Edward Colston statue toppled in Bristol...

I had heard of him, mainly because of Colston Hall in Bristol, where I have been to a few concerts. Apparently, when he died, he left his entire wealth to the city of Bristol.
 
Last edited:
Archibald Knox said:
I had heard of him, mainly because of Colston Hall in Bristol, where I have been to a few concerts.
Click to expand...
Just done a bit of research on him. Died in 1721 and the statue went up in 1895. Made his money on slaving then set up a number of trusts that still pay out to this day. MP for Bristol as a High Tory.

As I said before, I'm surprised that a slave trader's statue was still up in this day and age.
 
I just mentioned on another thread there’s a Colston Hall in Bristol where “everyone “‘has played but they I bet they had no idea who Colston was. They are trying to change the name plus streets named after him . I go to Bristol with work which is how I know
 
Bad simply because it's just an act of wanton vandalism. Wiz makes a good point though about it being 174 years after his death when it went up. But we have to remember times were different back then. Just seen an interview on C4 news where I think it was mentioned there were or had been or will be discussions with the council to take it down.
The protestors actions can't be condoned and as I said they weren't all wearing face masks because of the virus. I'd have to say it was pretty much a pre-meditated act.
 
Would have been more effective if they lobbied for his statue removal In the all the times upto now? Would have been a strong statement for Blm yet it has to be a negative vandalism moment.
Assume it wasn’t so important before?
 
Chunkylad said:
Would have been more effective if they lobbied for his statue removal In the all the times upto now? Would have been a strong statement for Blm yet it has to be a negative vandalism moment.
Assume it wasn’t so important before?
Click to expand...
I think its fair to say that the lobbying for removal has been going on a good while. Some have clearly used the opportunity presented by BLM
 
Chunkylad said:
Would have been more effective if they lobbied for his statue removal In the all the times upto now? Would have been a strong statement for Blm yet it has to be a negative vandalism moment.
Assume it wasn’t so important before?
Click to expand...
There has been lobbying to remove the statue for years and put it in a museum with appropriate literature regarding his slave trading. This has continuously been rejected as have been efforts to change the plaque to reflect his slave trading.

You can see why direct action has been taken with such inertia.
 
Best give up your membership of the National Trust then. Half the stately homes of Britain were funded by the trade. For those close to home, take a trip the museum in Lancaster and then work out if you ever bought any furniture from the local Waring and Gillow family. Mahogany used to come back as ballast after having Africans sold by their local slavers on the way out
 
Dark_Side_of_the_Lune said:
Best give up your membership of the National Trust then. Half the stately homes of Britain were funded by the trade. For those close to home, take a trip the museum in Lancaster and then work out if you ever bought any furniture from the local Waring and Gillow family. Mahogany used to come back as ballast after having Africans sold by their local slavers on the way out
Click to expand...
Same with much of Liverpool, although much has been done in recent years to acknowledge and learn from it.
 
Plenty of dickheads on Twitter saying its not vandalism because of who he was ( I had never heard of him). Perhaps we could smash up Deepdale and then just post on social media its not vandalism due to not liking PNE? This lot weren't protesting, they were exercising anarchy.
I was in Lytham today and there was a perfectly safe and well respected protest attended by a few hundred. They didn't try and smash the town up.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1269657093893742597
 
It should have been removed long ago.

But to allow vandalism in the UK is disgusting. Noted the white "professional protester type" the first to jump on it among the baying mob.
 
Archibald Knox said:
I had heard of him, mainly because of Colston Hall in Bristol, where I have been to a few concerts. Apparently, when he died, he left his entire wealth to the city of Bristol.
Click to expand...


So are the protesters going to boycott future events at Colston Hall, or is that inconvenient?

Thanks for the Lytham update Groundsman 👍 Good to see how a protest should be arranged during a pandemic.
 
The statue was erected in remembrance of what he did for the city of Bristol. Colston Hall is going to have a name change. A major shopping centre in Bristol called Cabot Circus was originally going to be called Merchants Quarter, but because of the uproar this name caused, it was changed. The thing is though, you can’t eradicate history. It is what it is.
I see people have a problem with ‘all lives matter’ and say that people who state this don’t understand the Black Lives matter movement. I think this is because those people aren’t racist and don’t see the differentiation. Perhaps this is naivety.
 
