Overthrown Statues Of Slave Traders And Colonialists Could End Up In Museums

TOPLINE

 A statue of an English slave trader in Bristol that was thrown into the same waterway where he once docked slave ships will be fished up and likely placed in a museum alongside anti-racism protest signs, Bristol’s mayor said Tuesday as Europe grapples with how to address its colonialist history.

KEY FACTS

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“We’ll get it out of the harbor when resources become available and it will no doubt end up in a museum,” Rees told the BBC Tuesday. “We’ve also been collecting some of the placards that were put up around the plinth as well, because that is part of the historical moment in Bristol… it’s up to us to make sure we record this moment for future generations to understand the journey Bristol has gone on.”

TANGENT

Tributes to Europe’s colonial past have attracted comparison to the Confederate memorials that litter the U.S. Some monuments to the Confederate States of America that have been taken down have been placed in museums alongside educational materials on the effects the Confederacy and slavery had on the lives of black Americans. 

KEY BACKGROUND

Colston was a shareholder in the Royal African Company, and during his time as its deputy governor, it’s estimated more than 80,000 African men, women and children were taken to the Americas to be enslaved. Nearly 25% are believed to not have survived the journey. The RAC transported more enslaved Africans than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade. Colston later left the RAC and served as a Tory MP in Parliament, where he defended Bristol’s “right” to engage in slavery. King Leopold II is believed to have overseen the deaths of an estimated 10 million Congolese people in mass killings while growing rich from their work in rubber plantations. Some historians say the phrase “crimes against humanity” was first coined to describe his government’s practices in the Congo. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Tuesday that statues in the capital related to slavery “should be taken down” and has set up a committee to review London landmarks. 

FURTHER READING

Belgium Removes Burnt-Out Statue Of Colonial King Leopold II, As Statue Takedown Goes Global (Forbes)

British Protesters Throw Slave Trader Statue Into River—And Other Stunning Global Protest Moments (Forbes)