Current Affairs

[Manoverboard]

I would agree in this country Foxy but in America the word ‘proportionately’ still means us and them… if the past weeks events are anything to go by.

Have you been to any of the Southern States of America ?

[Gill W]

I've seen more than the British media show.

Of course you have. So you'll be familiar with the old question "why do the media always focus on the bad news?"

In this case how many of the media outlets you peruse regularly show pictures of the police doing their job well? Just how balanced is the media coverage of the regular work of the police?

I say again in case you missed it. This is a terrible incident and those responsible deserve all they get from the justice system. The rest do not deserve to be painted the same way just because the cameras aren't rolling when they are working hard and well in difficult circumstances.

You no doubt know, as well as I do, that people going about their jobs as normal, is not news.

So we always see the abnormal on media news.

What do we do to show balance? For every cop that pushes over a 75 yr old man over, leaving him lying bleeding on the pavement, they show a policemen helping a little old lady over the road? I can’t see that working. Most people aren’t daft, they know they are watching extremes. However, I’ve seen enough recently to make me feel very uneasy about what is happening in the USA.

[Gill W]

Please, please don't be offended, but it's just an illustration of how society has worked, and we are all influenced by it, that's why change is so desperately needed, and people are speaking out.

Gill I agree with you that society needs to change, but I don't believe that mass protests, that more often than not result in violence and major public disorder are the right way to effect that change. In fact it will most likely lead to a backlash from extremist right wing groups.
In the current covid crisis an online protest would have produced exactly the same level of media coverage, and would have been far more acceptable to the public.

I don’t think an online protest would have the same effect, it be seen as a social media whim, and a lot of people would roll their eyes at it.

I don’t want to mention the B word. But the massive Anti Brexit marches were good humoured and law abiding. It is possible to protest peacefully. ( not that it changed anything, but people have the right to protest peacefully).

I don’t know if you’ve seen what’s happened in Bristol this afternoon? We all know that Bristol was built on the slave trade, and maybe the statue should have been removed long ago, but by concensus. This is just a mob tearing down a statue. Its starting to spiral out of control now. Very worrying

[Onelife]

Please, please don't be offended, but it's just an illustration of how society has worked, and we are all influenced by it, that's why change is so desperately needed, and people are speaking out.

Gill I agree with you that society needs to change, but I don't believe that mass protests, that more often than not result in violence and major public disorder are the right way to effect that change. In fact it will most likely lead to a backlash from extremist right wing groups.
In the current covid crisis an online protest would have produced exactly the same level of media coverage, and would have been far more acceptable to the public.

In most instances the purpose of any form of protest is to get the media coverage that highlights the cause, and in doing so many injustices around the world would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

[Manoverboard]

I don’t know if you’ve seen what’s happened in Bristol this afternoon? We all know that Bristol was built on the slave trade, and maybe the statue should have been removed long ago, but by concensus. This is just a mob tearing down a statue. Its starting to spiral out of control now. Very worrying

Very worrying ....

Perhaps they would care to raise Liverpool to the ground while they're at it because of it's sugar connection ?

The statue is / was part of the history of Bristol so why should it be removed.

Perhaps all the Roman statues should also be pulled down ?

The slave trade was part of Arab culture way before Bristol got involved so why don't they go protest in Mozambique ?
.

[oldbluefox]

If my history serves me correctly the black slaves were bought by white traders in Africa. Is it not true the slaves themselves were captured from other tribes by their fellow countrymen?
Oddly enough this part of black history always seems to be ignored but if true it is an indelible blot on their own race. Wrong was done on both sides.
I might point out I think the slave trade and the treatment of slaves was a shameful part of our history, along with the behaviour of some of our explorers when discovering foreign lands.

[oldbluefox]

I would agree in this country Foxy but in America the word ‘proportionately’ still means us and them… if the past weeks events are anything to go by.

I think America has a long way to go as far as curing racism is concerned. The errors of the past where white supremacists thought it acceptable to tie somebody to the back of a truck and drive around at speed bear no thinking about. I can understand their anger but their situation and ours are totally different and should not be confused. I sense USA is a very fractured nation where social injustice thrives.
That is no excuse for activists who stir up racial tensions in this country.

[Onelife]

I would agree in this country Foxy but in America the word ‘proportionately’ still means us and them… if the past weeks events are anything to go by.

Have you been to any of the Southern States of America ?

