Colston Belongs in his Watery Grave

As the Black Lives Matter Movement sweeps across the World, protests in Britain and America see the celebrations of slave traders and merchants that played their part in the building of each country torn down in protest. As with any sort of social uprising, be it Gun Control of Black Lives Matter, it awakens the ugly head of one of societies most unsubtle predators: The White Man.

As protests for BLM gained traction across Britain, Bristol saw its turn when protesters tore down the statue of Edward Colston who was a seventeenth century merchant who amassed his success and fortune from forced labour of African slaves. This success allowed him to greatly contribute to his homestead of Bristol, which in turn then meant his legacy of contribution was embedded into Bristol itself with places like Colston Hall and even Colston Avenue where the notorious statue stood before being toppled. Colston’s legacy of slavery and exploitation, however, were not immortalised in Bristol for all to see.

Bristol has, of course, been around for quite a while and now, as the importance of BLM looks to better the world as a whole and end racial suffering, we look to communities such as Bristol to see how they handle the situation and aim to progress forward with the acknowledgement of their history. Colston Hall was reported to change its name as early as 2017, which shows the controversy surrounding the Colston name was existent before 2020 saw BLM crank up the gears. As well as this, calls for Colston’s true place in the slave trade to be referenced on the statue were made as the statue had no call to his part played. Instead, the inscription on it reads:

“Erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of their city.”

It’s worth noting at this point that Colston’s fortune amassed from slavery and trade led him to contribute to hospitals in Bristol, as well as founding a school and other community deeds which is why he’s regarded as a virtuous son of Bristol. Is Bristol a bad place? No, but they are one of the many cities across Britain waking up to their true legacy and deciding how they move on with or without it. This is where the White Man comes in.

No matter your opinion there is a white person somewhere in the world who is ready to challenge you as if it were the soul purpose they were born. There have been many angry and aggressive comments made about the destruction of the Edward Colston statue, all of which painted with the pale stare from the faces of the Caucasian Predator, as they waited in the bushes ready to strike their prey with uneducated responses to political correctness that no one asked for. Some say that because Colston contributed so much to Bristol in the form of schoolhouses and hospitals to name a few that the statue was to commemorate those communal deeds instead of his slave trade antics. This, however, does not make a difference. To celebrate that is only a subtle way of saying that the exploitation of African slaves was a good thing as it led to Bristol building on its community. Regardless of how good the outcome was, the methods used were still entirely inhumane and disgusting. If the statue is to celebrate Colston’s contributions to Bristol, then it also celebrates Colston’s involvement in slavery, as that is how he managed to amass the majority of his wealth. He couldn’t have made those contributions without exploiting slaves.

Bristol can’t hide from its ties to slavery, just as other British cities like Glasgow or Liverpool can’t either. They can, however, move away from celebratory legacies of the trade and concentrate on the future, and the equal treatment of all people. Bristol is playing its part as the divisive commentary on the Colston name continually edges closer to its removal and reformation in Bristol.

Other’s complain that the removal of the statue was anarchic and too rebellious. Although they agree with getting rid of the statue, they prefer it had been done in a pleasant manner and that it had been removed by authorities. This defeats the point though.

Destroying the Colston Statue was an act of rebellion that Britain needs. Racism has been institutionalised by governments for centuries now and is still ongoing, especially now as the infamous Tory Government moves to push their ridiculous Immigration Bill. Many people in Britain are only now discovering their cities real part in the slave trade and its racist ties and attributes. They weren’t taught about this in school as part of history. Instead, Britain has moulded itself into a racist state, both subtly and blatantly thanks to media and news outlets that push stories singling out people from different cultures, sensationalising unity and being British and the minuscule yet effective racial terms and ideals that have been passed down for generations now. Fortunately most of the time people come to educate themselves and realise that simply being white doesn't make you superior to others at all. Toppling Edward Colston’s statue was socially symbolic as a means of saying that communities stand together against racism and that they aren’t afraid to stand opposed to authority ideals and political systems who subtly push racism into our everyday lives. That said, we shouldn’t shy away from petitions and donations either. Contributing to them means we share our voice with a larger narrative that stands against racism.

Bristol's Mayor has said that the Colston statue will be recovered from the harbour it was thrown into and placed into a museum on display along with contributions to the Black Lives Matter protests recently seen in the city. This isn't to maintain Colston's legacy but to act as part of the historical story of fighting against racism, creating the narrative of how Bristol went from celebrating a slaver to drowning him in the harbour he stood by since 1895. However, I can't help but think that if the statue remained at the bottom of the harbour, the narrative would be stronger. I don't disagree with Mayor Marvin Rees of Bristol, however. If it were up to me, maybe I'd chop of the head of the statue and place that in a museum, and leave the rest of Edward Colston at the bottom of the harbour as a symbolic monument of aggression against racism. Alas, it isn't. The takeaway we should have from this though is that Bristol acknowledges its racist history of slavery and seeks to better themselves on the matter.

The forced removal of Edward Colston’s statue is society telling government that they no longer wish to remain in the shadows of their racial ideals no matter how subtle they are. Society has the power to act against racism that it sees in its everyday life and they demand that government get on board. The proof that this act generated a positive outcome is that since the statue’s destruction, other statues of celebrated slave traders and merchants have been removed by councils across Britain. Britain knows its racist and unpleasant history, but now it’s coming together to ensure that not only it strives for fair equality in the future but also that its history isn't radicalised as celebratory across its cities.

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The Black Lives Matter Movement has been one of, if not the most important event of the early 21st century so far. As plenty of people of colour stand against racism, and plenty of white people stand with them there’s still enough people out there guilty of Whitesplaining, and I don’t want to be one of them. That said, I’m still an amateur writer at this point just trying to get my story across. If something in this article upset you or angered you, let me know. It wasn’t my intention, but part of being White and standing against racism is making sure we educate ourselves on the matter at hand, and if I’ve missed something, worded something wrong or flat our made the wrong narrative then let me know so I can better educate myself.

Any proceeds from this article, including any Tips received will be donated towards charities in support of Black Lives Matter.

Thank You for reading my article.