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What little sympathy I had with this “cause” evaporated after the bike/horse incident. Send in the army with tear gas and rubber bullets I say.
It's hand-wringing bleeding heart do-gooders like you that are bringing this country to its knees. If we don't gas the entire population of Western Europe, the commies will have won
Using horses for “crowd control” is stupid.
Especially in Newcastle..
Colston’s statue has been pulled down in Bristol.
Then they took it for a walk and threw it in the harbour. 😂
DD - I've just spent a very depressing 5 minutes reading the comments below the Evening Post article.
It was more an observation that, unless there was a clear requirement for horses to control the crowd, galloping (or trotting or skipping, or whatever) line abreast through a crowd of people peaceably protesting an event unavoidably tied to police brutality could be perceived as antagonistic, if we’re looking for a reason why people were throwing things at them and sounding pissed off.
Agree with that, would be interested to know why the met wanted to move their police line forward.
The eye-witness reports after the horse incident are interesting. Everyone was kept there for hours, to be allowed out and go home you had to give your details and have a pic taken by the police. I assume so they can review on the CCTV.
Colston’s statue has been pulled down in Bristol.
Colston on a plinth and his name on stuff has always been tone-death. Colston Hall is changing its name I think.
DD – I’ve just spent a very depressing 5 minutes reading the comments below the Evening Post article.
Is that angry comments by white Bristolians annoyed that “their history” has had another chapter written in it?
Colston’s statue has been pulled down in Bristol.
Now they need one to replace it. Bordeaux has a stutue that is a tribute to the slaves rather than slave traders:
Whilst in Martinique some other contorversial statues have been dealt with in an argument over who was the most significant anti-slave trader:
Inevitably, it will be dredged up and put on display somewhere - hopefully alongside the slavery section at the M-shed (the city’s museum). I look forward to section on the information plinth which reads, “the damage, marks and scratches you see now happened in 2020 when an angry mob pulled it down from its city centre location, dragged it, with a rope around its neck (much like Colston’s trades slaves would have been) across town and threw it into the floating harbour.”
ukgov saying completely the wrong thing in response. Just seen Priti Patel on TV.
Bristol Council has been resisting doing anything about Colston for years. It was a regular thing we raised when I was a student there - late 90s. Wonder why?
“If a horse bolts you grab the rein on one side with both hands, pull hard and keep tugging. Sit back, feet forward hard in the styrups. I’ve mainly ridden in France but Google “one rein stop”. That cop was a passenger.“
@Edukator She is a mate of mine. I shall pass on your advice when she leaves hospital....
Wonder why?
You only have to read the comments under the line on various social media posts about today, to understand. A lot of people in the town have absolutely no problem with the city’s past associations with slavery - just another “we should move on” brigade. They know enough to say that they do, but now that another chapter has been written into the Colston saga - they’re not happy.
The symbolism of dragging it across town with a rope and dumping it in the harbour from where so many slave ships sailed, was beautiful.
Hello, Kato. You've been keeping a low profile since you joined the police. You used to be quite outspoken on the other channel.
She is a mate of mine. I shall pass on your advice when she leaves hospital….
I genuinely, genuinely, genuinely wish her all the best, but when she's out and feeling better, can you ask her why mounted police were deployed?
11 long years
You only have to read the comments under the line on various social media posts about today, to understand. A lot of people in the town have absolutely no problem with the city’s past associations with slavery – just another “we should move on” brigade. They know enough to say that they do, but now that another chapter has been written into the Colston saga – they’re not happy.
TBH I think they’re about 200 years too late in pulling it down, whitewashing the past helps no-one thou.
I do like the idea of putting it in the M-Shed 🙂
DD – I’ve just spent a very depressing 5 minutes reading the comments below the Evening Post article.
It’s like the Dailey fail thou And it’s not even the real evening post anymore, you should have seen the fuss over the grass outside the council house that grew back a week later after the Greta climate change visit.
