A petition has started to replace the Colston statue with one of Paul Stephenson, a British anti-racism campaigner. The Colston removal lent momentum to an effort at Oxford University to take down the statue of Cecil Rhodes, who supported apartheid-style policies in Africa.
The renewed push to remove monuments that celebrate racists in the United States spread across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday when Black Lives Matter protesters toppled the statue of a British slave trader.
“Whilst history shouldn’t be forgotten, these people who benefited from the enslavement of individuals do not deserve the honour of a statue,” read the petition. “This should be reserved for those who bring about positive change and who fight for peace, equality and social unity.” The Colston removal lent momentum to an effort at Oxford University to take down the statue of Cecil Rhodes, who supported apartheid-style policies in Africa. Belgians targeted statues of King Leopold II, whose African colonization resulted in the death of millions of Congolese. A bust of Leopold in the city of Ghent was painted with “I can’t breathe,” Floyd’s final words.
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