I am not trying to be controversial, but...........

I’ll post how I see fit. Please don’t attempt to deflect from my point.

You weren't making a point at the time. Just being very rude and childishly name calling those whose "opinions" don't agree with yours.

It makes no sense to be worked up about the so called vandalism of statues being pulled down, defaced, street names changed etc. without addressing the root cause.
Why is it so very important that these symbols not be removed and an immediate stop put to this kind of behaviour when putting a stop to the utterly appalling usage of human beings, past and present, can be put on the back burner and kept for another time?

GG13 I think the council are leaving the statue where it is
(Poole)
What’s needed is some real thought now about statues, but not just knee jerk reactions from councils.

Baden- Powell's statue is on the hit list.
Who next?

I agree that statues of people who genuinely cause offence should be removed and don't know why the Colston one remained for years after there were calls for it to go, but we are supposed to be ruled by the law in a democratic country and not by the mob.

It seems like a small dividing line between pulling down the statues to attacking anyone you don't happen to agree with.

What’s needed is some real thought now about statues, but not just knee jerk reactions from councils.

True. It's going to take some work to tell an even handed story but it's certainly time we put that work in.

“On the abolition of slavery the owners were paid about £1.8 billion in today's money for compensation. How much of that went to our aristocracy to enable them to build their stately homes.“

Thats one thing I do check on when I visit a House on a day out find out where the money came from.
Top of the list is Royal patronage second Lawyers, it’s surprising in the 18th century how wealthy they were, no doubt part of that was from slave owning clients. A lot of the more recent houses were built by industrialists, mill owners and the like.

I don't think that Baden-Powell's statue is on any hit list.
As I understand it, the council were going to remove the statue just in case it was vandalised, there had been no actual threat.
A number of local people then wanted to stop the council from removing the statue, and were shouting about being willing to fight for it.
They looked a bit like a mob.

A mob of about twenty, mainly old people though Ilovech
?

You weren't making a point at the time. Just being very rude and childishly name calling those whose "opinions" don't agree with yours.

That’s patently untrue. Please don’t confuse my posts with others. I didn’t insult anyone, childishly or otherwise.

Remove all statues and be done with. Who cares ?
Tear up all the old moth-eaten history books and bring the country into the 21st century where it should be as it's where it is now, slowly but surely leaving the past behind.

lemongrove An elderly moblet?

Ilovecheese I think you'll find I am correct.
His personal views, particularly on homosexuality, are considered unacceptable to many these days.

If I had an affinity for statues I'd choose Charles de Gaulle.

MaisieD,
Nelson can stay where he is then.

On the abolition of slavery the owners were paid about £1.8 billion in today's money for compensation. How much of that went to our aristocracy to enable them to build their stately homes.“

By the 1830s a lot of the West Indian plantations were actually struggling, sugar was no longer such a profitable crop. A lot of owners were mortgaged up to the hilt trying to keep going and the compensation for the loss of their slaves went straight to paying off their debts. It's not as straightforward as people think. Far from the compensation making their fortunes, many plantation owners were just as badly off as they were before.

So, you might well find, while condemning and boycotting descendants of apparent beneficiaries, there are other wealthy families around who had no apparent connection with slavery..

Nelson's wife was the child and widow of West Indian planters.

Though Nelson was horrid to her, went off with that dreadful Emma Hamilton, so perhaps he'll be safe from that aspect too,

I went to talk by somebody involved in the team analysing the data on compensation.

Some of it went to people who had no idea they had investments in slaves. Slaves were treated as commodities and shares were traded as part of a portfolio, just like other shares. That's horrific in itself, but I wouldn't mind betting that many people today don't know where their pension funds or bank savings are invested.

Although some people did spend the money on themselves, others invested, especially in railways. Much of the current rail infrastructure was built with compensation money.

You can search the database of people who were compensated here:

www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/

The list of properties which were built or improved with slave compensation money is here:

www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/physical/

This is an interesting entry:

www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/8816

You can't judge the people of yesteryear by the standards of today. Abhorrent as it is to us today, that's how they were in those days. They just didn't get it. What really matters is not what took place 400 years ago. We were not those people. Those people are long gone. What really matters is how we treat the BAME community today. That's what's important.

grannyrebel7 totally agree with your post ??

timetogo2016

I think this is getting out of hand and is very worrying.
If it was a white man that was killed i don`t think for an instance the same things would be happening.
I hate racism in any way shape or form but i remember many years ago my sisters than boyfriend who was black mentioned a few times that there will be a revolution one day.
I always thought he was being daft ,oh and by the way he was lovely and i was rather sad when they split so please don`t think i am on a rant.

The irony here is astounding

I don't think it's about equality, why can't anyone just be proud of what they are and love the differences. What happened 400 years ago you can't undoe the past just learn from it.

It's like a lot of things on here, if you don't run with the"pack", your torn to shreds.

Perhaps people are trying to explain but you won’t even try to understand the point they’re trying to make.