It’s their only good film although Scary Movie was funny as a teenager I suppose.
I see they’ve recovered the Colston statue from the river.
Chances are that if it was left, which would make an historical statement in itself, someone would probably only nick it anyway.
In my opinion, if it really is mixed then it should remain. If they were overridingly bad though they should go to a museum covering their legacy if at all possible. There’s a slavery museum in Liverpool for example.
Covering anything up that might be potentially offensive won’t achieve too much I don’t think but I suppose a lot of people out there disagree.
There are worse figures in history. His family were slave owners but in many ways, he was a campaigner for social justice in UK.
It’s weird that they’ve beheaded a statue of Columbus when he himself had nothing to do with the slave trade. Will they start celebrating statues of abolitionists like Wilberforce or is this just a cull?
While I totally agree with taking down very questionably celebrated people and their statues, it’s just going to turn into a very knee-jerk exercise where everyone is up for being defamed if we’re not careful. I’d argue that most people of certain era’s were racist, not because that’s the conclusion they formed off their own back but because it was taught to them and it was just what was thought. That’s awful in itself but it’s history. We can learn and turn the world into a better place for all or we can keep the argument alight and never move on. I’m not saying people need to get over it but in the future there needs to a point when the we all say, enough, the playing field is levelled now, anyone opposing this idea will be dealt with.
2 Likes
Just wait till they find out that Eddie Murphy plays an old white Jewish guy in Coming to America…
1 Like
I don’t know if this is right, but I kinda feel like all the statue tearing down is distracting from the real problem, which is the general ignorance and systemic changes that need to be made. The statues should be a reminder of history, good or bad. I’m not sure tearing them down solves anything. More that we should better understand what they represent.
Again, I’m not saying I know what I’m talking about, just what I’m thinking. Right or wrong.
2 Likes
I’d say many would argue that by keeping a statue of Colston (or similar) in any central city square is an implicit condoning of creating wealth (and philanthropy) through slavery, conquest and brutality. Statues tend to be of kings, queens, war generals, favoured citizens, etc., all being honoured for their deeds - the idea of a Jimmy Savile statue analogy is a more contemporary version.
Call it knee jerk, call it the right thing to do, but it’s hopefully the start of something that should have been done ages ago and no one quite knows how to go about it whilst it’s only just picked up momentum.
And if there were wrong decisions made we should be adult enough to make it right and reverse them.
1 Like
At the very very aboslute least at this time, people are opening their eyes a bit more. There are a couple of builders working in the shared yard by my workshop at the moment, nice guys and I’ll do them a coffee sometimes and we’ll have a little chat, usually about how shit the building they are working on is and the state its been allowed to get to. Today however, the older of the two asked me what I thought of the whole black lives matter thing going on at the moment, he said he thought it was important because it’s highlighting a lot of things that he hadn’t really considered issues before.
I did take a deep breath when he brought it up, not really the response I was expecting from him.
2 Likes
People tried to change the names of the streets that are named after merchants in Glasgow, the ones who built Glasgow on slavery, but writing that stuff out of history seems a lot like something China would do. Plaques have got to be the answer, so people actually know where this wealth came from.
5 Likes
It’s a little different now though, you can’t just burn books and make history disappear. Now we have the Internet where it’s much harder to sweep issues under the carpet
Did you ask him what was the final decision/influence/factor that tipped the scales for him?
Would be really interesting to know.
nah I didn’t. He went on to tell me about a video he saw of a protester shouting ‘black lives matter’ at a police officer and the police officer said ‘all lives matter’ back to them which he agreed with, which is a tricky one because he is looking at it from a place of well meaning but also missing some crucial points. Slight progress on a societal level but plenty of work to do.
This guy is obviously no where near the bottom of the scale of people that need to change their views but still refreshing anyway.
1 Like
Fair play. I’m not saying no statues should be torn down, but maybe the perspective of them needs to change and that they should be a reminder that they built through slavery, conquest and brutality, and not through honourable means. Erasing history doesn’t get rid of the problem, but maybe I have the wrong perspective.
Agreed, I worry that cancelling is sometimes a way to sweep it under the carpet and pretend it never happened. Now is a great time to examine and learn.
I remember this WB image, which says it far better than I can.
6 Likes
The thing with statues is it’s a public space, usually where people go to shop, hang-out or sight see. As a black person I wouldn’t need the reminder in my face everyday that it was not that long ago I could be owned and made to do things I didn’t want too or even killed like I was nothing when I just want to go and have a nice day with my friends and family. If this turns into book burnings and censorship than I think the whole thing is taking very dark and morally wrong turn.
I will defend anyones right to free expression and free speech, even if I don’t agree with it. Of course there are massive exceptions to this, if the goal is purely to cause incite hatred and fear/harm/death to others. There is no need to black up or tell a thick Irish man joke down the working mans club for comedy. We have matured and are better than that now. I personally think Papa Lazarou is probably more offensive to Roman Gypsies, but that’s not for me to say.
It’s also easy to forget homosexuality was still illegal up until 1967 (really not that long ago) and convictions punishable by death. So of course you’re not going to want to be associated with anything homosexual, why would you put yourself in that danger back then? I’d say most people in that era would come across uneducated and homophobic when you’re told by the government it’s a crime that you should hang for and a sin by the church. I think it’s to easy to forget context here.
3 Likes
The Skate protests on Saturday has been bought forward to tomorrow. Apparently the far right scum Michael Fabricants want to defend the statues on Saturday.
Gonna be a tinder box
Fuck Tommy Robinson
He had a few minions here chuck a pigs head through a mosque door and fake some pedo texts from a kebab van so they could “protect” our country and smash his van up with bricks
I’m pretty over violence in my life but I’d love to see that guy and his muppets get a good beat down
2 Likes
Yeah he needs the Bristol treatment. in the water.
Karma is gonna get him at some point , you can’t be that much of a cunt without going away for a long time. He’s gonna fuck up. And I will rejoice the day.
1 Like
