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

We can’t change the past, we can only learn from it, and dragging statues down because you’re trying to erase what happened isn’t going to help.

The history is still in the history books, it's not been erased. But statues are for commemoration, and people no longer want to commemorate racists.

The history is still in the history books, it's not been erased. But statues are for commemoration, and people no longer want to commemorate racists.

So Karl Marx and Ghandi statues down as well then?

BLM called protests during a pandemic

Because.....? What was the cause of that? What possible spark ignited the powder keg of racial tensions at this particular time do you think?
Come on, I know you know the answer to this. No? You think people were just bored of lockdown and thought “I know, let’s have a heated protest or two?”

Of course you already know that’s not true but I’ll spell it out fir you any way.

What really happened was that George Floyd was lynched during the pandemic. Terrible timing on the part of the white cop who decided to kneel on his neck for almost 9 minutes agreed. Especially given the white cop chose to do it in such close succession to the release of footage of the vigilante murder of Ahmad Arbery and the news of the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Powder keg meet spark.

And here on mumsnet the debate is whether statues are more important than human lives, because of course it is.

BLM called protests during a pandemic. I think that says it all.

What does it say, exactly?

So Karl Marx and Ghandi statues down as well then?

What about this? What about that? Whatabout Whatabout whatabout? Anything to undermine right? Anything at all.

If you are more outraged at a statue of Edward Colston being taken down, than you are about the lives that were destroyed and ended by Edward Colston, then you need to have a long hard look at yourself and why you think that way.

And here on mumsnet the debate is whether statues are more important than human lives, because of course it is.

What about the human lives that will be lost because people went marching during a pandemic? Hypocrite

So Karl Marx and Ghandi statues down as well then?

Yes, but the Marxists taking down the statues would not agreed to that

.

I have to agree that us Brits are now getting a history lesson or two. I, for one have learned a lot more over the last couple of days than I did before. I do think that we are largely ignorant of black history. I learnt about Apartheid at school, but that was about it. And I can genuinely say that I know very little about all the various black communities in the UK today, which we all tend to bung into one category of 'black' when there is so much diversity within it.

BLM called protests during a pandemic. I think that says it all.

And? George Floyd was killed during a pandemic. Terribly inconsiderate of him, I know, but there you are.

have to agree that us Brits are now getting a history lesson or two. I, for one have learned a lot more over the last couple of days than I did before

I think that's more reflective of you, and those that think school teaches them everything they should know.

I just find it very worrying that the tone of debate in this country has become so hostile.

It seems to be impossible to discuss anything these days without resorting to name calling or insults.

People have different views, some of these people's views may be abhorrent to you as yours may be to them. If we are not prepared to listen to others we will never get consensus on anything.

There seems to be a prevailing view that anyone who disagrees with you is an evil person. I agree that it is totally inappropriate in this day and age to have a statue celebrating a slave trader in a public roadway but I am a little concerned as to what comes next.

Who gets to decide in other circumstances what is or is not acceptable?

I totally agree with the motivation behind the people who took down the Colston statue but I am slightly uneasy about some of the unintended consequences which may follow. We already have the police "checking people's thinking".

I know this is not directly related to OPs post but I think the BLM protests have really brought this to the fore.

He was a well-respected and well-loved Turkish man so in his honour they put his head up.

Yes, he was so well-respected that they couldn't even be arsed to carve out a head that actually looked like him, and instead just put up a head of a generic dark skinned caricature instead. Because unless this Turkish man was an actual cartoon, he looked nothing like that in real life.

This exactly.

Plus, didn't another Ashbourne resident say it was a 'fertility thing'? So which is it? Blameless generic fertility symbol or much-loved Turkish coffee merchant who had the misfortune to have a face like a crude mask?

BLM called protests during a pandemic. I think that says it all What a staggeringly stupid comment.

@Sandybval

True. But the reality is that, once out of education, life tends to take over. Sitting down and finding the time to teach/research historical events takes time and motivation. School should at least provide the building blocks and create a foundation for further learning/spark an interest.

So Karl Marx and Ghandi statues down as well then?

Which Karl Marx statues?
And why?

If only there was some way we could ban thinking in certain ways.

There is a book about that - 1984 by George Orwell.

"AIBU to think that is indicative of a racist unpleasant place?"
Yes YABU.

No doubt there are some racists in Ashbourne as there are everywhere, it's not a "racist unpleasant place" though.

Isn’t Derbyshire famous for the wool industry? There is a type of sheep called a Blackface.

Here...

Not sure what relevance this has to the thread, but I think blackface sheep hail from Scotland and the north-east of England. The most famous local Derbyshire sheep is the Derbyshire Gritstone, I think.

If only there was some way we could ban thinking in certain ways.

Lol

The sheep is a British breed. Wool is wool. And wool can travel.

Surprise.

candilemon, I'm not sure if you're addressing me, or the thread in general.

OP, do you actually know Ashbourne to make that judgement fairly?