Edward Colston statue: Four cleared of criminal damage

[transam]

Well what about tearing down the statue to Oliver Cromwell for his persecution of the Irish


Or may be bomber Harris

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

However as I have repeatedly said, slavery in all its forms (against black and white people) was a normality at the time and this has to be considered.

There were white slaves of whites, white slaves of blacks, black slaves of whites and as one person of colour recently found when delving into her predecessors - black slaves of blacks. It still sadly very much continues to this day, in some forms. No one alive on this earth can claim total innocence of their predecessors, so why all the fuss about a statue.

 

[cwhaley]

Well what about tearing down the statue to Oliver Cromwell for his persecution of the Irish


Or may be bomber Harris

Or Churchill, or Thatcher, or Queen Victoria, or Michael Jackson, or Alfred the Great or even Robert Burns! All controversial and some with direct involvement in the deaths of people.

Context...

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

And don't forget Colston would have been handsomely compensated for his "losses" when the slave trade ended.

..And the UK was one of the early ones to ban slavery.

 

[cwhaley]

There were white slaves of whites, white slaves of blacks, black slaves of whites and as one person of colour recently found when delving into her predecessors - black slaves of blacks. It still sadly very much continues to this day, in some forms. No one alive on this earth can claim total innocence of their predecessors, so why all the fuss about a statue.

Could not agree with you more. White slavery is all-to-often ignored despite tens of thousands of Brits being taken from their families and enslaved on plantations. Why the division between black and white? Slavery in all forms is wrong. End of.

 

[Notch7]

..And the UK was one of the early ones to ban slavery.

why dont we have a statue of the person that signed that ban

 

[cwhaley]

why dont we have a statue of the person that signed that ban

We have many statues celebrating those who helped end it. One of the grandest being this one, erected in honour of Lord Mansfield who wrote the below words, contributing to the ending of slavery in Britain the empire:

We have no slaves at home – Then why abroad?
Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free.
They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud.
And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then,
And let it circulate through every vein.

 

[Notch7]

Could not agree with you more. White slavery is all-to-often ignored despite tens of thousands of Brits being taken from their families and enslaved on plantations. Why the division between black and white? Slavery in all forms is wrong. End of.

black slavery is intrinsically linked to racism

segregation followed slavery in USA

 

[cwhaley]

There there's this, a monument to the leading campaigner against slavery Thomas Clarkson.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

why dont we have a statue of the person that signed that ban

There is, in Hull - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilberforce_Monument

 

[fillyboy]

 

[AngleEyes]

Unfortunately there's no getting into some people the idea of historical context. Some people will allow themselves to be blinded by current hot political issues, and this completely warps a fair analysis of whether or not somebody 'deserves' to have a statue erected in their honour. Colston - like so many of his contemporaries - benefited from the slave trade. However as I have repeatedly said, slavery in all its forms (against black and white people) was a normality at the time and this has to be considered. An open and public debate (about an open and public monument) should consider everything behind the the erection of the statue and decide whether it should remain or go. Lawless mobs driven almost entirely by emotion, commit acts like this with the mentality of pack-like anger. People like angeleyes unfortunately support them and to me it's unfair and wrong. This isn't Iraq in 2003.

Unfortunately there's no getting into some people the idea of historical context is invariably outdated, and historical acts need to be considered in modern moral and ethical terms.

 

[AngleEyes]

Or Churchill, or Thatcher, or Queen Victoria, or Michael Jackson, or Alfred the Great or even Robert Burns! All controversial and some with direct involvement in the deaths of people.

Context...

Just imagine a statue of Bomber Harris in Berlin, or Churchill in Bengal, or Thatcher at the NUM HQ.

 

[AngleEyes]

There were white slaves of whites, white slaves of blacks, black slaves of whites and as one person of colour recently found when delving into her predecessors - black slaves of blacks. It still sadly very much continues to this day, in some forms. No one alive on this earth can claim total innocence of their predecessors, so why all the fuss about a statue.

Heinous acts do not excuse other heinous acts. They all remain heinous. And statues should not be erected to those who are responsible, in part or primarily for heinous acts.
To do so risks it being damaged or destroyed.

 

[Trazor]

I suppose Nelson is too high to pull down, by vandals.