‘Many people have many valid reasons to dislike the job the mayor has done’

My response to Lester Holloway’s article is yes, the success of Bristol was founded on racism and Bristolians just don’t like talking about it.

You know a city has a bad history when people who live there would prefer you talk about the city’s history of piracy, rather than the really bad stuff.

The wealth of Bristol was generated from the slave trade, where human lives and suffering were seen as a resource to be profited from.

When the abomination of the slave trade was made illegal by parliament, slave owners received huge sums of money.

We should have a conversation about that, but as the current topic is about why the mayor wasn’t selected for the planned new constituency, I will mostly address that.

Although it’s probable that some people don’t like the mayor because they are racists, my perception is that many people have many valid reasons to dislike the job he has done.

https://twitter.com/LesterJHolloway/status/1686140243013992450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1686140243013992450%7Ctwgr%5Ece119554417a3b803f178f73d7419205371603e0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fb247.staging.proword.press%2Fnews-and-features%2Fnews%2Fvoice-editor-slams-bristol-turnip-munching-racists-rees%2F

I can’t speak for the Labour Party members in the Bristol and South Gloucestershire wards that make up the Bristol North East constituency, but I can explain why I personally am so disappointed in the mayor.

After the police removed peaceful protestors on College Green and grabbed a journalist, I had hoped that mayor Rees would speak out against the violence.

Instead, the mayor’s office worked with “city leaders” to write a letter expressing “complete confidence in the approach taken by Avon & Somerset Police”. That left me very disappointed.

People have been paid compensation by the police but that is not the same as justice.

After the statue of the slaver was torn down, I had hoped Bristol would have a wide conversation about the city’s racist past and how the legacy of that money and power still has a malignant influence in how decisions get made in this city.

Instead, the mayor set up a history commission directly under his control where six out of the eight people are from Bristol University and University of West of England.

I fail to see how people who are huge beneficiaries of our colonial past (Bristol University was funded by the Wills family, who made their money from tobacco) are the right people to be driving the conversation Bristol needs to have.

When mayor Rees was elected there was a hope for a “different kind of politics”, so I am very disappointed that he pulled most of the power in the city under his direct control, refusing to have any non-Labour members in his cabinet, and generally not acknowledging the work other people have done.

One example, here is the Bristol Labour group taking all the credit for delivering a new train station. Even the West of England Combined Authority are better at sharing credit with their project partners. Though obviously both pictures show the huge diversity problem Bristol has.

I was also hoping that mayor Rees would be able to bring some order to Bristol’s planning system which historically has done great harm parts of the city, including Totterdown and the city centre.

So it’s disappointing to see complete chaos still, with one of our local football teams starting work on redevelopment without planning permission.  

There is a petition for “Loss of confidence in Bristol’s planning system” as people really want to see this sorted out.

But probably the biggest hope and disappointment that Bristolians have faced is the saga of the arena.

It was planned for the city centre, within easy travel distance of so many Bristolians and right next to the main train station.

Bristol University has massively increased student numbers over the past fifteen or so years, and apparently wanted to continue that increase.

Housing property developers are naturally in favour of having infrastructure money being spent near their developments.

They and people close to the mayor were seemingly able to convince the mayor that right on the edge of the city is great place for an arena.

But the choice of that location means that it is going to be incredibly hard for people from south Bristol to be able to reach it.

And instead of bringing tourists into the heart of the city where they could spend money, visitors will only reach the edge of the city before leaving again.

The decision is a tragic loss for the city, economically, culturally and spiritually.

I would love to see the conversation about the institutional racism in Bristol continue, but the phrase Mr Holloway used in his tweet is offensive. It can be interpreted as either homophobic or “aren’t Bristolians dumb”. Saying either of types of thing are frowned upon in Bristol.

If Mr Holloway does come to Bristol or otherwise continue this conversation, I could probably point him in the direction of people to talk to who would be able to share their views of why Bristolians view the mayor’s legacy as one of disappointment.

This is an opinion piece by Dan Ackroyd, an open source developer and resident of Hotwells & Harbourside

Main photo: Betty Woolerton 

Read next: 

• ‘The reality is that some people do have a problem with Marvin Rees because of his race’
• The Voice editor slams ‘Bristol’s turnip-munching racists’
• Damien Egan beats Marvin Rees to become Labour’s Bristol North East candidate

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