The Bristol protesters were criticised for not using democratic channels to remove the taunting symbol of slavery - the statue of Edward Colston. In the end they found a channel that worked. It happened to be the dock.
My thoughts are:-
1) So many people will relate to the frustration of the 'democratic process', were obfuscation, delay, and compromise leads to a sense of helplessness, in a tissue of lies. This was felt by suffragettes, Irish nationalists, on and on, to people trying to get justice in the courts today. It's not a surprise that sometimes people try to take things into their own hands.
2) The problem with Colston is that he is symbolic of an age that went on for ages. And it's horrible to look and see evil in our midst. The Germans and Japanese have needed to do it last century. How would we feel about German cities having statues of Hitler, Goering or Himmler in their town squares? ('But they gave so much to this town.')
3) Facing up to the past. Obviously in the past the ruling elite had the power. The poor of Britain and Ireland were in a category just above slavery. There was a tight hegemony between the church, state and legal profession to facilitate slavery. Britain should not have been considered a christian country.
4) It has taken generations to enable the British people to face the crimes that dwarf the Holocaust Like the Holocaust it begins by 'dehumanising' people in order to create the moral vacuum in which atrocities can take place. This has also been seen in the destruction of native peoples around the world.
5) How do we know what the current injustices are? It is the grinding poverty of the 'majority' world. All people are equal, just some people are more equal than others. As with slavery, we the citizens of the west are responsible for this.
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