Tell Me Something............Anything!

When I visited Namibia, back in the '90s, the topic of what to do with all the numerous statues of the German colonialists cropped up as a national debate. Most people said that despite having suffered under original German colonial rule, and later British rule (undertaken by the South African government), the statues were part of their history and should remain.

The statue of Edward Colston was erected to celebrate his being a major benefactor to the City of Bristol, establishing two schools and several other city projects. The fact that his wealth was generated through the slave trade with all the suffering that involved, was not mentioned. It is right that these statues should be removed and put into a museum, where the true history can be displayed for all to read.

It may not matter to you, but if you are black or have black friends, then it will.

Disagree.

I'd be surprised if prior to all the fuss if even one in a thousand Bristolians were even aware of the statue or knew who it was.

A lot of nonsense designed to divide people.

Really? The statue was in the centre of the city, and anyone who was at all interested in the history of their city would have been aware the wealth of the city was due to the slave trade.

not getting into the slave trade, but i think majority of those type of statues in public view have long outlived themselves. It was a dispicible trade and i dont see why they should be honoured for giving some of their dirty money to a town or institution.
that said, i kinda agree with macca that the majority, unless told wouldnt have likely noticed who it was or what he did.

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Originally Posted by Barry

Really? The statue was in the centre of the city, and anyone who was at all interested in the history of their city would have been aware the wealth of the city was due to the slave trade.

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yes really. What percentage of people are interested in history? Very small number.

The wealth of Bristol - and Colston - was derived from global trade, only a percentage of that was slavery. I was watching a very poor documentary about Liverpool the other day where it was stated that the city owed its wealth to slavery. Despite the fact that in the 1800s sixty percent of all global trade passed through Liverpool. Presumably that didn't generate any money at all.

We constantly see these attempts to rewrite history. I'm fine with them deleting slavers from history but only so long as they cover all of the bases equally - so all the African rulers who made the people into slaves in the first place, and every other culture that had slavery which is pretty much every culture on every continent (maybe excepting the aboriginals of Australia and New Zealand, not sure about them). Let's not just pick on the white English people. But that won't happen as it doesn't suit their agenda.

the arab countries probably had more of them than went west

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Originally Posted by Macca

yes really. What percentage of people are interested in history? Very small number.

The wealth of Bristol - and Colston - was derived from global trade, only a percentage of that was slavery. I was watching a very poor documentary about Liverpool the other day where it was stated that the city owed its wealth to slavery. Despite the fact that in the 1800s sixty percent of all global trade passed through Liverpool. Presumably that didn't generate any money at all.

We constantly see these attempts to rewrite history. I'm fine with them deleting slavers from history but only so long as they cover all of the bases equally - so all the African rulers who made the people into slaves in the first place, and every other culture that had slavery which is pretty much every culture on every continent (maybe excepting the aboriginals of Australia and New Zealand, not sure about them). Let's not just pick on the white English people. But that won't happen as it doesn't suit their agenda.

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Quite right, and slavery is alive and well in African countries

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Originally Posted by struth

the arab countries probably had more of them than went west

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Not to mention China and the Indian subcontinent, hundreds of thousands of slaves there. Possibly millions. Are we going to be taking down all the statues of their past rulers too?

It's utter nonsense.

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Originally Posted by Macca

Not to mention China and the Indian subcontinent, hundreds of thousands of slaves there. Possibly millions. Are we going to be taking down all the statues of their past rulers too?

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yep. The pyramids are next!

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Originally Posted by Barry

When I visited Namibia, back in the '90s, the topic of what to do with all the numerous statues of the German colonialists cropped up as a national debate. Most people said that despite having suffered under original German colonial rule, and later British rule (undertaken by the South African government), the statues were part of their history and should remain.

The statue of Edward Colston was erected to celebrate his being a major benefactor to the City of Bristol, establishing two schools and several other city projects. The fact that his wealth was generated through the slave trade with all the suffering that involved, was not mentioned. It is right that these statues should be removed and put into a museum, where the true history can be displayed for all to read.

It may not matter to you, but if you are black or have black friends, then it will.

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I wonder whether that view has changed in Nambia since the 90s? And if as a country under direct colonial rule decided to keep the statues of its oppressors, then why not a country where the oppressors were actually from, I guess that's it, our collective guilt, as performed by 'the woke', who decide daily what we should and shouldn't atone for.