‘The very least we can do is not glorify slavers with street names’

The accusation of erasing history continues to dog – without apparent irony – attempts to confront and address Bristol’s and the UK’s colonial past.

But it’s an accusation that, like Colston’s toppled statue itself, rings increasingly hollow.

The demand this accusation makes is for things to be left well alone. The demand is for inaction.

It is this very silence about colonial legacies, not attempts to challenge them, that seek to erase the past. It is silence that erases, not the explicit demand that something be done about the influence of that past in the present.

Many of us want to break this silence.

Countering Colston has campaigned for years to raise awareness of Colston’s history as a slaver. At long last, his statue no longer stands. Colston Hall has become Bristol Beacon and Colston Tower has become Beacon Tower.

These changes are symbolic, however, and nowhere near enough to address the historical crime that was the transatlantic slave trade. A crime whose eventual abolition still saw slaveowners compensated by the government to the equivalent of £300 billion in today’s terms.

That’s why in October the Green Party became the first major national party to commit to seeking reparations for the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Afrikans.

But these are also changes that start a conversation, and they are changes that set a tone. Because black lives matter, and the very least we can do is not glorify slavers with street names.

The former Colston Tower looks over the empty plinth on which the statue of Edward Colston used to stand – photo: Martin Booth

It was recently announced that the Bristol History Commission will consider a call from residents of the Christmas Steps Arts Quarter (CSAQ) to rename Colston Street and Colston Avenue.

If Bristol City Council ultimately agrees, Colston Street could return to the historical name of Steep Street.

CSAQ residents started this conversation with councillor Kye Dudd a couple of months ago, and collectively pulled together a small petition of locals to demonstrate support for the change.

We’re now encouraging everyone with an interest to sign this petition so that the History Commission can see the strength of feeling that exists.

As the largest landowner in the area, the University of Bristol supports this name change. Following the university’s decision to change the name of its Colston Street halls of residence to Number 33, I approached Professor Judith Squires to seek university support.

Professor Squires wrote back: “The University is committed to working in partnership with stakeholders across our city to tackle racial discrimination and support culturally diverse communities within the university and wider city region.

“We have committed to reviewing the names of our own buildings, where these carry the names of individuals or families that were involved in the transatlantic slave trade. We have already changed the number of the Colston Street accommodation to Number 33 as part of this process.

“I am happy to confirm, on behalf of the University, that we are supportive of the proposal to change of names of Colston Street and Colston Avenue.”

As a local resident with a therapy practice on Colston Street, it is heartening to me to see the university willing to lend its support in this way.

Simon Stafford-Townsend is a psychotherapist with a private practice on Colston Street. He is one of the Green Party prospective candidates for Central ward

Simon Stafford-Townsend’s psychotherapy practice is located on Colston Street – photo: Simon Stafford-Townsend

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Sign removed from top of Colston Tower before it is renamed