Today in Bristol UK, the statue of Edward Colston was pulled off of its plinth and thrown into the harbor. Colston was a horrible man, and so were the aristocracy of England at that time, they were all investors. This afternoon some person on twitter whose name I don't remember was talking about how terrible a thing this was, and the sole remaining heir responded with no, this is great. So I'm glad to see another terrible statue taken down. Vice has an article with imbedded video of the statue going into the drink which you can read here.
In case you're wondering exactly where the statue is now, Google Maps has been updated.
David Olusoga, a historian, did a brief video on why this statue needs to be gone. His basic point is that statues do not teach history, books and museums do that. Statues glorify people and their accomplishments, and Edward Colston is not worthy of that. Video can be played here. In Brussels, protesters are standing on the monument to King Leopold II chanting murderer and waving the flag of Democratic Republic of Congo where the king's atrocities took place. Germany cancelled Octoberfest because of the virus, and yet, here they are in the streets.
Today was a bad day for the orange one. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell went on record saying that the orange man should not be president. This was followed by Mitt Romney stating he would not support his re-election campaign, either. And then there was this. Mitt is marching towards the White House. I did not think I would ever see this.
Fuji has announced that it will no longer sell bicycles to the police after seeing footage of the police using said bicycles as clubs against peaceful protestors. I don't know how much market share they have, but the important thing is now Trek is being pressured to follow suit.
I have mixed feelings about the statue thing. I would have preferred to see it taken down and either stored or put on display in a museum where it could be put in context. It was 120 years old and I'm not sure it wasn't one of a kind, and it was Grade II listed by the UK government (for historic purposes). But just like Confederate statues, I agree it shouldn't be displayed in a public square in a position of honor. I hope a more appropriate statue goes up in its place.
ReplyDeleteA whole lot of our ancestors were involved in practices that we'd consider odious today. I think destroying all their statues is just a little too much like rewriting history. We don't have to honor them but we also shouldn't erase them.
Interesting that google relocated the statue to the middle of the Avon. I assume it's much closer to shore, and will be salvaged when opportunity arises. You are one tough person to accumulate and lay out all the daily news. It's awful to read it, but to have it all amalgamated, and I can just say, "Oh, I read that!" is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteit would be nice if the US and the world in general has finally reached a tipping point on racism and we all go forward from here as better people as is being hinted at. and I especially like that people are turning against the Trumps publicly instead of just privately.
ReplyDeleteI had seen the altered video of Ivanka's speech, it's quite powerful and heartbreaking.
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