Robert Milligan statue being kidnapped by workers (Reuters)
London:
A statue of Robert Milligan, an 18th-century slave trader, was removed from its pedestal outside a museum in London on Tuesday after global anti-racist protests sparked a debate over how Britain commemorates its imperial past.
Statues glorifying slave traders and colonialists have been developed in recent days, as part of a larger movement inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests that began in the United States after the death of George Floyd .
“Although it is sad to see that a large part of the wealth of our city and our nation comes from the slave trade, this does not have to be celebrated in our public spaces”, declared the mayor of London Sadiq Khan in a tweet with a photo of the statue.
Earlier, Khan ordered a review of statues and street names across London in response to mass protests in the city and elsewhere.
Protesters in the English port city of Bristol demolished the statue of a slave trader on Sunday and threw it into the harbor, while on Monday in Oxford more than 1,000 protesters demanded the removal of a statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes.
The previously obscure Milligan statue stood in front of the Museum of London Docklands, on the edge of the glitzy Canary Wharf business district, which is surrounded by the multi-ethnic, working-class neighborhood of Tower Hamlets.
Milligan, who owned sugar cane plantations in Jamaica, helped build the West India wharves in London.
Spectators cheered and cheered as workers in high-visibility jackets separated the statue from its base, then lifted it with a crane truck.
Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs told Reuters of the scene that he firmly believed it was no longer appropriate to leave the statue in place. He said it would be stored and discussions would take place on what to do with it.
A bygone era
“People thought he was just a businessman who helped build the docks, but when you dig into it, you learn that in fact he was a slave trader,” said Biggs. “I find it refreshing, I find it inspiring that people want to learn and think.”
The decision to remove the statue was made by the owners of the land, an organization called Canal and River Trust. “We recognize the wishes of the local community regarding the Robert Milligan statue at London Docklands,” he said in a statement.
The statue’s orderly removal contrasted with the chaotic scenes in Bristol on Sunday. Police decided not to prevent protesters from knocking over a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston to avoid escalating the situation.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the killing of the Colston statue was a criminal offense, while Interior Minister Priti Patel called it “completely shameful”.
Mayor Khan said a commission would examine statues, plaques and street names that reflect the rapid expansion of wealth and power in London at the height of the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria.
“The diversity of our capital is our greatest strength, but our statues, names of roads and public spaces reflect a bygone era,” he said.
British merchants played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade, the largest deportation in known history.
No less than 17 million African men, women and children were uprooted from their homes and shipped to the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries. The ships returned to Europe with sugar, cotton and tobacco grown by slaves in brutal plantations.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