Sorry Mob, I missed your post… No, I haven’t been to any state in America…I did however have an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Florida

Is this going to be the 5th lesson?

[oldbluefox]

Is this going to be the 5th lesson?

What happened to Lessons 1-4?

[Onelife]

I would agree in this country Foxy but in America the word ‘proportionately’ still means us and them… if the past weeks events are anything to go by.

I think America has a long way to go as far as curing racism is concerned. The errors of the past where white supremacists thought it acceptable to tie somebody to the back of a truck and drive around at speed bear no thinking about. I can understand their anger but their situation and ours are totally different and should not be confused. I sense USA is a very fractured nation where social injustice thrives.
That is no excuse for activists who stir up racial tensions in this country.

I totally agree Foxy.

[Onelife]

Is this going to be the 5th lesson?

What happened to Lessons 1-4?

All I can say Foxy is that I’ve learned more on this forum than I ever did at school

[oldbluefox]

All I can say Foxy is that I’ve learned more on this forum than I ever did at school

That's cos you spent all your time on the naughty step!!!

[Onelife]

All I can say Foxy is that I’ve learned more on this forum than I ever did at school

That's cos you spent all your time on the naughty step!!!

My teachers didn't understand me wot like you do Foxy

[oldbluefox]

My teachers didn't understand me wot like you do Foxy

A good clip around the lugs works wonders!!!

[Gill W]

I don’t know if you’ve seen what’s happened in Bristol this afternoon? We all know that Bristol was built on the slave trade, and maybe the statue should have been removed long ago, but by concensus. This is just a mob tearing down a statue. Its starting to spiral out of control now. Very worrying

Very worrying ....

Perhaps they would care to raise Liverpool to the ground while they're at it because of it's sugar connection ?

The statue is / was part of the history of Bristol so why should it be removed.

Perhaps all the Roman statues should also be pulled down ?

The slave trade was part of Arab culture way before Bristol got involved so why don't they go protest in Mozambique ?
.

It seems this statue has been controversial for many years. A lot of people in Bristol have thought this statue is inappropriate, as 19000 people died on Edward Colsten’s slaving ships and there have been many calls for it to be taken down. A school with his name on has been renamed, and the Colsten Hall is shortly going to be renamed.

It doesn’t make what happened today right, but adds a little context.

[towny44]

I don’t know if you’ve seen what’s happened in Bristol this afternoon? We all know that Bristol was built on the slave trade, and maybe the statue should have been removed long ago, but by concensus. This is just a mob tearing down a statue. Its starting to spiral out of control now. Very worrying

Very worrying ....

Perhaps they would care to raise Liverpool to the ground while they're at it because of it's sugar connection ?

The statue is / was part of the history of Bristol so why should it be removed.

Perhaps all the Roman statues should also be pulled down ?

The slave trade was part of Arab culture way before Bristol got involved so why don't they go protest in Mozambique ?
.

It seems this statue has been controversial for many years. A lot of people in Bristol have thought this statue is inappropriate, as 19000 people died on Edward Colsten’s slaving ships and there have been many calls for it to be taken down. A school with his name on has been renamed, and the Colsten Hall is shortly going to be renamed.

It doesn’t make what happened today right, but adds a little context.

Whilst no one is proud of the slave trade today, at the time that Colsten was making his fortune very few people in the country knew how he had made it. However his philanthropic endowments meant a great deal to the people of Bristol at the time, and pulling down his statue and renaming everything he endowed does an enormous disservice to those people and to part of our history. A history that should endeavour to show a balance of views to students of the present, something that a baying mob dancing on a fallen statue, dragging it through the streets and into the harbour cannot adequately portray.

[Stephen]

I rest my case. Just plain low life scum that don't deserve to breath the same air.


Boris Johnson: Anti-racism protests 'subverted by thuggery' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52960756

[Manoverboard]

... No, I haven’t been to any state in America…I did however have an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Florida

Is this going to be the 5th lesson?

You have plenty to say about slavery and the lives led by ethnic groups in America so I thought that your first hand knowledge could be further enhanced by a visit to their Southern States. A lesson of sorts perhaps ?

[david63]

Did anyone else read what I thought was an excellent, non point scoring, article on the BBC website over the weekend about Coronavirus?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/QwhYgq ... a-pandemic

[Manoverboard]

It seems this statue has been controversial for many years. A lot of people in Bristol have thought this statue is inappropriate, as 19000 people died on Edward Colsten’s slaving ships and there have been many calls for it to be taken down. A school with his name on has been renamed, and the Colsten Hall is shortly going to be renamed.

