Confederate and Slave-Trader Statues Toppled in Virginia and in Great Britain

After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Americans have been protesting non-stop for an end to racial inequality and police brutality.

Floyd’s death, which occurred after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, was just the latest in a series of prominent African American deaths at the hands of American law enforcement.  The people of this nation had seen enough, and soon took to the streets.

Now, fourteen days into the demonstrations, the scope of the protests has broadened, and any perceived instance of racism is considered a target of their ire – even if it isn’t in America.

For someone who died nearly three centuries ago, Edward Colston has become a symbol for the Black Lives Matter movement in Britain.

The toppling of his statue in Bristol, a city in the southwest of England, on Sunday by anti-racism protesters was greeted with joyous scenes, recognition of the fact that he was a notorious slave trader — a badge of shame in what is one of Britain’s most liberal cities.

Demonstrators attached ropes to the statue before pulling it down. Footage of the moments after the statue crashed to the ground saw hundreds, if not thousands, of local Bristolians, in ecstasy.

Protesters in Richmond, Virginia felled a Confederate monument in one of the city’s parks over the weekend as well, but the splash that they made was a bit more vulgar than Colston’s statue’s fate.

Protesters toppled a Confederate statue from its pedestal in Monroe Park on Saturday night.

After a day and evening of peaceful protests and marches in Richmond and its suburbs, protesters using ropes pulled down a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham, which has stood in the park since 1891.

Most of the protesters who had marched through the city Saturday night had already dispersed when the statue was taken down. After it fell, one person urinated on the statue and then ran away.

Last week, authorities in Birmingham, Alabama preemptively removed a Confederate Monument as well, citing concerns for public safety.