The dumping of Edward Colston’s statue in the river Avon in Bristol may be seen by some as the fitting end to a slave trader’s image, and by others as the criminal act of hooligans and vandals.
Do statues represent the values of the person cast in metal and stone, or are they historical markers reflecting the era in which they were erected? Possibly both aspects of statues hold true and yet for many people living in cities there are countless statues that mean nothing at all to the passerby.
BLM has raised awareness of campaigns to remove statues of those who exploited black people, like Colston and Cecil Rhodes. The police in Bristol wisely decided not to stop the illegal actions of those who toppled Colston.
In Oxford, Oriel College’s governing body has voted to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes, a man who believed in the superiority of the Anglo Saxon race, and a British colonialist who made his fortune from gold and diamond mining in Southern Africa.
The philanthropy of rich industrial leaders does not exonerate their past wrongs, but judgement with hidsight does not further our understanding of history. Slave trading was common practice among Western colonial powers, the ownership of slaves was not restrticted to the owners of plantations and the belief in the positive benefits of colonisation for the indiginous population was the prevailing view in Europe until fairly recently.
We could get carried away with righteous indignation and the removal of statues. Julius Ceasar’s Roman armies raped and slaughtered their way around Europe and the Mediterranean. He returned to Rome a hero and there are hundreds of statues honouring him.
Winston Churchill was an English hero celebrated for defeating Hitler and rallying Britain in its lone fight against Nazism. His role in the disaster of Gallipoli is not so distinguished. Was he a racist? How does that affect our reaction to a statue honouring his leadership?
Oliver Cromwell has a statue outside the Houses of Parliament. Defender of the Faith, conqueror of royal tyranny and the divine right of kings? Yes, but also responsible for the massacre of Irish Catholics at Drogheda.
Some might see a statue of a historic figure in a public space ,such as a town square, as signifying an endorsement of that person’s values. Others might acccept that our ethical values change over time, and that a statue is not a permanent embodiment of what we believe in, but a reminder of our past, good or bad.
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