Slave Trader Edward Colston's statue torn down in Bristol

Hector Savage

Why don't these people protest about the slave markets going on right now in Algeria .... oh wait, the slave traders there have also brown skin, so it's ok, or progressive, or we look the other way.


White man is an easy target, same reason these lunatics have a pathological hatred of Israel.

super_furry

super_furry wrote: »

How do people feel about the 'removal' of Nelson's Pillar?

Or the statue of Queen Victoria outside of Leinster House. It was removed and classified as a relic of imperialism.

Mitch Connor

Hector Savage wrote: »

Good point, it being moved to a musuem would be more appropriate I think, this trying to erase history reminds me of the ministry of truth in 1984 - I think it's time to give that book a re read ...

Surely the council refusing to do anythign that would acknowledge his participation in the salve trade is erasing history.

Taking down the statue is not erasing history, it is simply not celebrating someone who made their wealth, or large portions of it, off the backs of slaves, killing tens of thousands of people, dumping them overboard to save weight on 'troubled' sailings.

paw patrol

I never heard to Colston till yest.
I don't care about his statue much but it's galling how these numpties thinking they are a right to act for the entire population in these decisions.

I saw a video of the people jumping on the statue, you'd bet not one of them is a taxpayer or contributor toward society .

Hector Savage

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

...
My preference would have been to move the thing to a museum and stick up some info about his slaving and philanthropic activities so as to give a balance view of this man.

Fantastic, I'm gonna print and frame this, finally something I can agree with you on ....

Hector Savage

Deleted User wrote: »

Or the statue of Queen Victoria outside of Leinster House. It was removed and classified as a relic of imperialism.

Fair enough, but I'm sure it was a council level/govt decision and it was removed civilly , not by some baying mob ...

Mitch Connor

Hector Savage wrote: »

Not about slave trading, it's about history, he did a lot of good for Bristol, sorry to say but back then slave trading wasn't such a big deal - not saying any new statues should be put up, but either leave it be or move it to a museum.

It's not a good idea to judge past characters on todays morals, what we do today that's considered normal will be considered utterly disgusting and cruel in time.

they didn't want to move it to a museum, or acknowledge his participation on the slave trade.

And yes, as society changes and values change, we should not continue to celebrate people responsible for mass murder. whether it was 'ok' back then or not.

super_furry

Hector Savage wrote: »

Fair enough, but I'm sure it was a council level/govt decision and it was removed civilly , not by some baying mob ...

Well how about the statue of George II on the Grand Parade in Cork? That was sent for a swim by a 'baying mob'. Was that wrong?

Hector Savage

Hector Savage wrote: »

Fair enough, but I'm sure it was a council level/govt decision and it was removed civilly , not by some baying mob ...

Nelson's Pillar was blown up, should we rebuild it? By your own very logic, just removing a statue is like rewriting history...

Technocentral

Yamanoto wrote: »

The mindset has absolute echoes of both ISIL & the Taliban - it offends our sensibilities, no discussion, we know best.

Only on boards.ie would you get people defending slave traders!!!!!

BloodyBill

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

https://twitter.com/bbcrb/status/1269633662787694592

Edward Colston got rich off transporting 84,000 African men, women and children to the Caribbean, 19,000 of whom died on route. His statue was taken down today in Bristol by protesters and later thrown in the river.

https://twitter.com/bbcrb/status/1269644536281776128

The British are facing the prospect of facing a overdue reckoning with their colonial past and how they celebrate it going forward, as are many other European ex colonial superpowers, France, Spain, Holland, Belgium etc. The minority population is rapidly growing in these countries, approaching 20% in the UK, and many British ethnic minorities find having statue's glorifying figures and relic's of the British empire deeply offensive.

Bristol has a lot of history associated with the British colonialism, lots of buildings and streets named after people with connections to the slave trade, with a growing diverse population Bristol has a bit of reckoning to do going forward.

Yesterday Churchill's statue was defaced, there are now calls for Nelson's statue to be taken down. I'm still surprised Cromwell's statue still stands in Cambridgeshire given he was a brutal mass murderer and tyrant.

Many Irish slave holders and slave traders aswell. Ireland was actively taking part in the British Empire . Theres actually a list of Irish slave holders who were compensated by the government after abolition. From all parts of Ireland I may add and not just Anglo Irish.

Nermal

super_furry wrote: »

Well how about the statue of George II on the Grand Parade in Cork? That was sent for a swim by a 'baying mob'. Was that wrong?

We tore down that statue while we were being oppressed, in our fight for independence.

Who's oppressing these violent malcontents in the UK?

Who's denying them their independence?

Which laws are disenfranchising or discriminating against them?

FrancieBrady

BloodyBill wrote: »

Many Irish slave holders and slave traders aswell as we were actively taking in part in the British Empire . Theres actually a list of Irish slave holders who were compensated by the British government after abolition. From all parts of Ireland.

This list? Anglo-Irish I think you meant to say.

https://twitter.com/MargaretWard1/status/1269698653557534720

Mitch Connor

Nermal wrote: »

We tore down that statue while we were being oppressed, in our fight for independence.

Who's oppressing these violent malcontents in the UK?

Who's denying them their independence?

Which laws are disenfranchising or discriminating against them?

Racists?

RWCNT

Hector Savage wrote: »

Why don't these people protest about the slave markets going on right now in Algeria .... oh wait, the slave traders there have also brown skin, so it's ok, or progressive, or we look the other way.


White man is an easy target, same reason these lunatics have a pathological hatred of Israel.

This is conservative waffle 101. When you don't have a point, gesticulate towards some assumed hypocrisy.

What about you then? You don't protest past or present injustices, so what right have you to pass judgement on anyone whatsoever?

