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BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Colston statue toppling shows 'history isn't static'
For hundreds of years, Edward Colston was celebrated and honoured by many in his home city of Bristol, but an anti-racism protest held in the city on 7 June 2020 changed that in the most dramatic way. The toppling of his statue five years ago today made headlines around the world, forcing Bristolians to examine the legacy of the 17th Century slave years, his prominence in Bristol in the form of the city-centre statue and multiple locations bearing his name sparked controversy. Born into a merchant's family, Colston went on to build his own business in London trading in slaves, cloth, wine and found wealth through his work and later became an official of the Royal African Company, which held the monopoly in Britain on slave is believed to have transported about 80,000 men, women and children from Africa to the Americas between 1672 and 1689. When Colston died in 1721, he left his wealth to churches and hospitals in Bristol. A portion of it was also used in founding two almshouses and a legacy continued to live on, with his name and face appearing on various city streets, buildings and memorials. The beginning of the end for Colston's close relationship with Bristol began thousands of miles away in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 25 May, were called to a grocery store to reports of a 46-year-old man allegedly paying for a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. That man was George police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Mr Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes during his arrest. Mr Floyd's pleas of "I can't breathe" as he died sent shock waves around the world - including towards Lives Matter protests sprung up across the world, calling for an end to racism and police Floyd: What happened in the final moments of his lifeChauvin was convicted of Mr Floyd's murder along with three other officers - Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng - who were convicted of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. The Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol attracted an estimated 15,000 people who gathered on College Green before heading down to Colston Avenue, where the bronze statue was erected in honour of the slave trader in 1895. On the day of the protest, the figure was covered up with a canvas material. It had already been targeted by egg-throwers, but the canvas was later torn off by protesters saying they wanted to look Colston in the eyes. Shortly after the cloth was removed, three protesters climbed up to the statue and attached ropes to its head. To roars of celebration from the crowd, they pulled on the ropes and 30 seconds later the statue was on the ground. Many ran towards the fallen figure, jumping on it and kicking it. One protester placed his knee on the statue's neck, mirroring the actions of Chauvin during Mr Floyd's arrest. Other protesters climbed the empty plinth, chanting and holding anti-racism statue was later dragged the short distance over to the harbour, where it was dumped into the water. For many that was symbolic, as Bristol's waterways had plenty of links with the slave people - dubbed the Colston Four - were charged for their involvement in the toppling, but were later acquitted of criminal damage. The toppling of the statue was dramatic. Other change has been slower, but over the last five years, Colston's name has gradually started disappearing from the city. In fact three years before his statue was toppled, the city's largest music venue, Bristol Beacon - known formerly as Colston Hall - announced that it was considering dropping the link to Colston. Massive Attack, perhaps the most famous band from Bristol, had always refused to play the venue due to its name change proposal led to a debate, with bosses maintaining that the venue was named after the street it is located on, rather than the slave trader. There was no investment from Colston in building the of Bristolians were against the change, it should be noted, but on 23 September 2020, the Bristol Music Trust, which runs the venue, decided to go ahead with the schools in Bristol also implemented changes after the statue came School in Stapleton became known as Collegiate School, Colston's Girls' School became Montpelier High School and The Dolphin Primary School changed its logo from the Colston family crest. Karen Macdonald, head of public engagement on Bristol City Council's culture team, said the toppling was "symbolic".The statue was temporarily displayed at the M Shed museum in the city in 2021 after it was retrieved from the harbour. The council launched a public survey which more than 14,000 Bristolians responded to with "very clear wishes" of what they wanted for the statue's future. The majority of the responses called for the statue to be displayed in its damaged state, alongside balanced historical information and context about Colston's that is where you will find the Colston statue now, lying on its back in a glass case, surrounded by the real placards left behind by the protestors. Ms Macdonald said: "There is value in listening to different viewpoints and coming to an understanding, even if you can't agree with each other. "This isn't erasing history, this is recording history. History isn't something that can remain static and preserved - that moment was history in action. "It wasn't about lumps of cast metal," she added. Nothing has replaced the toppled statue, the plinth is still it does now feature an updated plaque reflecting Colston's involvement in slavery and telling the story of that dramatic day in June.