SomersetSeasider said:
The statue was erected in remembrance of what he did for the city of Bristol. Colston Hall is going to have a name change. A major shopping centre in Bristol called Cabot Circus was originally going to be called Merchants Quarter, but because of the uproar this name caused, it was changed. The thing is though, you can’t eradicate history. It is what it is.
I see people have a problem with ‘all lives matter’ and say that people who state this don’t understand the Black Lives matter movement. I think this is because those people aren’t racist and don’t see the differentiation. Perhaps this is naivety.
Click to expand...
Watch this Somerset - funny and might make you think a little.

 
SomersetSeasider said:
The thing is though, you can’t eradicate history. It is what it is.
Click to expand...

You've put your finger on the issue Somerset. Slavery is what happened then. Without it there would have been no British Empire and cities like Liverpool and Bristol wouldn't be anything like what they are. It's easy for us to criticise now, but that was then and things were done differently. We can condemn our predecessors but we can't change history.
 
tangerinenotorange said:
You've put your finger on the issue Somerset. Slavery is what happened then. Without it there would have been no British Empire and cities like Liverpool and Bristol wouldn't be anything like what they are. It's easy for us to criticise now, but that was then and things were done differently. We can condemn our predecessors but we can't change history.
Click to expand...

100% true. Is there justification for Brits to go destroy the Bayeux tapestry; after all it celebrates a French victory at war on British soil? History is history.
 
groundsman said:
100% true. Is there justification for Brits to go destroy the Bayeux tapestry; after all it celebrates a French victory at war on British soil? History is history.
Click to expand...

I used to think it was a Norman victory over the English on English soil. Given that the Normans are part of our Monarchical history, I’m sure we could probably do you for treason. But you give it a go, son 👍
 
bollieboy said:
There has been lobbying to remove the statue for years and put it in a museum with appropriate literature regarding his slave trading. This has continuously been rejected as have been efforts to change the plaque to reflect his slave trading.

You can see why direct action has been taken with such inertia.
Click to expand...
Yes I can
 
The statue should’ve gone years ago. David Olusoga was interviewed earlier, being a Bristol resident and halfway through the series ‘ A House through Time’ set in Bristol for this series. Definitely recommend it to anyone interested in social history, excellent viewing.
 
Yes Colston was a slave trader, and I find that disgusting, as I do anyone who profited from other peoples misery.

However, he was part of our history and can't just be airbrushed out. I hope the statue is salvaged and kept somewhere safe.

This reminds me of Islamic State, destroying all of the ancient relics in Syria and Iraq, because they didn't suit their agenda.

Very worrying
 
tangerinenotorange said:
You've put your finger on the issue Somerset. Slavery is what happened then. Without it there would have been no British Empire and cities like Liverpool and Bristol wouldn't be anything like what they are. It's easy for us to criticise now, but that was then and things were done differently. We can condemn our predecessors but we can't change history.
Click to expand...
You don't have to celebrate it with a ** statue though.
 
Bristol City Council has swapped between Labour and No Overall Control frequently (with a 2-year stint of Lib Dem control) over the past 25 years. Labour currently has a majority of 2 councillors out of 70.

They haven’t had the focus on this issue, and now it’s been taken out of their hands. The statue will not return to its current place and might end up in a museum or store room. Now they have an empty plinth, what should go on it instead?
 
Ollygon said:
Yes Colston was a slave trader, and I find that disgusting, as I do anyone who profited from other peoples misery.

However, he was part of our history and can't just be airbrushed out. I hope the statue is salvaged and kept somewhere safe.

This reminds me of Islamic State, destroying all of the ancient relics in Syria and Iraq, because they didn't suit their agenda.

Very worrying
Click to expand...

It's fuck all like that, don't be so ridiculous, suggesting being anti slavery is an 'agenda'.
 
Archibald Knox said:
Bristol City Council has swapped between Labour and No Overall Control frequently (with a 2-year stint of Lib Dem control) over the past 25 years. Labour currently has a majority of 2 councillors out of 70.

They haven’t had the focus on this issue, and now it’s been taken out of their hands. The statue will not return to its current place and might end up in a museum or store room. Now they have an empty plinth, what should go on it instead?
Click to expand...

Ian Holloway 🙄
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Maybe they could put a Hitler statue up in Berlin? It is history after all.
Click to expand...
I did think of posting something similar but then decided not to 😂

But if you think of all the statues of Confederate Generals in the Southern States of the US then it’d be similar. A gesture to the other people in the Southern States who might think - well it’s a bit crass really.

I get not rewriting history by reference to current day standards. But even more so I get “don’t ram it down people’s throats when it’s still happening”.
 
