- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Eastern Eye Staff
SADIQ KHAN has ordered a review of the London’s statues and street names after the toppling of the statue of an English slave trader by anti-racism protesters triggered a debate about the demons of Britain’s imperial past.
A statue of Edward Colston, who made a fortune in the 17th century from trading West African slaves, was torn down and thrown into Bristol harbour on Sunday (7) by a group of demonstrators taking part in a wave of protests following the death of George Floyd in the US.
The moment a statue of slave trader Edward Colston toppled into Bristol’s harbour. ‘It’s what he deserves. I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment’ someone told me in the moments after. pic.twitter.com/6juqVrsJ6V
— Sarah Turnnidge (@sarah_turnnidge) June 7, 2020
The London mayor said the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm would review statues, plaques and street names which largely reflect the rapid expansion of London’s wealth and power at the height of Britain’s empire in the reign of Queen Victoria.
The mayor told broadcasters that the recommendations of the commission “may well be that some of statues be taken down”.
He said it could be found “not appropriate” to be “memorialising, celebrating” slavers… “like the one in Bristol”.
It’s a “discussion we should have”, bringing in “diverse voices”, he added.
NEW: Today we’ve unveiled a new commission to review and improve the diversity of London’s public landmarks.
We must commemorate the achievements and diversity of all in our city – and that includes questioning which legacies are being celebrated. pic.twitter.com/dro06UQB7Y
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 9, 2020
“Our capital’s diversity is our greatest strength, yet our statues, road names and public spaces reflect a bygone era,” Khan said.
“It is an uncomfortable truth that our nation and city owes a large part of its wealth to its role in the slave trade and while this is reflected in our public realm, the contribution of many of our communities to life in our capital has been wilfully ignored.
“This cannot continue. We must ensure that we celebrate the achievements and diversity of all in our city, and that we commemorate those who have made London what it is — that includes questioning which legacies are being celebrated.
“The Black Lives Matter protests have rightly brought this to the public’s attention, but it’s important that we take the right steps to work together to bring change and ensure that we can all be proud of our public landscape.”
When asked if the statue of former prime minister Winston Churchill — who has been accused of being racist — come under the review, Khan said: “No, no, no. Look, nobody is perfect. Whether that’s Churchill, whether that’s Gandhi or Malcolm X.
“So there’s a conversation to be had about making sure that the national curriculum properly teaches our children about people’s warts and all and some of the things they’ve done that we don’t approve of.
“But there are some statues that are quite a clear cut.
“Slavers, quite a clear cut in my view. Plantation owners, quite a clear cut.”
In the biggest deportation in known history, weapons and gunpowder from Europe were swapped for millions of African slaves who were then shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas. Ships returned to Europe with sugar, cotton and tobacco.
As many as 17 million African men, women and children were torn from their homes and shackled into one of the world’s most brutal globalized trades between the 15th and 19th centuries. Many died in merciless conditions.
Those who survived endured a life of subjugation on sugar, tobacco and cotton plantations. Britain abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807 although the full abolition of slavery did not follow for another generation.