I can never understand the whole “whitewashing history” thing. Pulling his statue down changes nothing of what happened. The (euphemistically) “awkward” relationship between Bristol and Colston’s legacy has been drumming on for decades - the council has constantly dragged its heels over it. It’s no surprise really that they’ve finally pulled the bloody thing down. I’m surprised it’s taken till now.
Bristol - a city built on slavery.
With Colston's statue in the floating harbour, what's next?
What about the charitable institutions he founded which still exist today; part of their funding would have come from Colston's slave trading.
How about the legacy of the Wills family?
Tobacco and slavery are closely connected; the Wills family were huge benefactors to the city - the Wills building at the uni being just one.
Dumping the statue in the harbour and graffiti on the plinth will do nothing to advance the cause; in fact, they are likely to cause a loss of support.
Any plans to rename Blackboy Hill? I always thought that was a particularly offensive name.
11 long years
Hope you're enjoying the challenge, you're well placed to know about discrimination and I hope that encourages you to tackle it wherever it is present.
Like Pondo, I genuinely feel for your fellow officer but question the decision to send mounted police into a peaceful anti-racism protest. I see it as unnecessary provocation of an already sensitive community and will stand by my assessment that whoever of your bosses ordered the deployment of mounted police made a serious error of judgement which resulted in injury to one of your colleagues and a further degradation in the image of the police among the minority communites it is there to serve just as much as the rest of the polulation.
.
Bristol – a city built on slavery.
With Colston’s statue in the floating harbour, what’s next?
I'm not sure that any amount of charity foundations counter the horrors of the slave trade
Surely the only way to move on is to remove the statue
So that Rhodes statue is next?
Using horses for “crowd control” is stupid. I ride regularly
The police were not exactly aggressive but trying to push the people back with horses.
Either way the police would be blamed for their present or even not enough present.
What little sympathy I had with this “cause” evaporated after the bike/horse incident. Send in the army with tear gas and rubber bullets I say.
Peaceful protest yes but now no.
There is a certain irony seeing people in Scotland turning out to protest this in large numbers.
Not that it isn't something that should be abhorred, but where were the similar protests when a very similar death happened in Scotland?
Bristol – a city built on slavery.
With Colston’s statue in the floating harbour, what’s next?
What about the charitable institutions he founded which still exist today; part of their funding would have come from Colston’s slave trading.
How about the legacy of the Wills family?
Tobacco and slavery are closely connected; the Wills family were huge benefactors to the city – the Wills building at the uni being just one.
Dumping the statue in the harbour and graffiti on the plinth will do nothing to advance the cause; in fact, they are likely to cause a loss of support.
Any plans to rename Blackboy Hill? I always thought that was a particularly offensive name.
Someone’s been doing his research. Impressive stuff there Frank. Plenty for someone bothered enough to consider.
I don't know how well up on 20th century history you are Chewkw but there's a history of mounted police being used aggresively against just causes and peaceful protestors.
In the 20s the sufragettes were surrounded by mounted police who then attacked a group of women and children (a relative of mine was one of those who chained herself to railings) - all the protestors were aquitted of trumped up police charges.
In the miners strike peaceful, resting strikers were charged by mounted police. The protestors were aquitted of trumped up police charges.
In the Thatcher years mounted police were used against poll tax protestors.
You see a trend? There's still a "send in the cavalry" attitude amongst police chiefs. It does them no good. You see this is how I will always see mounted police:
She was pulled out of the way by a colleague and he missed her BTW. Both riders need to work on their foot placement in the styrups.
Someone’s been doing his research. Impressive stuff there Frank. Plenty for someone bothered enough to consider.
I've considered it, and in light of the estimated 84000 people the Royal African Company kidnapped and enslaved during his time there, I think it can all get to ****. I get that times have changed, but "he didn't know any better and anyway, he gave loads to white people" doesn't really cut it for me.
I don’t know how well up on 20th century history you are Chewkw but there’s a history of mounted police being used aggresively against just causes and peaceful protestors.
I was referring to the mounted police in London last two days as they were not even aggressive at all and allowed themselves to be surrounded by protestors. If they were really aggressive they would have charged but they did not.
