George Floyd Protests in Hyde Park

oldgimmer1

For everyone who thinks the desecration of Colston's statue is ok, there's another person who thinks it an act of mindless vandalism..

They've already renamed Colston Hall?.

Slavery in the UK was abolished in 1807 (or thereabouts).

I'd like to think that, after 200 years, we can accept and acknowledge past events without dredging them up again to suit an agenda.

I don't know if Colston Hall has been renamed or not yet, oldgimmer; it was due to have a new name when it reopened after refurbishment.

Slavery was abolished in 1833.
However, it still goes on in parts of the world.

Damaging Colston's statue won't do anything towards abolishing slavery today but it may remind us all that this is ongoing and is wrong.

trisher there's probably very little of Bristol's history during the 1700s that is not connected to slavery in some way.

You don't need to be taught it to acknowledge it, or recognise it.

Slavery abolished in 1833. I stand corrected.

Instead of destroying the past we should acknowledge it and build on it.

Personally, I think Colston is part of Bristol's history and we should not forget that.

However, so is Dr Paul Stephenson, OBE and there was a campaign to have a statue erected of this brave Bristol man, who is a very dignified campaigner for human rights.

Summerlove, what was my racist comment?
You have accused me of making racist remarks.
Where are they?

I’ve already pointed them out. You can re read your posts to find where you said them.

I hope you have a lovely rest of the day.

The protestors who pulled the statue down were white. Now they want to pull down Churchill's statute. If was not for Churchill there would only be white, blue eyed, blond, Nazis in the world.

oldglimmer1 and have the true horrors of the slave trade been taught to children and acknowledged ? I don't think so or the statue of Colston would have gone long ago. As I said I grew up in Hull and was introduced to the history of slavery and the anti-slavery movement early, but still I did not know the true horror of how people were treated. There were white British people particularly Quakers who opposed the trade and organised a sugar boycott but there are few statues to those people. Everyone needs to be taught the history of the slave trade.

Yesterday, Andy March (Avon and Somerset Chief of Police) said his officers would be ‘doing their job’ today so where were they when the statue was being pulled down and being dragged to the harbourside before being thrown in?. This had clearly been pre planned and no attempt had been made to board it up to protect it (which has been done at Christmas time.) A bit odd as it was the number 1 target. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say!. This is an act of vandalism by a rioting mob without a policeman in sight.

I would point out that Colston like many others of the time was involved in the slave trade. However he became a great benefactor to the City of Bristol leaving all of his money to charitable causes in the City. It was for that reason the statue was erected. 11,000 people wanted it removed which is a tiny fraction of the number of people who live in Bristol. Most Bristolians still refer to the colesanall (dialect for the Colston Hall).
Treating the statue in this way is sheer vandalism and lawlessness.
Also why desecrate Winston Churchill’s statue and that of Abraham Lincoln?

Who sold their fellow black men to white traders? Let’s have the whole story.

Trisher. Of course every child in Bristol is thought about the slave trade in Bristol.

Summerlove, There is no evidence of this.
You accuse me of making racist comments, evidence please.

Can't be bothered reading it all, mostly same old left and right ping pong. The most important thing is that black lives matter. Of course all lives matter but in our society black lives matter less. This has to change. We need to stand up and be counted. Sadly the pandemic has stifled voices otherwise so many more would be out protesting. Please make constructive suggestions for protest.

The statue was put up 174 years after his death as an act of utter GFery. As for who sold the Africans to him, of course that was wrong but because something is up for sale,you don’t have to buy it. A Westerner in Thailand is wrong to buy sex with a child despite the fact the mother may be selling her.

Davidhs, your comment earlier about the need for the black community to look to itself does , imo, constitute racism. There is so much research evidence that confirms racism and economic disadvantage is the reason more black children are excluded, more black men are imprisoned, here and in the US.

Liverpool became such a wealthy city on the back of slavery, then the industrial revolution. The city has a wonderful museum detailing the cities involvement and the history of slavery. We took our own children, then our older grandchildren. When we can all move freely again, we will be visiting with our younger grandchildren.
I'm not surprised the statue of Colston was targeted but my view is keep these commemorative statues and add new posts that summarise the reason for his wealth. Yes he was a great philanthropist to the city of Bristol but he also made all that money on the back of black children, women and men.
We need to teach our history properly. Let's not hide from this countries contribution to slavery, to the impact of colonising other countries. Let's own it, incorporate it into our very souls. Anyone who has been to Berlin can't fail to be impressed by the way in which Germany acknowledges its Nazi history, owns it and moves on with pride in the many good things that country has and continues, to do. We could do well to follow that pattern.

Iam for years there has been political wrangling in Bristol to put up a plaque by the statue with details of how he made his money .Last year (?) the plaques was finally approved and cast and the current Mayor then vetoed it. In the light of that, then pulling it down and throwing it in the river is perfectly acceptable imo.

I assume that many on here would be happy to see the pyramids destroyed as they were built by slaves?

Actually Nightsky2 there is no requirement in the National History Curriculum to teach the history of slavery. It is suggested as a theme but is still non-statutory. There is a request under the Freedom of Information act from someone asking the government how many schools teach the history of slavery but apparently they don't keep any information on that.

GG oh the false vacuous equivalencies of rigorous right wing intellect???

Iam64 I was taught the history of slavery. Believe it or not I am 64 years of age and it was part of the curriculum at my grammar school and I studied it again at university.
There has been slavery in nearly every society at some point, in fact Mauritania only abolished slavery in 1981 and there are probably still enslaved people now. Slaves were taken by the Barbary pirates who took slaves from the south west coast of England at regular intervals for about 300 years and sold them in North Africa . Yes, the triangular trade was awful but not unique. The treatment of all slaves was brutal.
I don't think any society can pat itself on the back in respect of enslaving its own or other peoples.

The are still black slave traders selling their own people into slavery. THIS is not acceptable but no one protests about it. Would there be this much outcry if he had been white?

Did no one teach some people 2 wrongs don't make a right and you can't justify a crime by sayiing other people do it!
Slavery had a huge economic impact on this country and we should acknowledge that and ensure it is taught and remembered. Black history in general is something which we have nelected.

That should be neglected

Why don't the younger demonstrators know that Churchill stopped the Nazis coming to Britain?
If the Nazis had come I would not be alive and nor would many others......no Gay, no Black, no disabled etc.
So what if Churchill began his life as a racist he was of his time and class.....he saved most of us though.
Without Churchill and the USA and a few other countries not forgetting New Zealand, Austrailia, Indian Army Ghurkas from Nepal
We would have no liberal society.
So it makes me sad to see that these people don't know the good Churchill did.

I have had black friends who tell me of events in their lives that make me despair......you cannot hide having black skin and if a racist attacks what can you do?
you can't hide your skin colour so you are a walking target!

In the USA it is still rife with violent racism. They have a lot of work to do and it is good that the UK show support but I wish it had stayed peaceful