Scrutable

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 3:32 pm

A thing of beauty.

EACLucifer wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:55 am

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 3:32 pm

A thing of beauty.

f.ck that b.llsh.t.

Colston was born to a prosperous family, and was a wealthy merchant and Tory MP.

The slave trade he ran was for the benefit of wealthy plantation owners, and wealthy investors

The statue was erected as a result of a campaign by a wealthy industrialist, who stumped up the shortfall when the public proved uninterested in funding it.

The statue was defended by Tory councillors and MPs, and by the Society of Merchant Venturers

So of course some idiotic prick has to put up an ugly, prejudiced caricature targeting the working class. f.ck that sh.t, it wasn't the working class that created the man, nor the statue, nor that kept the statue there.

“I called HQ and I said, ‘In our decision-making we need to think about what’s most important.’

“People will say we allowed them to roll it all the way to the docks. What would have happened if we stopped people and arrested them?

“We would have had to guard the statue. If you’ve got a police cordon protecting a statue of a man who made his money trading slaves, you can imagine how different things might have been.”

Fishnut wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 19, 2020 9:05 am

While it was written the day after the statue came down I've only just seen this interview with Superintendent Andy Bennett, the one who made the call not to let the police intervene. It's a great interview and he sounds like a really level-headed guy.

“I called HQ and I said, ‘In our decision-making we need to think about what’s most important.’

“People will say we allowed them to roll it all the way to the docks. What would have happened if we stopped people and arrested them?

“We would have had to guard the statue. If you’ve got a police cordon protecting a statue of a man who made his money trading slaves, you can imagine how different things might have been.”

We don’t know if the decision was made by the mayor himself because the council has so far refused to tell us. In fact, it has ignored our questions asking why and when its “evidential statement” was submitted to the police. Or who signed it.

We think the majority of Bristolians accept that the years of frustration and offence at the statue’s existence mitigate what happened two weeks ago. That is why the Bristol Post or Bristol Live will not publishing the police photographs. We are not criticising the police and - unlike the council - have no influence over whether or not those responsible should be sought. But we do not agree that the actions of those young people should be reduced to a simple act of criminal damage which ignores the complex context and history around it.

Furthermore, we think that the council has made the wrong decision to make a formal complaint. In a city which prides itself on its liberal non-conformity, this was the council’s chance to demonstrate to those offended by the statue that they had been heard and that the future would be different.

But it has squandered that opportunity.

Worse still, its refusal to either take responsibility for or to be open about its role in potential prosecutions has simply emphasised the fact that nothing has changed. Which is exactly why the statue was pulled down in the first place.

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 1:45 pm

I imagine it'd be tricky finding a jury for that case. Gotta exclude people who are opposed to celebrating human traffickers on the one hand, and racists on the other, so you're looking for 12 non-racists who are fine with monuments to slavery.

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:12 pm

Perhaps their intention is actually to discourage future groups of protesters from deciding to follow suit and spontaneously remodel the town centre to reflect their own cause, whatever it turns out to be.

"Well, you didn't go after those guys. You're obviously just biased against hedgehog rights, you fascists".

jimbob wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:44 pm

This is eye-opening in the US

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/co ... e-statues/

Statues commemorating Confederate heroes erected on courthouse grounds upto 2015.

'These [Confederate] statues were meant to promote white supremacy and intimidate Black people, not just to pay homage to Southern pride'.

The statue of slave trader Edward Colston was replaced in Bristol on Wednesday morning – with a sculpture of one of the protesters whose anger brought him down.

The figure of Jen Reid, who was photographed standing on the plinth with her fist raised after the 17th century merchant was toppled by Black Lives Matter demonstrators last month, was erected at dawn by a team directed by the artist Marc Quinn.

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 7:43 am

I rather like that. Nice example of public art.

Though I give it about a day before it gets attacked.

Lew Dolby wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:58 am

whether or not it's attacked, it keeps the issue in the public eye. That's a win, isn't it ??

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 9:10 am

Lew Dolby wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:58 am

whether or not it's attacked, it keeps the issue in the public eye. That's a win, isn't it ??

Honestly, it might be a win in the sense of that "... win stupid prizes" saying. Right now it looks great. A nice piece of thought-provoking public art, which says "this is how we feel about this stuff now". But it's only how some of us feel about it. People with different agendas, who try to pull it down and chuck it in the water or just spray it with racist graffiti, will be keeping in the public eye the fact that they're still among us, turning something positive and uplifting into something depressing and ugly.

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:17 pm

I think having the police regularly show they're keeping an eye might be needed, as CCTV only lets you watch people doing what you don't want them to do. I hope it does survive long enough for the town to have a grown-up discussion about it, but it doesn't take many hothead morons to ruin things.

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:17 pm

I think having the police regularly show they're keeping an eye might be needed, as CCTV only lets you watch people doing what you don't want them to do. I hope it does survive long enough for the town to have a grown-up discussion about it, but it doesn't take many hothead morons to ruin things.

Aitch wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:29 pm

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:17 pm

I think having the police regularly show they're keeping an eye might be needed, as CCTV only lets you watch people doing what you don't want them to do. I hope it does survive long enough for the town to have a grown-up discussion about it, but it doesn't take many hothead morons to ruin things.

Yeah?

coned.jpg

Tessa K wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:37 pm

Aitch wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:29 pm

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:17 pm

I think having the police regularly show they're keeping an eye might be needed, as CCTV only lets you watch people doing what you don't want them to do. I hope it does survive long enough for the town to have a grown-up discussion about it, but it doesn't take many hothead morons to ruin things.

Yeah?

coned.jpg

Is that real? It looks Photoshopped

Martin Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:19 pm

I'm told that Glasgow's equestrian statue of Wellington, a traditional wearer of a traffic cone, sported a chic black one during the BLM protests.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestria ... n,_Glasgow