I love the statue that has replaced the slave trader

Think the statue had been removed already.

But the statue doesn’t represent equality, it represents power ,

This matter has already been a considerable cost to the city council. That body is already millions of pounds in debt by way of a green electricity generation project they became involved with and the ever-growing cost of child and elderly care.

Therefore as Bristol has an elected Council and separately elected Mayor those bodies should be left to decide the what priority should be given to the statue issue, and what budget expenditure, if any, should be allocated to the matter.

For myself, I would much rather witness whatever resources Bristol has available being allocated to the children, elderly and the rapidly growing unemployed of the city rather than allocated an issue that Britain already has very adequate legislation to deal with in regard to such matters.

Of course, those that support BLM would never consider using Britains equality legislation to address their perceived grievances for that would be far too simple and straightforward.

flopen

I believe in a free and equal society. I deplore racial prejudice.

That's it.

I accept everything in BLM that says that. But I believe it is a left-wing organisation who's main aim is to bring down capitalism. This is from reading their literature.

That's fine, if that's what you want. It's just that I don't. And the trouble is (as I've found already on this thread) that you are not allowed to criticise BLM without people saying you're a racist.

Good post, and spot on!
The naive comments about BLM show that some people have no idea about it.
Nobody is saying that the statue isn’t well done, but that the only reason the sculptor did it was to get himself noticed.
It was also a deliberately provocative artwork, the raised clenched fist and the Marxist beret on her head.Did she wear a beret on the day....I bet not.It gave the statue a ‘Wolfie Smith’ look..
The sooner the people of Bristol get a voice over what goes on the plinth the better.

She's in a skip now

You said if you support the organisation you support the stated aims. I am just not sure it's that clear cut.

I hear what you say.

I left the Labour Party because of its stance on Trans issues, while friends are holding their nose and sticking with them, hoping for change.

I guess it's a personal choice. But Labour's trans issues are a branch of a body whose aims I generally agree with but the body of BLM is Far Left, in my opinion, and is aimed at achieving goals beyond racial equality.



i

Oh the irony. The woman is wearing a top emblazoned with ad advert for adidas A company that hasn't exactly covered itself in glory in regards to slave labour.
It seems most of you here didn't notice it, or didn't want to.

But I can support some of the aims of BLM and not some of the others. In the same way I do with the labour party.

Furret it wasn’t the word ‘fuck’ but the aggressive post “who the fuck do you think you are” that I disliked.

so, if you support BLM, it doesn't mean you support BLM.
For goodness sake, if you don't support the stated aims of an organisation, how can you support them.
It's like Alice in Wonderland

You said if you support the organisation you support the stated aims. I am just not sure it's that clear cut.

Oh Furret What I won’t stand is hectoring. These sort of demands are techniques used by certain types to deflect the argument..

You do of course realise how disingenuous you are being? Pots and kettles.

The cis gender privilege stuff is nonsense whitewave, that's just another way of saying women shut up.

absolutely.

In fact it's from exactly the same place that is currently telling black people to shut up. Same old, same old.

sorry galaxy what were you referring to? I'm not sure what it is, because I agree with your statement.

The cis gender privilege stuff is nonsense whitewave, that's just another way of saying women shut up.

Whitewavemark2

flopen

Here's the manifesto
blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/
And it expresses the aim of breaking down the nuclear family and cis gender privilege. So no thank you

It is confusing to many, but Black Lives Matter, is a very loose organisation, which “encompasses all who declare that black lives matter” with emphasis on local action as opposed to centralised control. To try to pin such a loose confederacy to a particular manifesto clearly makes nonsense, and trawling the net will give you no clear result

The guiding principals however remain as the overall aim. These have been formulated since 2014.

Exactly, Wwm. Misrepresentation of a grassroots movement by those that deliberately choose to believe otherwise.

BLM is not a formal organisation. It may have sections that have formalised, but overall it is made up of people who protest in a variety of ways (some small-scale, such as kneeling) to show solidarity to the statement that black peoples lives matter just as much as white.

The lady on my street that makes face masks, is a bit of a hippy, but has a large BLM hand made poster in her window. The new friend I've made on a local Facebook group, who challenges racists. THEY are BLM. Not the imaginary Marxists extreme right wingers dream up.

And if you're more offended by the use of the F word, than you are about systemic UK racism, your moral compass is broken.

Crossed posts Urm but very kindly put. No I’m not regretting it. I deplore racism in any form.
so racism is defined by people asking questions or disagreeing with you furret? Interesting.

We are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure

Hmmm.......so how will they go about that?

so, as a white person, I have to be simultaneously be told that I can't possibly understand and AT THE SAME TIME have to understand.
Great.
And, as I have said before, and nobody has answered, apart from to say 'oh that's another BLM'. It also is clearly dedicated to defunding the police, closing prisons, bringing down capitalism.

Nanna there was no ‘personal insult’. Could you say why you think that as I’m confused, please.

I am not sure I entirely agree with that flopen, if you support an organisation you support their stated aims. I think that's led us to some of the entrenched 'tribes' that we are currently witnessing. I support the labour party, some of the beliefs expressed by some in the labour party make me want to weep.

I’m not totally sure why we have to have any statues at all.
In many cases most of us don’t have a clue who they are.

I recently saw one of a man who came from the village of a friend. I’d never heard of him and she said vaguely “Oh yes, yI think someone from here was famous”.

If it causes such controversy why bother? There is talk of one being made to commemorate Vera Lynn. Lovely woman but why? If the world survives another couple of hundred years people will look at it , scratch their heads and wonder what she did to deserve it.
Then someone else will say that it was said she was cruel to dogs (I’m sure she wasn’t BTW) and down it will come!

Pearl clutching.? It’s not pearl clutching to expect someone to be able to discuss a subject passionately without resorting to personal insult, just simple good manners.

Crossed posts Urm but very kindly put. No I’m not regretting it. I deplore racism in any form.

This is slightly off-thread but shows the kind of racism inherent in so many

“ British Vogue – The magazine’s editor says he was racially profiled after being told yesterday to “use the loading bay” by a security guard as he entered the offices. Edward Enninful, who is black, has been the fashion magazine’s editor-in-chief since 2017. “Today, I was racially profiled by a security guard whilst entering my workplace. I was instructed to use the loading bay. Just because our timelines and weekends are returning to normal, we cannot let the world return to how it was. Change needs to happen now,” he said”