Brings a bit of joy to my heart though I guess there will be some calling for their heads No doubt the protesters toppled the statue which is technically an offence - they didnt even deny it but said it was justified - the Jury agreed https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/05/four-cleared-of-toppling-edward-colston-statute
Are we going to pull down all the houses and buildings that slave money paid for,need to be consistent?
Why will they all have engraved placards celebrating and honouring that they were paid for by slavery
It ‘s got a lot to do with it, dwellings are unlikely to be celebrating the fact that they were initially built/ funded by slavery proceeds. Statues and monuments pay tribute to the person/s who profited and came to prominence from them.
Initially yes, nowadays they serve as museums and other public buildings serving their respective communities.
Absolutely, just get rid of the thing that celebrates/ commemoratives, ie statues of slave traders etc
Except that statue was built to recognise all the good stuff he did after he was a slave trader Yes he was a slave trader and yes it’s where a fair amount of his money came for but the statue wasn’t for that.
He couldn’t have done it without the fortunes he made from slavery, so Like I said, keep the stuff that serves the public and does other good things, and get rid of the ‘ face of slavery’
But that’s the point it was to celebrate his Philanthropy, so it wasn’t the face of slavery. It was also erected well over 100 years after slavery was abolished in this country.
I went to a castle in Wales in the Summer, Penryhnn Castle i believe, which was also funded by the slave trade. There is a theme through out the castle explaining why this was wrong including videos of Welsh kids who've been taught about it in Primary/Secondary school, and how the National Trust are educating the youth of today about the past. I would hope that this is happening in all National Trust properties where appropriate.
Where do folk draw the line. We can’t turn back history. But I’m willing to bet most protestors buy Asian goods using workhouse ( slave ) Labour. Lots will watch the World Cup in Qatar. Both vile human rights ignorers. We can change things that are abhorrent now. But when things hit folks pockets. Do most worry about where stuff comes from or how it’s produced. I very much doubt it.
Whilst I applaud them not being punished, it worries me that when they very clearly committed the offence they were tried for (or at least did the damage, it being deemed non-criminal today presumably) - the jury has acquitted them. It isn’t a jury’s job to decide whether they should be punished, just to decide whether they did it, surely? I do wonder if there’s a bit more to it than this, otherwise the judge would have intervened? I know we have our resident lawyers, who could maybe suggest their view?
Personally I disagree. It's was criminal damage. Did any of them ever make any attempt to have the statue removed through the correct process? It was a part of history now if the concensus is we don't want to celebrate someone who was part that of history then fine, but I don't think criminal damage was justified in this instance. Can we start knocking down church's for all the wrongs committed by christianity throughout the years. I wonder in a couple of hundred years how history will judge our time. For example all of us who eat meat and are complicit in the suffering of innocent animals.
- And that hadn't happened with the amateur, hence the upset in Bristol. There had been pressure at local level to get a plaque that properly told of where the money came from .