Ring Of Steel
Well-Known Member
As I said in a previous post the city has a lot to do in owning up to its wealth coming from the enslavement of Africans. Museum of Bristol has nothing. It needs a dedicated museum that educates people about how entrenched it was in the city’s economy. If that was there the statue would have been moved to there some time ago with no trouble and still be standing but when the idea gets bought up we get the same tired old white middle class voices saying “time to move on, it was ages ago, we’re all equal now”etc. There would have been nothing to check in the river if certain people were prepared to stand up and accept the historical reality.
Completely agree, big chunks of the country are pretty bad for always looking to the past though what with all banging on about the wartime spirit, 'we won two world wars' and all that (right before breaking down in tears as there's no bogroll or penne left on the shelves). There's loads to be proud of, but the inability to deal with the darker aspects detracts from it. That statue was a bone of contention even when I lived there, unbelievable that it was still standing in 2020 celebrating a slave trader.
Whatever your opinions of whether it was right or wrong, it was very effective- awareness of the issue is heightened, its made the news all over the place, people are talking about racism as an issue. Whether right or wrong, mission accomplished.