Bristol was divided about Colston, not anymore?

BLM protester uses the knee which killed George Floyd while also giving the black power salute
Powerful pose, using the knee restraint which killed George Floyd while also giving the black power salute

I don’t quite know how I feel about the Edward Colston statue which was torn down, dragged to Bristol docks and throw in today.

I’m slightly torn… only slightly

I am very proud to come from Bristol and for #Blacklivesmatter to be massively supported (5,000 people!) in a city with 15% people of colour. The protest looked from what I could see of the coverage. I have been aware of the Colston statue while growing up but the worst that ever happened was he ended up with a traffic cone on his head.

Bristol have been debating if it should be taken down for a while and theres been attempts to show the historic horror of the slave trade in the UK.

I’m with the protestors. But I also think about the democratic process and encouraging people to take things into their own hands. This is also what the establishment always wanted, a way to condemn the black lives matter movement on top of the public health risk. Priti Patel is just the start of the torrent of negative press coming. I also imagine other protests in other cities might consider similar?

Positive things to come from this…

“I believe that one candidate for his replacement would be Paul Stephenson. He led the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, started because Bristol Post announced in 1961 that black workers were refused work despite a worker shortage due to a resolution from the Transport and General Workers’ Union. The Boycott influenced the creation of the Race Relations Act.

  • Its clear this time black lives matter is going to have some serious legacy with lots of good people and companies standing alongside.
  • The calls to reform history education to include much more about the UK’s role in the slave trade, have been ignited once again.

Author: Ianforrester

Senior firestarter at BBC R&D, emergent technology expert and serial social geek event organiser. Can be found at cubicgarden@mas.to, cubicgarden@twit.social and cubicgarden@blacktwitter.io

3 thoughts on “Bristol was divided about Colston, not anymore?

  1. Perhaps dear Auntie might like to follow in the steps of the good people of Brizzol!

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