‘The path is now clear for Bristol to move forward with greater understanding’

The task facing the jury in the trial of the Colston 4 was not an enviable one.

While a handful of hardened protestors might have dreamed of toppling the statue, it is more likely that most of those who wished to see it gone would have preferred it to have been carried out peacefully long before the events of June 7 2020.

The statue had become a lightning rod of division. It, along with its context, belonged in a museum. Efforts to achieve this had failed.

There has been reasonable criticism of city politicians for not taking the lead on the matter. Though perhaps too, there is need to reflect on whether there was a longstanding division between activist and non-activist citizens over the issue.

This is not to say that there was a particularly strong sense that the statue should remain, but a reluctance to find common ground and understand the perspectives of those who did hold strong views on the matter.

That certainly presents a challenge to the non-activist majority who may not have fully appreciated the anger roused by the continuation of the statue in a shared city centre.

But it also should give pause for thought for activists that more can be achieved through bringing people together beyond those you traditionally campaign alongside.

Britain has done itself few favours in importing American culture wars at a time when our transatlantic friends are so hopelessly polarised with 70 per cent of Republican voters convinced that the 2020 election was stolen from them.

Dare it be said that this makes our own domestic Brexit falling out seem rather more like a tiff in comparison.

The way in which protest spread from the United States around the world was reflective of the injustice felt in each nation, but the discourse lifted straight from the States seemed peculiar and out of context when one saw placards calling for the ‘defunding of the police’.

Many Black Lives Matter protesters also want to defund the police – photo: Ellie Pipe

Yet, in Bristol the situation was different because long-running debate about the recognition of Colston’s role in developing the city.

There was a local context that united a critical mass of people beyond individual experiences of injustice and to a collective sense that their home city could not be their own while a memorial to a prominent slave trader still stood.

A mid-pandemic mass gathering to remove a public monument without consent to do so is not an action to be celebrated. This is not how it should have happened.

And yet, the city is a better place for that statue not being on display.

Furthermore, there can be no doubt that its removal accelerated moves of other city institutions to adopt new identities. This is not eradicating Colston from the story of our city, but it is an appreciation that his role requires context and nuance rather than simply celebrating his philanthropy without questioning the origin of his wealth.

The unveiling of the Colston statue in in 1895, more than 170 years after the slave trader’s death – photo: Bristol Culture

The toppling of the statue was the iconic image of the protests in the UK. Some will celebrate that; many will continue to have grave reservations about the way it happened.

Those differences of opinion aside, the court’s ruling on the Colston 4 is an opportunity for Bristol to heal.

The legal process needed to be followed, but in a wider context there seemed little benefit for Bristol in a conviction. If it had happened, a divide which should have been bridged long ago would have rumbled on.

There are lessons to take from the inaction that led to the events of June 7 2020 for politicians, activists and the public at large.

But the path is now clear for modern Bristol to move forward with greater understanding and more genuinely shared ownership of the city.

Nick Webb works in the policy and public affairs sector as well as serving on the board of a think tank

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Rees: ‘Colston’s statue not being there is a good thing but we must deal with issues of substance’

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