It doesn’t make what happened today right, but adds a little context.

A lot of people .... how many exactly and why pick on just one Captain ?

Their actions will made a few high 'n' mighty Holier-than-thou snowflakes feel good about themselves but having trashed some of Bristol's Heritage I think they are truly pathetic.

One Captain of many who made a fortune along with others in the Americas and Africa but it should also be noted that Bristol exists only because of this trade. When slavery was abolished the slaves were free but had nowhere to go so were enslaved by their fellow Africans. That aspect hardly gets a mention does it ?

ps ... there's a TV program running about a house that was owned by several Sea Captains in Bristol ...

It's entitled ' A House through Time, on BBC2 but catch up will be required.
.

[Mervyn and Trish]

It seems this statue has been controversial for many years. A lot of people in Bristol have thought this statue is inappropriate, as 19000 people died on Edward Colsten’s slaving ships and there have been many calls for it to be taken down. A school with his name on has been renamed, and the Colsten Hall is shortly going to be renamed.

It doesn’t make what happened today right, but adds a little context.

A lot of people .... how many exactly and why pick on just one Captain ?

Their actions will made a few high 'n' mighty Holier-than-thou snowflakes feel good about themselves but having trashed some of Bristol's Heritage I think they are truly pathetic.

One Captain of many who made a fortune along with others in the Americas and Africa but it should also be noted that Bristol exists only because of this trade. When slavery was abolished the slaves were free but had nowhere to go so were enslaved by their fellow Africans. That aspect hardly gets a mention does it ?

ps ... there's a TV program running about a house that was owned by several Sea Captains in Bristol ...

It's entitled ' A House through Time, on BBC2 but catch up will be required.
.

Excellent programme. Very good presenter.

[towny44]

It seems this statue has been controversial for many years. A lot of people in Bristol have thought this statue is inappropriate, as 19000 people died on Edward Colsten’s slaving ships and there have been many calls for it to be taken down. A school with his name on has been renamed, and the Colsten Hall is shortly going to be renamed.

It doesn’t make what happened today right, but adds a little context.

A lot of people .... how many exactly and why pick on just one Captain ?

Their actions will made a few high 'n' mighty Holier-than-thou snowflakes feel good about themselves but having trashed some of Bristol's Heritage I think they are truly pathetic.

One Captain of many who made a fortune along with others in the Americas and Africa but it should also be noted that Bristol exists only because of this trade. When slavery was abolished the slaves were free but had nowhere to go so were enslaved by their fellow Africans. That aspect hardly gets a mention does it ?

ps ... there's a TV program running about a house that was owned by several Sea Captains in Bristol ...

It's entitled ' A House through Time, on BBC2 but catch up will be required.
.

He wasn't a Captain Moby who got his hands dirty, I believe he rose to be head of a syndicate honoured with a Royal charter giving them sole rights to trade along the African coast, which included the very lucrative slave trade. I doubt he ever saw or even heard much about what went on in building up his fortune, as he lived primarily in London, although he did become Tory MP for Bristol at one time.
He was very little different to today's captains of industry, who in years to come, or even sooner in today's social media world, will similarly be tarnished with having made their fortunes from poor workers who worked in sweat shops in the far east.
Unfortunately no one accepts that these merchants only get rich by providing what the populace want, which is the very best goods at the cheapest price. But blaming society in general is rather too woolly for the activists, much better to focus on an individual instead.

[Manoverboard]

Excellent programme. Very good presenter.

Who's ancesters were from prime slave territory, as in Nigeria.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Did anyone else read what I thought was an excellent, non point scoring, article on the BBC website over the weekend about Coronavirus?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/QwhYgq ... a-pandemic

Very good. What journalists should be doing instead of asking the same repeated inane questions or propagating their own pet theories.

[Onelife]

... No, I haven’t been to any state in America…I did however have an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Florida

Is this going to be the 5th lesson?

You have plenty to say about slavery and the lives led by ethnic groups in America so I thought that your first hand knowledge could be further enhanced by a visit to their Southern States. A lesson of sorts perhaps ?

Hi Mob,

I have no desire to go to America whether it be for a holiday or a history lesson.

I have however watched the film "500 years later" which l can highly recommend as a lesson in Black African American history.