To think blue plaques are being used by activists now

[pompomdaisy]

This is the lates blue plaque at TheTetley Leeds.

I know this was an awful and distressing event but should it be remembered on a blue plaque? Was that the intended use of these plaques?

www.instagram.com/p/CjVaZSKsN7e/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I’m not sure you understand what the purpose of a memorial bench or a blue plaque is.

Blue plaques are supposed to be celebratory. This is totally unappropriate.

By all means record and publicise crimes such as this, but a blue plaque isn't the way. It would be like having an illustration of a murder on a bank note.

But...what is the real benefit of doing this kind of thing? Horrible things have probably happened on every street - we just don't know about them. Yes, I agree OP - I think there's a very divisive and negative agenda at work here. Should there be a plaque at the site of every murder or car crash? How incredibly depressing!!

Who says they are supposed to be celebratory? Apart from you?

Fangs for the Memory

Yes, I think you'll find they are meant to be celebratory. Blue plaques go on buildings where authors, politicians etc etc lived or worked. I have never seen a blue plaque which is not celebratory until the one mentioned here.

I'd be interested to know of similar ones if you know of any, and I'll stand corrected (not from very recently though - that's the point! They are traditionally celebratory, and this is a departure.)

Blue plaques are supposed to be celebratory. This is totally unappropriate.

What is the purpose of a blue plaque?

A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker.

So they're not just celebratory.

Here's one from London

To be eligible for an English Heritage blue plaque in London, the famous person concerned must:[18]
Have been dead for 20 years or have passed the centenary of their birth. Fictional characters are not eligible;
Be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession; have made an outstanding contribution to human welfare or happiness;

Criteria according to Wikipedia.

I think that means celebratory!

Not all blue plaques are English Heritage though.

Have you ever been to the London Museum? It's an awful lot about the plague and the fire of London, not exactly happy events.

Leeds isn't in London.

I think you're getting confused between English Heritage and other blue plaques

I just think Leeds could become a trail of horrendous events rather than being celebrated for all the great things that have happened here historically.

See below.

Huh?

Yes, those horrible bullies commemorating historic events in Leeds with blue plaques. They really must be stopped

Personally I think stories like these needs to be remembered, and not swept under the rug.

Do you have a problem with Holocaust memorials, 9/11 memorials, etc too?

YABU!
The whole point of blue (and other coloured) plaques has always been to remember significant people and important events from the past. This one isn't the only one that commemorates an unhappy historical event or tragedy of some kind. There are plenty in London like that too.

Choosing who gets remembered, and what they are remembered for - along with who gets forgotten - is an intrinsically political decision, and always has been.

Personally, I think it's important that we remember people like Oluwale. The fact that his was the first time that British police officers were actually prosecuted for their involvement in a racist killing is extremely historically important. But then I would call myself an 'activist' and have actually been involved in putting up plaques.

What is even more shocking is that over half a century later, British police officers continue to kill (mostly black) people with absolute impunity - it's estimated that several thousand people have died in custody/ at the hands of the police in the last 40 years - Chris Kaba is just the latest case to hit the headlines. <see www.inquest.org.uk/deaths-in-police-custody if you want statistics and www.inquest.org.uk/family-campaigns for more info about various families' campaigns for justice>

Perhaps if plaques were erected for each and every one of them, it would be obvious how many lives were being lost and increased public awareness/outrage might actually lead to some change in society....

I really hope posters like @Suetwo mean the police when they refer to "bullies" rather than referring to bereaved families and friends, and other anti-racist campaigners as "fanatics".

So...is this a thing now? Are we going to be putting up blue plaques on every crime scene, current and historic? You'll run out of wall space.

What will be the criteria? Muggings? Rapes? Murders? GBH?

Completely mad, as well as wrong-headed and depressing.

Reminds me of those awful road signs, erected at huge expense, telling you at frequent intervals how many people had been killed on that road. I notice they've disappeared because - guess what? They were not an effective way of deterring speeders and basically depressed the hell out of everyone.

A quick online search would find you that there is a Blue Plaque (presumably not EH!) On 221b Baker Street for Sherlock Holmes. A fictional character.

Overall, the one in the OP seems more worthwhile.

I was under the impression that blue plaques pointed out historic places of note or interest, not just the nicer parts of history.
There is a blue plaque on a building in a town local to me - it makes mention that the site was once where a man sold his wife (can't remember the exact wording of the plaque). It's a sad part of history, to know a woman was sold as property in that building, but she is remembered by that plaque and it is of notable interest in the building's history.