SomersetSeasider said:
You’ll find that there is a lot of outrage in the City that the statue has come down, because of what he did for the city and its people.
Click to expand...
Aye well. There was also a lot of support for Pablo Escobar in Medellin for what he did for the people there as well. Drugs money spent improving the lives of local residents.

And if that sounds flippant - seriously there was a lot of support for a major dealer in drugs/murderer/ terrorist because of what he “gave back” to the local community.

That’s what they do - pay for salvation of their soul.
 
SomersetSeasider said:
The statue was erected in remembrance of what he did for the city of Bristol. Colston Hall is going to have a name change. A major shopping centre in Bristol called Cabot Circus was originally going to be called Merchants Quarter, but because of the uproar this name caused, it was changed. The thing is though, you can’t eradicate history. It is what it is.
I see people have a problem with ‘all lives matter’ and say that people who state this don’t understand the Black Lives matter movement. I think this is because those people aren’t racist and don’t see the differentiation. Perhaps this is naivety.
Click to expand...
Or they do know but don't want to appear racist.
 
SomersetSeasider said:
The statue was erected in remembrance of what he did for the city of Bristol. Colston Hall is going to have a name change. A major shopping centre in Bristol called Cabot Circus was originally going to be called Merchants Quarter, but because of the uproar this name caused, it was changed. The thing is though, you can’t eradicate history. It is what it is.
I see people have a problem with ‘all lives matter’ and say that people who state this don’t understand the Black Lives matter movement. I think this is because those people aren’t racist and don’t see the differentiation. Perhaps this is naivety.
Click to expand...
I was going on a Save the Rainforest march, but realised that all trees are important . Why does the rainforest get to hog all the protests? It's like the other trees don't matter.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
It's fuck all like that, don't be so ridiculous, suggesting being anti slavery is an 'agenda'.
Click to expand...

As usual, you haven't read my post fully.

I'm sorry. There were some words of more than one syllable. I must make allowances for you and the other cerebrally challenged on here!

Did I mention an Agenda for racism? No. The Agenda was in relation to Islamic State.

I thought we were a civilized country. This was just an act of vandalism.

I just heard a spokesman for the Avon and Somerset police. He was asked why the police hadn't intervened, and he said they didn't want to inflame the situation!! Go help us.

Discrimination in any form is bad, but this situation shouldn't be an excuse for mob rule

What next? Gandhi's statue outside Parliament because his followers caused the death of many thousands? How about Oliver Cromwell's statue in London, or the new King Johns statue in Kings Lynn ?

Just how far back do you go?
 
Ollygon said:
As usual, you haven't read my post fully.

I'm sorry. There were some words of more than one syllable. I must make allowances for you and the other cerebrally challenged on here!

Did I mention an Agenda for racism? No. The Agenda was in relation to Islamic State.

I thought we were a civilized country. This was just an act of vandalism.

I just heard a spokesman for the Avon and Somerset police. He was asked why the police hadn't intervened, and he said they didn't want to inflame the situation!! Go help us.

Discrimination in any form is bad, but this situation shouldn't be an excuse for mob rule

What next? Gandhi's statue outside Parliament because his followers caused the death of many thousands? How about Oliver Cromwell's statue in London, or the new King Johns statue in Kings Lynn ?

Just how far back do you go?
Click to expand...
You go back as far as is necessary to bring that kind of bullshit to book.
 
Ollygon said:
As usual, you haven't read my post fully.

I'm sorry. There were some words of more than one syllable. I must make allowances for you and the other cerebrally challenged on here!

Did I mention an Agenda for racism? No. The Agenda was in relation to Islamic State.

I thought we were a civilized country. This was just an act of vandalism.

I just heard a spokesman for the Avon and Somerset police. He was asked why the police hadn't intervened, and he said they didn't want to inflame the situation!! Go help us.

Discrimination in any form is bad, but this situation shouldn't be an excuse for mob rule

What next? Gandhi's statue outside Parliament because his followers caused the death of many thousands? How about Oliver Cromwell's statue in London, or the new King Johns statue in Kings Lynn ?

Just how far back do you go?
Click to expand...
Do you mean the post equating the toppling of a slave trader's statue with the actions of ISIS? That post? Yep, I read that post.
 
It was bad, not just because it was vandalism, but it also destroyed a work of art. Auschwitz could easily have been destroyed with all the moral objections to it, but it is more effective as a museum reminding and teaching people about its horrors. Hopefully this is now a positive use for such a site This statue should have been preserved, but possibly relocated to a slave museum. The man should not be celebrated and the context in which his story was presented should have been given a negative slant. The statue should have been kept as a reminder of a horrible chapter in history.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top