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.

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking

If you are more concerned with some metal commemorating a slave trading killer than educating yourself about racism in the UK and ensuring you are anti racist. Then yes you should question your inherent bias on the topic of racism

Ah, the old "agree with me or you are racist" play.

It’s yet another massive division in this country. Very thing has to be “black and white”. If you don’t agree with the stature being removed, you are against “us” and racist. Nuances and opinion are lost in such a polarised debate. But that’s what happens now. We just label each other and find it impossible to agree to a middle path. This should have been to have had a slavery and economics museum in Bristol. You don’t airbrush history. You need to understand it and learn from it. Children need to learn. If you take everything away and pretend it didn’t happen it won’t help with thoughts and actions.

CayrolBaaaskin just stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“Any place a person relies on for their livelihood” clearly means workplaces. I don’t know why you find it “bizarre and confusing” that I clarified that “buildings people rely on for their livelihood” to mean workplaces.

Ditto schools, I clearly said “nothing that could hurt anyone”, destroying schools clearly hurts children by denying them an education.

You can twist, twist, twist away, but you can’t compare removing a public statue is comparable to smashing up schools and workplaces.

It’s clearly unacceptable to be smashing up public property, however you try to justify it.

Your opinion only. Do you think tearing down the Berlin Wall was clearly unacceptable?

@TheFaerieQueene the point is that democracy has failed when this kind of action is taken. And yes from personal experience of living under a non-democratic regime I am terrified when it doesn’t work. I have seen where it leads. I wouldn’t want this statue in my city and I’m glad it’s gone. But there are major dangers when people step outside democratic processes. But my views are only informed by my own experiences I accept that you have different views.

Ah, the old "agree with me or you are racist" play.

Ah yes, the old “criticising me for being racist is playing the race card” play.

No need to be quite so snippy! So why wasn’t the statues or a photo of it just put in the MShed?

My comment about airbrushing history wasn’t just about the statue. It’s about trying to airbrush out what people don’t like. We cannot amend what happened in history. What we don’t like or approve of is still there. Slavery was something done by many countries around the world and many empires in history. You cannot change this. You have to agree how to learn from it and destroying buildings funded by slave traders, for example, won’t be the answer as it won’t change behaviour.

Yanbu

I enjoyed that, exciting and satisfying!

@ChocolatelyAsFuck - you’re not making any more sense now. Please set out your rules then for what public and/or private property you think can be destroyed by mobs. But enough of the silly personal insults.

@SummerDayWinterEvenings You have completely misquoted the Mayor of Bristol. He said exactly the opposite. He said that the statue was a personal affront to him, as a black man, not the toppling of it.

This is from a tweet by Bristol City Council last night. It’s a aerial picture of the now empty plinth. I think they are glad the matter was taken out of their hands.

Removing a statue that glorifies slavery and presents a false record of history is not airbrushing history.

It concerns me greatly that so many posters are trying to portray being against racism, racial murder and slavery as just another subject to have an opinion on (like it’s a TV show) or something some people might happen to dislike, like broccoli.

Black lives aren’t fucking broccoli.

Do you not know how to read, CayrolBaaaskin, because I’m sorry you get confused so easily, but I don’t know how much simpler I can say, “It’s completely unacceptable to damage anything where that damage could potentially cause any form of physical, emotional, or financial harm or suffering to another human being.”

Gently toppling a rock into a river doesn’t negatively affect anyone in any way, unless there was a particularly unlucky fish passing at the same moment.

@ChocolatelyAsFuck

Do you not know how to read, CayrolBaaaskin, because I’m sorry you get confused so easily, but I don’t know how much simpler I can say, “It’s completely unacceptable to damage anything where that damage could potentially cause any form of physical, emotional, or financial harm or suffering to another human being.”

Gently toppling a rock into a river doesn’t negatively affect anyone in any way, unless there was a particularly unlucky fish passing at the same moment.

Well, it's forced someone else to pay the cost of removing it and cleaning it up.

Much more importantly, you've reserved, for yourself (rather than the law), the right to make judgments about such impacts and costs.

Still a pretty far cry from “you think removing a racist statue is okay so you’re obviously also fine with smashing up primary schools” though, isn’t it?

@MarieIVanArkleStinks I'm happy you're seeing it now. MN is full of it. The slavery apologists on this thread are the tip of a very big and disgusting iceberg.

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking

Diss what gave you the idea they will be removing it...and cleaning it? That is so funny

I'm referring to the body of water, rather than the statue. Where I live, councils normally clear out rivers, canals and harbours if large items are tossed in them.

Right enough, maybe they do thinks differently in Bristol!

^ I have a spare wetsuit and one of my best mates lives in Bristol. Happy to pop down next time it’s sunny and have a bit of a splash around with the old marigolds and yellow sponges.

I don't know why so many are outraged about the statue. It's still there. You can jump in the sea and have a look at it 😂

@ChocolatelyAsFuck

Still a pretty far cry from “you think removing a racist statue is okay so you’re obviously also fine with smashing up primary schools” though, isn’t it?

What I'm objecting to is the blatant hypocrisy of people who think they are so morally unimpeachable they think they should be exempt from the law.

I suspect, if we were talking about the right of, say, devout religious people to refuse services to gay couples, you'd be telling us the law was the law and should be obeyed.