TimesLIVE
06-05-2025
- General
- TimesLIVE
'The Black Atlantic's Triple Burden' edited by Adekeye Adebajo
ABOUT THE BLACK ATLANTIC'S TRIPLE BURDEN: This book demonstrates the continuities of five centuries of European-led slavery and colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas, examining calls for reparations in all three regions for what many now regard to have constituted crimes against humanity. The Atlantic world economy emerged from the interactions of this triangular slave trade involving human chattel, textiles, arms, wine, sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton and other goods. This is thus the story of the birth of the modern capitalist system and a Black Atlantic that has shaped global trade, finance, consumer tastes, lifestyles and fashion for over five centuries. The volume is authored by a multidisciplinary, pan-continental group encompassing diverse subjects. This collection is concise and comprehensive, enabling cross-regional comparisons to be drawn, and ensuring that some of the most important global events of the past five centuries are read from diverse perspectives. EXTRACT: Five centuries of European slavery and colonialism brought huge political, economic, social and cultural destruction to indigenous peoples across the Black Atlantic in Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. This was the route of the European-led transatlantic slave trade from the 15th to the 19th century, in which 12-15 million Africans were enslaved and transported as human chattel. Commercial companies such as the British South Africa Company, the Royal African Company, the Dutch West India Company, and the Dutch East India Company were all used to enslave and exploit black and brown peoples and their territories, greatly benefiting European imperial powers and enabling the West's industrialisation. European planters often dominated parliaments across the Caribbean and the Americas, even after slavery formally ended in the 19th century. It was these slave owners rather than the enslaved who were compensated for these heinous crimes. The rape and abuse of indigenous women by European colonisers was very much a ubiquitous feature of this brutal four-and-a-half century subjugation. These events have eventually triggered a global struggle for reparations across Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe, with deep roots in the church-based civil society activism in the United States (US) and the Caribbean. European imperialists exported their systems of government to Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas, but failed spectacularly to build viable institutions and extensive infrastructure, as well as provide social services and promote socioeconomic development in their colonies. The silver lining in this grim history of European imperial slavery is that enslaved and colonised black and brown people in Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas survived against all odds. Indigenous populations in the Americas and Australia were not always as fortunate, with their populations decimated to a far greater extent by genocidal European holocausts and diseases. About 40-million Africans currently live outside the continent. An estimated 10.6-million reside in Europe, while sizeable Afro-Caribbean minority populations continue to live in Britain and France (about two million each), and similar Antillean populations reside in the Netherlands. Africans are still estimated to constitute only about 1% of the total European continental population, yet many vulnerable Africans in Europe continue to suffer from racist stereotyping. A key source of tensions between Africa and the 27-member European Union (EU) has involved the migration and deaths of tens of thousands of African youths across the Mediterranean. Several European governments and populations continue to view Africa's 'boat people' as a security threat, often scapegoating and criminalising these migrants. 'Fortress Europe' has thus resulted in EU governments strengthening border security and sometimes violating refugee rights. Across the Atlantic, the African-born population in the US doubled every decade between 1970 and 2020 to reach 2.4 million: the majority are from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Ghana. The most effective recent African-American civil rights organisation, Black Lives Matter, seeks to 'connect Black people from all over the world who have a shared desire for justice to act together in their communities'. The group effectively led global antiracism protests in 2020, and has great potential to forge links with similar movements across Africa and its diaspora. In the Caribbean, identification with Africa has grown tremendously as a result of Nigeria-produced Nollywood movies, and consequently West Indian populations experience cultures and people with whom they can readily identify. Netflix had 112 Nollywood films and television shows by 2023. But the level of social interaction and trade between both Africa and the Caribbean remains abysmally low, despite periodic high-level inter-governmental summits between leaders of the African Union (AU) and the Caribbean Community (Caricom). The geographical pull of the US — where many Caribbean students study, and even more (until recently) desired to go — and the overwhelming American cultural pull still remain strong influences, especially among the region's youth. Having united to attain the political kingdom from the 1960s, Africa and its neglected diaspora in the Caribbean and the Americas must, however, now collaborate to pursue contemporary struggles for reparations by rebuilding diasporic bridges to achieve a new people-driven Pan-Africanism. As the AU commemorates 2025 with the theme of 'Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations', it is worth reflecting on the Black Atlantic's continuing triple tragedies of the lingering impacts of slavery and colonialism and the unfulfilled quest for reparatory justice. It is important to pose the fundamental question: how can European nations that enslaved and colonised black and brown populations for five centuries repair this pernicious damage that has left Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas with the triple burdens of a lack of development and crippling debt, diseases and deadly conflicts? As has often been noted, the movements to abolish slavery and colonialism took generations to succeed, and so also will the contemporary movement for reparations for slavery and colonialism. As African-American civil rights activist Frederick Douglass famously observed in 1857: 'Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.' We hope that this book can make a modest contribution to this noble struggle.
