All About Slave Trader Edward Colston Whose Statue Was Taken Down By BLM Protesters In London

Black Lives Matter protestors who are fighting against racial discrimination in England pulled down the statue of Edward Colston who profited from the slave trade during the colonial era.

Image: AFP/ Angela Weiss

New Delhi: Protestors in London fighting against racial discrimination pulled down a bronze statue of a slave trader Edward Colston. The 5.5-meter bronze statue was in the Colston Avenue in Bristol city and county in South West England since 1895. Colston had made his fortunes in the 17 century through the slave trade and was symbolic of the exploitation during the colonial era. The massive Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in London were in reference to the fatal arrest of George Floyd, a black man, whose death in Minneapolis inspired protests all around Europe. On Sunday, a crowd of protestors toppled the statue amid cheers from onlookers. The crowd then took the statue to Pero’s bridge and threw it into the water.

Goodbye Mr Colston. The human wave of human emotion seen here carried him off to the depths.#blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/kE9SYrDToJ

— Colin Moody (@MoodyColin) June 7, 2020

The Home secretary Priti Patel has said in news reports that the action was utterly disgraceful. The Avon and Somerset Police have called the act ‘criminal damage’ said in a statement that an investigation will be done to identify the culprits.

pic.twitter.com/cTFyyMUtMW

— uwu colston (@boringdystopian) June 7, 2020

Here are some facts about the English slave trader

• Edward Colston was born on 2 November 1636 in Church Street, Bristol. According to known records, he was the eldest among 11 children. The family later shifted to London during the English Civil war.
• He was born into wealth as his father was a merchant and the High Sheriff of Bristol in 1643.
• He started his business with the trading of cloth, oil, wine, and fruit. He had trade networks in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Africa.
• In 1680, he joined the Royal African Company (RAC), a mercantile company from the colonial era which was set up in 1660 to trade on the west coast of Africa. It was headed by the English king Charles II who took the throne as James II. According to records, the company was responsible for shipping the highest number of African slaves to the Americas with many dying on the way.

 

#Bristol statue of Edward Colston has been pulled down and pushed into the harbour during the #BlackLivesMattter march pic.twitter.com/ME1yxAhw7G

— BBC Radio Bristol (@bbcrb) June 7, 2020

• The company branded the slaves with the initials RAC on their chests. Some were also branded with the letters DY for Duke of York. According to a report by The Guardian, the company had sold about 100,000 west African people in the Caribbean and the Americas between 1672 and 1689.
• Colston profited from the slave trade business and soon started a money lending venture.
• He is also known as a philanthropist and had donated money to build schools and hospitals in his native Bristol and London.
• Some of the establishments set by him survive to this day such as Colston's School in Bristol. It began as a hospital in 1710 but was later converted into a school.
• In 2017, the Bristol cathedral planned to remove one of its biggest stained-glass windows because of its association with Colston. The window has the trader’s name and his motto ‘Go and do thou likewise’. This motto is also used by the Colston School.
• In 2018, Colston's Primary School decided to change its name and rebranded itself as Cotham Gardens Primary School
• There are many streets, public buildings, pubs, and restaurants in Bristol which have been named after Colston.

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