Removing statues is it right or wrong

Jedi boro

Jedi boro

Well-known member
Scenes in Bristol show protestors removing a statue of former a slave trader but where do you draw the line and is it right to remove items like this in this manner. ?

Rob as an archaeologist and someone who values history (for better or ill) where do you stand on this matter.
 
But as a part of history do they not then belong in a museum.

Should Rome remove statues of people like Julius caesar for instance.

Btw no one is arguing the Bristol statue should not be removed but where do you draw the line is my point.
 
You put them in museums and contextualise them with explanations of what these people did, an explanation of the times and the attitudes of contemporary thinking and why we now KNOW that what they did was abhorrent. That is how you TEACH history not leaving statues around to offend.
 
Oooo said:
No, pull them down. You build statues to people you admire. We no longer admire racists
Click to expand...

No we don't admire them, but we did in the past.

We can't erase the past, but we can show people now the errors of our ways by educating them why the statue was put there in the first place.
 
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Opinions are different to actions.

Plenty of heroes of the past had opinions that would rightly be considered abhorrent today, not all of them acted on these opinions, and most of them aren't famous and remembered for these opinions.

Edward Colston might have done a lot of philanthropy, but he was able to do so in part because he directly profited from the sale and exploitation of human beings.
It goes further than him holding bigoted opinions, he willingly participated in one of humanity's great atrocities.
His statue should not be in a place of pride in a city.
 
I dont like to see it because that history happened. You cannot undo it. But surely you use that statue as a way to educate people about how evil the slave trade was.
It is probably time to move some of these statues off their pedestals and into museums where they can be considered for all they stand for and all they mean.
But I would hate people to attack Captain Cook for instance. He wasnt a slaver. At Captain Cook Museum the cultures as well wildlife he explored are celebrated. Those societies Heritages are preserved to be studied and wondered at. As part of Cook Trust I am helping to design a trail and that will have signs that talk about his life, scientific and navigational work but also celebrate the societies he met with. I would hate for people to desecrate them. I see them as a way of increasing understanding and drawing us together with other peoples across the globe.
 
No not at all the song is penny lane named after a street in Liverpool named penny lane name after this man ...

Penny Lane was named after 18th-century slave trader James Penny. As with many of the era's industrialists, Penny became wealthy through the international slave trade, for which the port city served as an important stopover between the African continent and America.
 
There have been moves to remove honours to the slave trade in Bristol for a while. I wonder if they will rename Colston Hall.
I love Bristol. It's a fine city and it has been a second home to me for several years as much of my work has been based there. But I am constantly aware that wealth that funded much of the fantastic Georgian architecture was generated by the slave trade.
The current series of A House Through Time gives an interesting insight. The first two eps are on iplayer.
 
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