Mixed views on Colston as Bristol marks one year since statue's toppling
Exactly one year after Edward Colston was removed from his plinth, we asked Bristolians what they thought of the moment
Bristolians have expressed mixed views on how the statue to slave trader Edward Colston was torn down, exactly one year after the event.
We've been out and about in the city on the anniversary of the Black Lives Matter protest which saw it toppled.
Thousands marched through the centre that day following the murder of black man George Floyd in the United States, who was killed by a white police officer.
Now the statue is on display at M Shed museum as part of an exhibition aiming to teach people about it's wider history, but it seems people still have very mixed views about how it came to be there.
"I'd have left it at the bottom of the water to rot to be honest," said Craig, a Bristol resident.
"I was with my girlfriend (on the day).
"We came down a little bit later because we were still a little bit conscious of the whole COVID thing, so we thought we'd come down and view the whole protest thing from a bit of a distance.
"I feel like it (the statue) should never have been there in the first place so I completely understand the anger behind it.
"Especially given everything that had happened leading up to that protest.
"I sort of get the people that say it's criminal damage....but I do completely understand that anger that was built up behind it."
Robert though, who is from Cumbria but is currently visiting Bristol, took a contrasting view.
"I didn't agree with pulling the statue down at all," he said.
"It should be something that's decided by the people in the correct way, not by an angry mob who just tore it down and threw it away.
"I was just dead against what they did, it was just a mob and it wasn't reflective of real, true people's thinking I don't think."
Alongside the M Shed exhibition a survey is available to complete online and at the museum, asking people what should happen to the statue in the future.
Mayor Marvin Rees says whatever decision is made will not be rushed.
"I think the city has coped well," he said.
"We're still together and that was a real challenge for us, for something that was so seismic, so symbolic, there were real tensions at the time and we've held ourselves together.
"What we need to do is to make sure that the space that's been created, for not just discussion but for making real change within Bristol, is one we actually take."
It all comes as a campaign group Save Our Statues, which wants the Colston statue put back on its plinth, has been block booking slots to see the M Shed exhibit in protest, to stop people going.
In a statement the group calls the exhibit "a celebration of criminal violence and mob rule".
They argue that the statue should be put back on its plinth while the current debate about its future is held.
Campaigns to remove the statue by official means have been attempted several times with no success.
"I don't quite understand it," Rees said.
"People are going to engage with what's happened with a statue and to share their thoughts on what should happen.
"Block booking and stopping people doing that does nothing to advance the discussion, does nothing to give people any more understanding of what Bristol is and how we've come here and what our history is."
Bristol City Council have told us the M Shed is accepting walk ins, so if you what to go to the exhibit but the day appears fully booked, it may be worth going along anyway to see if there is a slot available.
You can try and book in a visit or complete the survey about the statue's future here.
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