Edward Colston: Rename the Colston Hall

[Red-Robbo]

14 hours ago, Moloch said:

Because Whiteladies Road is named after Carmelite nuns, and no-one knows why Blackboy Hill got it's name.

Banning everything would definitely work though.

Wasn't it because there was a pub called the Blackboy? 

In years gone by, tobacconists used to advertise their trade with a carved wooden African figure out the front. I believe this pub name was connected in some way to that. 

[Moloch]

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

Wasn't it because there was a pub called the Blackboy? 

In years gone by, tobacconists used to advertise their trade with a carved wooden African figure out the front. I believe this pub name was connected in some way to that. 

I'd heard that too. But I have also read that it was because that area was used to hang criminals (and the black decaying bodies are how it got it's name), or that it was where the chimney sweeps recruited children.

[Red-Robbo]

2 minutes ago, Moloch said:

I'd heard that too. But I have also read that it was because that area was used to hang criminals (and the black decaying bodies are how it got it's name), or that it was where the chimney sweeps recruited children.

I think the pub of that name was definitely there, but whether it's named after a tobacconist's blackboy,  junior chimney sweeps or some other happenstanice I can't be sure.

[KURTZ]

On 3/2/2017 at 20:59, Esmond Million's Bung said:

I was going ritually burn my copy of this album which I am sure was recorded at C*****n Hall but I cannot find any reference to the C*****n Hall on it, so is it ok to reprieve this album?.

     Great taste in music!

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

Let's get rid of fancy names and assign utilitarian names/ numbers. Like "Great Patriotic Tractor Factory No. 17".

[CyderInACan]

Let's not forget that our blameless yet fair city can also be proud of it's part in the push for abolition of slavery. Among others, a plaque in the Seven Stars (next to the Fleece) celebrates this involvement. 

http://7stars.co.uk/history/

Colston was a reprehensible and vain man; but I'm comfortable in the knowledge that his name writ large over Bristol will encourage more understanding of this barabaric inhumanity than trying to expunge his name will ever do.  

[bend it like brian]

ki

[Robbored]

3 hours ago, CyderInACan said:

Colston was a reprehensible and vain man; but I'm comfortable in the knowledge that his name writ large over Bristol will encourage more understanding of this barabaric inhumanity than trying to expunge his name will ever do.  

I'm not convinced that naming any historical figure as inhuman and barbaric is hardly fair. 

Judging any historical figure by today's PC standards  is both meaningless and futile. Does that mean George Washington was both because he kept and had sex with slaves?  Does that mean that Wills family were inhuman because they made cigarettes which have killed millions of people?

Id rather Colston is remembered for what he did for our great City but at the same time remembering how he made his fortune back then. He was a man of his time and we can't change that.

[CyderInACan]

6 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I'm not convinced that naming any historical figure as inhuman and barbaric is hardly fair. 

Judging any historical figure by today's PC standards  is both meaningless and futile. Does that mean George Washington was both because he kept and had sex with slaves?  Does that mean that Wills family were inhuman because they made cigarettes which have killed millions of people?

Id rather Colston is remembered for what he did for our great City but at the same time remembering how he made his fortune back then. He was a man of his time and we can't change that.

I'm saying that the slave trade itself was inhumane and barbaric. Slavery is not dead, but the basic tenet remains; it's both of those things. It was, is and always will be. 

Colston's name should live on; then each future generation can make their own mind up. 

[Robbored]

No-one is saying that slavery is anything other than barbaric and inhuman but nonetheless carries on today virtually everywhere on earth. 

Today slavery is unacceptable but in Colstons day it was acceptable and legal. He was not committing any crimes of his day. At the time he was building his fortune in a way which was seen as astute business practice. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

Should we rename all the Raleigh Roads, Drake Closes and Cromwell Terraces as well? Where would it end?

[Guest]

Colston was a man of his time and he was commemorated by the people of the past.

The hand wringing police of today can't pick and choose what was commemorated in the past just because it doesn't sit well with the sensibilities of today.

Bristol has her past and we can't go beating ourselves up for things in the past that we just didn't commit - this is just plain stupid and subscribes to a 'Sins of the father' philosophy. Modern Bristolian's acknowledge that slavery is wrong (present tense), changing a name on a building will not right a wrong of the past.

[Bat Fastard]

To settle all argument - I propose that the name should be changed to......."The Lee Johnson Hall"!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Bat Fastard said:

To settle all argument - I propose that the name should be changed to......."The Lee Johnson Hall"!

I second this as long as a new sprinkler system is installed

[Bat Fastard]

49 minutes ago, bcfcfinker said:

I second this as long as a new sprinkler system is installed

Is that to make him grow?

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

Is that to make him grow?

To stop the building burning down

[Bat Fastard]

23 minutes ago, bcfcfinker said:

To stop the building burning down

Ahh!

[Wanderingred]

Alexander the Great slaughtered thousands in his crusade across central Asia. Lets create a petition to get him renamed Alexander the tw***t

Or what about Queen Victoria? She benefitted massively from colonisation and exploitation of the third world. Lets ban every reference to her.

Then theres Jesus. He condoned slavery and even condoned beating them in one passage of the bible.

As Robbored says, things become ridiculous if we judge and condemn historical figures based on todays moral values. It was a completely different world.

[northsomersetred]

The egg chasers are now in trouble with the political correct brigade, i wonder if they'll be changing their song to keep them happy.

 

Swing low!!

England’s iconic rugby anthem Swing Low, Sweet Chariot has been slammed by US academics for “cultural appropriation” of a traditional slavery song.

The uplifting rugby tune is traditionally an African American spiritual song created by slaves but was adopted by the national team to be sung before games.

But researchers in music and black studies from the US said using a slavery song for a celebratory chant is ignorant of its horrific history.

They claim the song's lyrics are about despair and the desire to escape from sufering - but its use today as a drinking song among jovial fans is "unfortunate".

Josephine Wright, a professor of music and black studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio, told the New York Times: “Such cross-cultural appropriations of US slave songs betray a total lack of understanding of the historical context in which those songs were created by the American slave.”

The academics hit out at the slavery lyrics being used to make money for the Rugby Union, sponsors and UB40 with many supporters being unaware of the song’s roots, the Telegraph reported.

[Robbored]

19 minutes ago, northsomersetred said:

The egg chasers are now in trouble with the political correct brigade, i wonder if they'll be changing their song to keep them happy.

 

Swing low!!

England’s iconic rugby anthem Swing Low, Sweet Chariot has been slammed by US academics for “cultural appropriation” of a traditional slavery song.

The uplifting rugby tune is traditionally an African American spiritual song created by slaves but was adopted by the national team to be sung before games.

But researchers in music and black studies from the US said using a slavery song for a celebratory chant is ignorant of its horrific history.

They claim the song's lyrics are about despair and the desire to escape from sufering - but its use today as a drinking song among jovial fans is "unfortunate".

Josephine Wright, a professor of music and black studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio, told the New York Times: “Such cross-cultural appropriations of US slave songs betray a total lack of understanding of the historical context in which those songs were created by the American slave.”

The academics hit out at the slavery lyrics being used to make money for the Rugby Union, sponsors and UB40 with many supporters being unaware of the song’s roots, the Telegraph reported.

All fair points I reckon.