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Replacing a Monument to Slavery
A Black Lives Matter statue now rests where a slave owner’s likeness once stood in England
The original statue of slave owner Edward Colston now sits at the bottom of the harbor at Bristol in England. Anti-Black racism activists put it there as the news of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police in Minneapolis reinvigorated calls for racial fairness and equality around the world.
In old Ed’s place stands a statue of Jen Reid with her fist in the air, put there as a kind of counterprotest. The black resin statue, created by Marc Quinn, can’t stay, city officials say, but the point has been made.
[UPDATE 7/16/20 — The statue was removed by city officials less than 24 hours after it was installed by the protest artists.]
Per NPR and The Guardian, here is the backstory:
“The sculpture that has been installed today was the work and decision of a London based artist. It was not requested and permission was not given for it to be installed,” Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said in a statement.
The city is setting up a process to determine what happens with the plinth. “The people will decide its future,” Rees added in a tweet.
The sculpture represents a stark departure from the figure…