This threads getting a little narcissistic now.
Bristol – a city built on slavery.
With Colston’s statue in the floating harbour, what’s next?
This old nonsense whataboutery about buildings, charities and roadnames.
Statues celebrate people. When we realise those people don't deserve celebrating we have a reponsibility to get rid of them.
When we realise those people don’t deserve celebrating we have a reponsibility to get rid of them.
But who decides that?
But who decides that
Anyone who thinks slavery is abhorrent
Which is everyone
Using horses for “crowd control” is stupid. I ride regularly and consider it unfair on the crowd, the horse and even the cop on it.
Bristol police have used their mounted officers for crowd control, usually footy matches, for many, many years. Their stables used to be a few yards along the road from where I went to college in Bower Ashton back in the early 70’s, and they’d been there a lot longer than that.
I frankly don’t really care what horse riding experience you have, it’ll never, ever match the experience and training that mounted police and their horses go through, the horses are repeatedly put through situations involving noise, crowd distractions, loud explosions, etc, just so they won’t spook.
I know exactly what horses are like, they’re flight animals, my brothers ex-wife and his wife now both own and ride horses, and I know just how little it takes to spook a horse, especially when approaching from behind on a bike, because I spooked one, or rather the rider, just by saying ‘hello, alright to come past?’, and I made the rider jump, and she spooked the horse; it’s a good thing I was still behind it!
Anyone who thinks slavery is abhorrent
Not what I meant. Who decides which statues stay and which go? Not just some bloke who profited off the slave trade. What about Cromwell, responsible for 1000's of deaths in Ireland? Churchill, because he was a bit of a racist? Clive of India, Wellington, what about every person from our imperial past who has a statue, who decides which stay and which go?
History decides which statues stay and which go.
Priori Patel has announced that the police should rightly track down and prosecute the vandals that pulled down the statue.....
"I'M SPARTACUS"
who decides which stay and which go?
who cares, are you that bothered? I know I'm not. Most of these statues were pit up by our Edwardian great grandparents, they're almost all totally irrelevant.
What about Cromwell, responsible for 1000’s of deaths in Ireland? Churchill, because he was a bit of a racist? Clive of India, Wellington, what about every person from our imperial past who has a statue, who decides which stay and which go?
You can * all those ** in the river too
What about Cromwell, responsible for 1000’s of deaths in Ireland?
Well the Irish certainly trashed their Cromwell statues after independence. Do you think that was a poor choice?
The statue of Jimmy Savile in Glasgow was taken down after he died - after he did so much charity work! Did you complain then? He is a part of our history, after all.
I ride regularly and consider it unfair on the crowd, the horse and even the cop on it.
Anyone who's been next to a police horse knows they aren't normal horses. They use them for a reason.
epicyclo
Subscriber
There is a certain irony seeing people in Scotland turning out to protest this in large numbers.Not that it isn’t something that should be abhorred, but where were the similar protests when a very similar death happened in Scotland?
You can say that about any of the deaths and to any of the protesters anywhere in the world, why did this particular one suddenly spark something.
It's just the straw that broke the camels back really. So I don't really see any irony, just a building up of frustration that has finally cracked, we/people should have been out on those other days, but these kinda things take a certain amount of momentum and time to get to a movement that is this powerful.. It's not like society encourages such things, it actively discourages.
The protests aren't just about a single death though. It's questioning the whole concept of institutionalised racism. From murder to the smallest act.
I also think this is a reaction to Lockdown and it’s consequences. I don’t think society is going to settle down any time soon.
An important point was made but I very much doubt the consequences of these actions were considered. Black Lives Matters, yes undoubtedly. But the 100s or 1000s of lives that now may be lost due to the Coronavirus spreading due to the complete lack of social distancing needs to be highlighted.
DD – I’ve just spent a very depressing 5 minutes reading the comments below the Evening Post article.
I've always drawn comfort from being on the opposite side of the argument to the people who comment on Bristol Post articles.