Nermal

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Racists?

Be specific.

BloodyBill

super_furry wrote: »

How do people feel about the 'removal' of Nelson's Pillar?

Should never have happened. It was iconic and gave an unbelievable view of the city. It was paid for by donations from the people of Dublin at that time..mostly small donations. The Spire is what it is..more suitable for an industrial estate out towards Dublin Airport.

super_furry

Nermal wrote: »

We tore down that statue while we were being oppressed, in our fight for independence.

Who's oppressing these violent malcontents in the UK?

Who's denying them their independence?

Which laws are disenfranchising or discriminating against them?

People who would insist that a statue to honour someone who sold and traded nearly 100,000 people to slavery and death should remain.

Take a look around you, how many Cromwell statues are there in Ireland?

BloodyBill

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Or the statue of Queen Victoria outside of Leinster House. It was removed and classified as a relic of imperialism.

That was understandable as the seat of a new Republic couldn't have the Statue dominating the parliament building. That same statue is in central Sydney today.

nullzero

RWCNT wrote: »

This is conservative waffle 101. When you don't have a point, gesticulate towards some assumed hypocrisy.

What about you then? You don't protest past or present injustices, so what right have you to pass judgement on anyone whatsoever?

Hilarious.

You accuse that poster of being unreasonable, but you didn't even address the point they made about modern day slavery.

It may well be cathartic for the people who tore down this statue to engage in what they did but it isn't helping people who are currently being sold into slavery one iota.

This isn't a case of someone on either side of the perceived political divide gesticulating towards a perceived hypocrisy, it is in point of fact highlighting an actual hypocrisy, but somehow you feel you have the right to take the moral high ground.

Nermal

RWCNT wrote: »

When you don't have a point, gesticulate towards some assumed hypocrisy.

Except he has a point, doesn't he?

That no-one has been a slave in the UK for almost two centuries.

That slavery is still going on unmolested in the world today.

Which should people be protesting about?

RWCNT

nullzero wrote: »

Hilarious.

You accuse that poster of being unreasonable, but you didn't even address the point they made about modern day slavery.

It may well be cathartic for the people who tore down this statue to engage in what they did but it isn't helping people who are currently being sold into slavery one iota.

This isn't a case of someone on either side of the perceived political divide gesticulating towards a perceived hypocrisy, it is in point of fact highlighting an actual hypocrisy.

What's to address? It's only an actual hypocrisy if those involved in the protest don't take any action against modern slavery. The poster has no clue if this is the case or not.

Nermal wrote: »

Except he has a point, doesn't he?

That no-one has been a slave in the UK for almost two centuries.

That slavery is still going on unmolested in the world today.

Which should people be protesting about?

The protest isn't specifically about slavery, so that falls flat immediately. And modern slavery isn't going on "unmolested", there is a lot of work going on around it. I donate to an anti-slavery charity myself.

Are you in the process of organising a protest against modern slavery by any chance? If not, why not?

seamus

Bloody hell, some people will argue just for argument's sake.

If a statue of Hitler was thrown in the sea, they'd be asking, "Hitler isn't hurting anyone anymore, why are these thugs tearing down a piece of culture?"

nullzero

Nermal wrote: »

Except he has a point, doesn't he?

That no-one has been a slave in the UK for almost two centuries.

That slavery is still going on unmolested in the world today.

Which should people be protesting about?

Pulling down statues of long dead white slavers in countries where political dissent is tolerated is easier than addressing uncomfortable truths about the developing world.

Hector Savage

dwayneshintzy wrote: »

Are you comparing eating meat to the slave trade?


What does Obama have to do with anything?

Just an example of something that will be considered morally reprehensible some time in the future - of course I don't think it's as bad as the slave trade in humans.

Obama is considered a hero to most of these lunatics - he also loves meat apparently - big fan of Five Guys.

So in 100 years in the future we could have a situation where his statues are being torn down by the new ultra vegan movement ...

Mitch Connor

Nermal wrote: »

Except he has a point, doesn't he?

That no-one has been a slave in the UK for almost two centuries.

That slavery is still going on unmolested in the world today.

Which should people be protesting about?

Both? Why not both?

Unmolested? Is it not illegal? If it is legal in Algeria.. then by the logic of posters on here it is fine and we shouldn't impose our values on others. If it is illegal, then I would guess it is not unmolested.

Hector Savage

seamus wrote: »

Bloody hell, some people will argue just for argument's sake.

If a statue of Hitler was thrown in the sea, they'd be asking, "Hitler isn't hurting anyone anymore, why are these thugs tearing down a piece of culture?"

There are no statues of Hitler, nor will there be, no society in their right mind would even consider it.

RWCNT

Hector Savage wrote: »

Just an example of something that will be considered morally reprehensible some time in the future - of course I don't think it's as bad as the slave trade in humans.

Obama is considered a hero to most of these lunatics - he also loves meat apparently - big fan of Five Guys.

So in 100 years in the future we could have a situation where his statues are being torn down by the new ultra vegan movement ...

Evidence, any whatsoever, please.

nullzero

RWCNT wrote: »

What's to address? It's only an actual hypocrisy if those involved in the protest don't take any action against modern slavery. The poster has no clue if this is the case or not.

When we see mass protests against modern day slavery we can say the playing field is level on this issue.

There are supposedly 13000 people in the UK affected by modern slavery (a start from 2017) in yet we're not seeing mass protests on the issue.

It's reasonably safe to assume that the majority of people cheering the statue being torn down yesterday have no idea about these issues.

Edgware

We have our own baying mob who destroyed a very simple memorial to Kevin O Higgins Minister for External Affairs murdered in 1927. We still have a statue to Nazi collaborator Russell in Fairview Park but thats acceptable to the mob