Telegraph
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Why the Supreme Court's trans ruling won't lead to an anti-woke backlash
SIR – Daniel Hannan's excellent article warns against an unforgiving anti-woke backlash, but I think he misses a crucial point ('The tide has not turned against woke. If there is a backlash it is an intolerant one', Comment, April 20). Although the more extreme forces of wokery will no doubt fight like terriers to maintain their grip on culture, the recent Supreme Court ruling that biological sex matters has simply reset the balance between them and the rest of us. The vast majority of British people are not xenophobic, racist, transphobic, homophobic thugs who need to be controlled and re-educated – which is how the woke mob portrays them. I suspect, therefore, that there will not be much of an anti-woke backlash. All that has changed is that it is once again possible for people with mainstream opinions to express them, and be protected by the law from persecution in doing so. The hysterical reaction is coming from people who can no longer intimidate, threaten and bully us, not from those relieved at the triumph of common sense. Alison Levinson Hastings, East Sussex SIR – In my experience, so-called liberal middle-class men are the culprits when it comes to unpleasant political encounters – having been rounded on, sworn at and called a racist in Bath city centre while canvassing for Ukip, and then noisily mocked on account of a Reform UK sign in my car window. I can therefore appreciate the reluctance of some women openly to support Reform (report, April 24). The good news is that there are plenty of women and young folk who are no longer intimidated by ignorant slurs and bias, and are using common sense to decide who is worthy of their vote. I saw evidence of this for myself at a meeting held in a remote Somerset village hall on one of the wettest nights in January. Just as the Brexit referendum result appeared to shock our smug, complacent establishment, in my view the results of next week's mayoral elections will demonstrate that democracy is still alive and kicking in Britain. Rosy Drohan Marksbury, Somerset SIR – The plaque on the empty plinth that formerly carried a statue of Edward Colston (Comment, April 20)misses out much that is relevant to the man, particularly the fact that he left equal sums of money to his long-term servants in 1720, one of whom was black. Colston was a highly successful merchant long before his involvement in the slave trade, which came about in 1680 when he became a director of the Royal African Company, which traded in gold, silver, ivory and slaves. In 1689 he was appointed deputy governor, a post he held for just one year. In the same year, he transferred most of his holdings in the company to the new King William III. Colston withdrew from the company completely two years later, and returned to private business. As far as I am aware, thereafter he did not own any slaves or have anything to do with the trade. Significantly, there is no record of Colston being involved in any philanthropic activity in Bristol until the year he resigned from the company. Having embraced philanthropy, Colston gave away, in Bristol alone, the equivalent of many millions of pounds to good causes, including the endowment of schools, hospitals, churches and almshouses. In London and elsewhere he matched these incredibly generous donations to good causes. All this suggests that Colston, a devout Christian, saw the error of his ways and attempted to atone for his sins. Amazing Grace was written by a repentant slave-ship captain; it includes the line '[I] was blind but now I see'. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I would suggest that Colston was also blind before seeing the light. All statues of him were intended to praise his philanthropy, not his previous involvement in the slave trade. Nicholas Young London W13
BBC News
17-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Edward Colston plaque installed with new slave trade wording
A new plaque has been installed on the plinth where a slave trader's statue once statue of Edward Colston in Bristol was torn down during a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 and thrown it into the city's harbour. Installed on 17 April, the wording of the new plaque removes any mention of Colston as a "city benefactor". In November, Conservative city councillor Richard Eddy voted against the revision and called it "utterly shameful". He said: "Deleting the reference to Edward Colston, one of Bristol's greatest sons, being a benefactor is outrageous – an utterly historical revision that is worthy of the Nazis."Opposition councillors pointed out to Mr Eddy that Edward Colston's fortune came from "forced transportation of 84,000 slaves, almost 20,000 of whom died", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Edward Colston was a prominent 17th Century slave trader and his legacy has been a source of controversy in Bristol for many was a member of the Royal African Company, which transported about 80,000 men, women and children from Africa to the his death in 1721, he bequeathed his wealth to charities and his legacy can still be seen on Bristol's streets, memorials and the statue was toppled, a protester was pictured with his knee on the figure's neck - reminiscent of the video showing George Floyd who died while being restrained in that way by a Minnesota police officer. Four people accused of illegally removing the statue were cleared of criminal damage in January 2022. The statue is now on permanent display in M Shed's Bristol People gallery in the years after it was suggested, the new plaque has been placed below the original plaque - part of the plinth when the statue was first erected 130 years ago. The new plaque reads: "On 13 November, 1895, a statue of Edward Colston (1636-1721) was unveiled here. "In the late 20th and early 21st Century, the celebration of Colston was increasingly challenged given his prominent role in the enslavement of African people."On 7 June 2020, the statue was pulled down during Black Lives Matter protests and rolled into the Floating Harbour. "Following consultation with the city in 2021, the statue entered the collections of Bristol City Council 's museums."
