and rightly so when people like you choose to turn a blind eye probably because the issue at hand doesn’t resonate with yourself

The system has failed many people and we are tired. Tired of nobody listening and tired of people in power abusing their power and when people abuse their power nothing gets done about it. Everything is smoked screened and the root of the issue is not being looked at.

goldfinchfsan apparently according to some poster black boys hill was named after a pub which was named after Charles and his black hair. I snorted in my tea. That was a story made up after slavery was abolished and there was a public turn against it. Having walked up black boy hill daily for years - it was where you brought the black boy slave and you went up white ladies road to get him. The clue is in the name. People trying to 'soften' it just won't wash.

Another thrilled that it's gone, the shame of it is that it's taken so long.
Heard a police officer in the radio who actually sounded reasonable about the situation and said they allowed it to happen.

Statues are primarily symbolic, and the subjects are people who have done good things and can be looked up to. That's the idea.

He wasn't someone to look up to, in his own time or ours.

I can't think of anything more symbolic than his likeness being dumped in the very harbour his slave ships used to dock.

19,000 dead on his ships alone. That is not someone we should celebrate.

I suspect there are 100s of people who hadn't heard of him before today and who now have, and who now appreciate even further how much awful history we have and how much we still need to change.

Statues are symbolic. Removing them can be even more so.

Some of the racism on this thread is terrifying. Can’t believe how many people are trying to say what happened to the stair was wrong.
The Jimmy Saville analogy is a great one for this

Statue**

And before any one says anything the city of Bristol made millions if not billions themselves out if the slade trade they decided who could import and export and were paid mighty well for it

It seems there’s more emotion over a statue than lives being lost.

^This

Pulling down a 150yr old statue is performative virtue signalling. It achieves nothing, means nothing, helps no black person anywhere. All it does is ease white guilt by making their cities free of grating visible reminders of their history in slave trading.

But Colston wasn’t a criminal? Maybe he should have been...but he wasn’t! Maybe every single King, Queen, Emperor and so on should have their statues torn down too because of the things they did or agreed to...but that’s not going to happen is it because we had different laws and socially acceptable practices throughout history and removing all traces of statues and monuments to people throughout the years who have been involved in bloodshed isn’t going to achieve anything or show us as a more ethical, tolerant group of people...to me it just shows we are in denial about who we are and our own history. Oh and yes as someone else said...slavery is still going on today but nobody seems to be talking about that much...people seem so interested in airbrushing the past whilst denying what’s going on in front of them and pretending that living in a capitalist society where we mostly all have lots of luxuries and are able to sit in our own homes with hot water and some food commenting on this sort of thing doesn’t mean that there are people out there with absolutely nothing who are making the clothes we are wearing and scrabbling around in the dirt because the companies we buy from and the governments we vote for continue to exploit them. Instead let’s all focus on undoing the past.

History is full of evil, every single race and ethnicity has been persecuted and murdered at one point or another

I'm not saying the experiences are the same

BUT

Would anyone dare say to a Jewish person I don't know why you still go on about the holocaust? Don't you know that evil happens everywhere? Other genocides have happened to other races Cambodia etc? Other races suffered in the camps too you know?

In effect what makes your pain so special that you keep going on about it?

I know the answer.

It is Hell no.

But POC have to suck it up and just get on with it?

The legacy of slavery is literally why we are on this thread.

I think the BAME term is a new fangled term and is a bit shite to be honest. Give them their nationality at least. Or at least say what you mean - immigrants.

The terminology changes so much and quite quickly for what one should call non white people, and BAME seems to be the choice du jour of the media.

Give them their nationality at least I normally work on the theory that if they are in the UK, then they might be British?

Colstons ships sent about 80,000 men, women and children from Africa to the Americans between 1672 and 1689. If we have had a memorial up all these years for him doing this, then where is the statue of hitler? Surely he deserved one too.🙄

Well it seems only certain people I’m particular are outraged. What does help ethnic people please share your ideas I’m very interested because I’ve read this several times today what is the solution?

"..however like it or not slavery has been around forever and is still around today and knocking down statues won’t help the situation "

Replace "slavery" with "paedophilia". Do you still feel the same?

means nothing

Means nothing to you

@CatherineOfAragonsPomegranate

I definitely think there is a hierarchy of historical suffering.

It's not that I think these events should be swept under the rug, but what good does it do to bring them up? It just seems to stoke divisions.

It would be more productive to honour past slaves by liberating current slaves which are never even mentioned. How is pulling down a statue going to actually make a difference? It was distasteful but pulling it down serves no real purpose.

Let's focus on the issues that matter such as the attitude of policing towards BAME people and the millions that are oppressed today by the drugs trade.

AriettyJones no the MShed is like a whole other place.

One is a music/arts venue and the other a museum.

And yes Whiteladies Road and Blackboy Hill definitely have slavery connotations, makes me cringe saying it.

I live in Bristol and was at the protest today, proud of my city ✊🏼✊🏾✊🏿

When that happens more and more causes abandon the democratic path and ultimately that can only lead to anarchy.

The President of the United States is a bigger threat to democracy than any BLM protest.

It's funny how many of the same white people who are quick to distance themselves from the crimes of their ancestors are so insistent that those same ancestors ought continue to be publically venerated

Do you have any examples? Not sure what you're alluding to here.
(I'm white and curious)

It's not that I think these events should be swept under the rug, but what good does it do to bring them up? It just seems to stoke divisions

It helps bring awareness?
I hadn't heard Edward Colston's name before today. I knew about the slave trade, been reading up on it, but hadn't heard his name before.
On doing some reading just baffling really how it has been allowed to stand for so long.
Going by some comments I've seen though can see why it has

[quote Wolfgirrl]@CatherineOfAragonsPomegranate

I definitely think there is a hierarchy of historical suffering.

It's not that I think these events should be swept under the rug, but what good does it do to bring them up? It just seems to stoke divisions.

It would be more productive to honour past slaves by liberating current slaves which are never even mentioned. How is pulling down a statue going to actually make a difference? It was distasteful but pulling it down serves no real purpose.

Let's focus on the issues that matter such as the attitude of policing towards BAME people and the millions that are oppressed today by the drugs trade.[/quote]
a hierarchy of historical suffering ? What a load of tosh.
It certainly does sound that you DO think events should be swept under the rug! Uppity black folks always going on about slavery? Who TF are you to say that people should move on and forget about it? Especially when there are reminders like the statue of Colston there to remind them. There needs to be an acknowledgement and a reckoning before anyone can 'move on'.
Equating this to the issue of modern slavery is whataboutery in the extreme.

ooo yes they should have signed a little petition about it to be ignored cos half the ruling party are probably related to the scumbag.

This all boils down to the question of what is acceptable action to take against something you disagree with.

As I said earlier, would all of you advocating this support me smashing up the grave of Karl Marx?