To be glad that I don't live in Ashbourne?

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Locals there have seized a racist caricature statue and hidden it to keep it safe from removal. It's supposedly with a local Tory councillor, who laughed and hung up when phoned for comment.
AIBU to think that is indicative of a racist unpleasant place?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/09/derbyshire-towns-bust-of-black-man-seized-by-defiant-locals

It’s something in the Guardian so probably not true, they like stirring up trouble, just read anything Owen Jones. The perpetually offended columist

It's being reported on the BBC as well:

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-england-derbyshire-52976741

What a ridiculous generalisation. How can you possibly judge the sentiments of an entire town.

Ashbourne is a lovely, cheerful happy place.

Anywhere can have it's due proportion of stupidity, and it sounds like Ashbourne is no different. God knows what these idiots think they're achieving by hiding the statue: the people who wanted it taken down are probably absolutely delighted. If they ever get round to putting it back again, as they suggest, it's pretty obvious that it will disappear again very quickly indeed.

I think there was a sizeable petition locally to have it removed. 'Blackface' is no longer acceptable in todays society.

1 idiot doesnt make a town. What a ridiculous sweeping generalisation to make whilst criticising prejudice.

I think what bothered me was how the local councillors, or at least some of them, appear to be involved. The quasi-official feel of it makes me uncomfortable. And the fact that other locals are afraid to speak out.

If I wasn't white and had been planning to move there, this would give me real pause.

Have you ever been there?

Is the statue the wooden head supposedly depicting a turkish man ?

Not sure what you wanted out of this post, other than everyone to agree with you that it's a horrible backwards place and the locals are all insular racist BNP voters.

Ashbourne is a lovely, cheerful happy place.

... if you're white (and ideally are the sort of person who thinks removing golliwogs from marmalade jars is "political correctness gone mad").

I thought mobs doing things to statues was OK now?

There are racists everywhere, it seems unfair to assume a whole town is racist because of the actions of a few although reading the BBC article I'm not quite clear about what's actually happened

So it's been removed -it's gone. The problem is?

Ashbourne is great and that thing was kind of a landmark/added character. The type of leftie that gets rid of things like that wants to strip all the fun out of life by force.

I find the sheer stupidity of the councillor and his little friends really quite amusing. They didn't want the bust taken down so - they took it down? If I lived there, I'd be seriously tempted to go over and have a noisy celebration of the fact that it had gone.

So it's been removed -it's gone. The problem is?

It's been removed "to safety" with the view of putting it back up again once what they refer to as the fuss has died down.

No I've never been to Ashbourne and I'm genuinely not trying to suggest that everyone there is horrible, another local did say the majority support it's removal, just shocked that a vocal and clearly not very pleasant minority including town councillors seem to be dominating on this issue.

I'd lay odds the locals are glad you don't live there as well.

I'd lay odds the locals are glad you don't live there as well.

Possibly. I've just been told by a local on social media where I do live to piss off back to where I came from, so it's clearly not confined to Ashbourne.

Quite right. The people who live there could have easily demonstrated that they are not racist by just moving to another town but what did they do - just stay there, in racist Ashbourne.

@NoMoreDickheads

Ashbourne is great and that thing was kind of a landmark/added character. The type of leftie that gets rid of things like that wants to strip all the fun out of life by force.

Again, loving the picture that the people of Ashbourne have been living their lives thinking "What fun, that really enhances my life, I don't need entertainment because I get all my fun from knowing that we've got this bust in our town." And no doubt bursting into hilarious, uncontrollable, happy laughter every time they walk by. It doesn' happen, does it?

The notion that getting rid of this bust strips "all the fun out of life" is in itself risible, but I'm fascinated by the weird little parallel universe some people seem to live in where this idea is worth any headspace at all.

@Ravenclawgirl

I'd lay odds the locals are glad you don't live there as well.

^this

There are a bazillion places I'm glad I don't live in, Ashbourne's not one of 'em. Pray OP, what inclusive paradise are you proud to inhabit?

Hingeandbracket I'm not from the UK although it's been my home for two decades, and I'm starting to feel less and less like there's any inclusive paradise here for me

I'm in a big city though, which helps.

It's been removed "to safety" with the view of putting it back up again once what they refer to as the fuss has died down.

But it's not going to happen, is it? The reality is that, unless they propose to put a round-the-clock guard on it, it would disappear again within days if they put it back. The chances are that, by the time they want to put it back, something sensible will have been put in its place and there won't even be space for it.

They sound like a pathetic childish bunch, probably giggling about how they got one over on those fighting against racism. I wouldn’t tar all of them with the same brush, though it doesn’t reflect well on Ashbourne.
Also the dig about “giving it a lick of black paint” seems pretty vile considering the current climate. Maybe they are just a bit uneducated?