There are times I really like our Jury system

But, his philanthropy was enabled by slavery, therefore by having a statue of him it was displaying the face of slavery. I was reading an article a while back where local people had been calling for the removal of the statue for years.

 

Shall we go and knock down what’s left of Hadrian’s Wall?

 

He was a rich man before slavery what about a statue of him a bit younger looking

 

Why?

 

Nae ye sassenach. .

 

So the fortunes he made from slavery were negligible then? He was a slave trader

 

There must be something we can knock down ,what about someone doing a quick statue of Conway for services to vouchers ,then we can knock it down

 

So was the king of England,I want every picture of King Charles destroyed

 

No. Think of it more like when Saddam Husseins statue was toppled or some of the Eastern bloc countries when past leaders statues were toppled. Unfortunately racism isn't in the past, hopefully there will come a day when skin colour won't matter and then these statues would be the same as Hadrian's wall and no doubt in the same state.

 

Yes, according to an article I read a while back, local groups had been trying for years to have it removed as many locals were offended by it, many of them descendants of families of slaves.

 

I’m not expressing an opinion either way but the Roman Empire was heavily dependent on slavery for its economic success so if the argument is that monuments or buildings built with money supplied from a slave economy should be pulled down does it follow that it should be?

 

Go for it

 

No, just statues of individuals where many locals are offended by them

 

I think it’s better to educate though, and explain what he did and where he got his money from. If you pull it down surely you’re just hiding the past?

 

Fair point

 

Is your whataboutery.

No one is suggesting buildings should be destroyed, except the idiots that can’t contextualise the toppling of the statue.

 

So was virtually every person from that time, Samuel Pepys, John Locke to name a couple both earned significant sums from the same company he did, do we remove all their statues too?

Theres no dispute he was involved in slavery and we all know slavery is wrong.
Interestingly the Statue was erected 174 years after his death with the plaque reading
“Erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of their city AD 1895”.

This was some 100 years after slavery was abolished. Also it wasn’t common knowledge he was a slave trader and wasn’t until 25 years after the erection.

You mention people calling for the removal for years there was a petition started 3 years before the offence and a total of 18 people signed it.
In a multicultural city like Bristol that doesn’t sound like a lot does it?

 

The article I read, which was quite a while back, said their had been several attempts over the years to have the statue removed, can’t remember it mentioning a petition.

 

There have been conversations in the past, there is no doubt, I’m just raising the fact that prior to the statue coming down almost nobody could be bothered to sign a petition, now of course that may just be reflective of their faith in the local council.
This quote from the Mayor at time shows it had been discussed
“As I said, conversations go on about the name of the Colston Hall and the statue but what we’re not doing is saying it’s on our list of top 10 activities to deliver a fairer, more inclusive, sustainable city – removing a statue is not on that list.”
I just think it’s unfair for him to be just judged as a Slaver when he did many firsts to improve the life for the less fortunate in his later years. In fact his foundation continued until this happened.

Respect your opinion, perhaps best to agree to disagree

 

I agree, and I think that is what's rightfully happening. however I think we need to listen to what the black communities in our towns and cities feel. Not all history gets preserved , at the end of the day most of what is comes from the ruling classes over the centuries.