I wouldn't miss any statues of people

[Hingeandbracket]

Right from being a kid and first being aware of statues of famous people I never saw the point.

I wouldn't miss a single one, actually; even the ones to people I liked like Victoria Wood and Eric Morecambe - why don't we just chuck them all in the sea?

It's high time 'The Mannie' was dynamited into oblivion. Where are the Taliban when you need them?

Also, Field Marshall Douglas Haig and his nag up at Edinburgh Castle. They already had to move it inside the castle just to get it out of an already disapproving public eye. A statue with it's own castle to protect it. If that doesn't earmark it for the smelters...

At least one poster on MN has said she would be happy to pull down a statue of Margaret Thatcher. I never voted for Thatcher but that's absurd.
I'd help pull that one down. In terms of racism she was always a big supporter of the apartheid regime in South Africa and her support for Pinochet showed she had zero respect for human rights or democracy.

Where are the Taliban when you need them?

That has to be one of dumbest comments I've ever seen on MN.

@MadisonAvenue, it's randomly parked outside a funeral director in Bloxwich.

Well I thought it was pretty obvious it's entirely tongue-in-cheek, given their penchant for dynamiting large objects of cultural significance.

Seemingly not.

But if you want a couple that could do with quietly removing and replacing , i’d personally go for this guy:
Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394-1460). One of the first to study cartography, opened up routes from Europe to Africa for the first time, and was one of the initiators of the modern (in historical terms) European slave trade.

@Littlebyerockerboo

Agree. Pull them all down and put them in museums, these statues were for thier time, now I don't see the point. Dont want to erase the past, but don't see the need now.

I vote for replacing statues with flowers, plants, trees that would enhance the area and nature, help fight pollution and climate change and give the community colour, and prehaps even a sense of community helping to maintain and care for the flowers etc, much better use of space in this day and age, IMO.

I love this idea

Well, actually, I DO notice statues wherever I go, just as I notice blue plaques on buildings.
In some cases, I do not know who the person was, so I make a note of the name and look it up afterwards.
Personally, the statue of Colston in Bristol, I would move to a museum, and add a largish plaque to say who he was, how he made his money, his involvement in the slave trade, why the later Victorians commissioned the statue, and why it was subsequently taken down and moved. I like to be educated on these things.
Removing the statue does not eliminate the past, without the statue, visitors to Bristol may forget/ never know about the involvement of the slave trade.

@milveycrohn

Well, actually, I DO notice statues wherever I go, just as I notice blue plaques on buildings. In some cases, I do not know who the person was, so I make a note of the name and look it up afterwards. Personally, the statue of Colston in Bristol, I would move to a museum, and add a largish plaque to say who he was, how he made his money, his involvement in the slave trade, why the later Victorians commissioned the statue, and why it was subsequently taken down and moved. I like to be educated on these things. Removing the statue does not eliminate the past, without the statue, visitors to Bristol may forget/ never know about the involvement of the slave trade.

Bristol’s council leaders wouldn’t allow a plaque of Colston that told the truth. The wording on the plaque they would allow didn’t mention the number of deaths he was responsible for - specifically children.

I'm not that bothered about statues that commemorate wealth or position, but I do like arty ones.

YANBU OP.

I give no shits about statues and would have no issues with councils moving them or putting up additional statues/info boards alongside them for educational and cultural purposes ie showing Colston was a slave trader and the impact that had on people (death and suffering). However, I do give a shit about the law and don't think citizens should just be able to destroy property and get away with it. That sends us backwards in time. We are supposed to be civilised and do things in a civil manner. Petitions, websites, social media, podcasts...and maybe follow the laws and guidance issued by our ELECTED leaders. Even if we did not personally vote for them.

I love statues. I like the ones of random interesting people That i can look up when i get home, i like the silly pop up ones that only last a year, and i like the beautiful ones like the attached. Our streets would be poorer without them.

To those saying they would prefer plants, Tavistock Square in London is the “peace” square. It not only has the statue of Ghandi i posted above, the cherry blossom behind him was planted to commemorate the Hiroshima bombings. The League of Jewish Women planted a Maple tree to commemorate an international year of peace, and a large rock installation honours conscientious objectors.

Slightly related, in the City, there is a statue called “The Gardener” that honours all those who work so hard to make London’s open spaces and parks so lovely

I am not bring goady but I like statues. Where I live we have a famous statue on the hit list. Now local neighborhood group is setting up a schedule to protect it with ex army types volunteering. It is all getting very worrying and out of hand.

Police in America use harsh methods to control crime. In UK now police officers being attacked.

In UK we need to get back to normal. Bad enough we all have to deal with Covid without attacks on police and statues, who are not hurting anyone and part of our history.

Black people can put up statues of people they want, no need to rip others down.