First of all, Bristol’s grim history in the slavery trade was not my fault. So far as I am aware, none of my family was involved, especially since most of them came from other parts of the world. Whilst I am the son and grandson and son of immigrants, coming over here and taking your jobs. At least they chose to come here. I am very sorry Bristol was so involved in the slave trade but I was not there at the time. If I had been, I’d have been protesting about it and, had the internet existed, I’d have sent some angry tweets and signed on-line petitions.
The row about Bristol’s premier music venue, the Colston Hall, being named after a street which was named after slave trader has rumbled on for years. Edward Colston was a slave trader born in our fair city in 1636. He was a major benefactor who endowed Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital school (QEH) and helped found Colston’s Hospital, a boarding school. He was also a Conservative MP which will surprise no one. Loads of things are named after Colston, as well as the Colston Hall. Colston Tower, Colston Avenue, Colston Street, Colston’s Girls’ School, Colston’s School and Colston’s Primary School. Now, after many years of debate, the name of the Colston Hall is going to be changed.
I can see the arguments. Slavery remains a blot on our history. It was evil. I watched a compelling interview on TV yesterday with Massive Attack’s Daddy G in which he gave highly persuasive arguments why the name should now be changed. As a white man, it is hard to argue that the Colston Hall should retain it’s current name, but I still think it should.
Yes, Edward Colston made a lot of money out of slavery. I get that. He wasn’t the only one. One of the few things I learned at school was about our associations with slavery. I was taught about Colston and, until relatively recently, I didn’t really think too deeply about his business and a connection with the concert hall I have attended on numerous occasions all my life. I never once went to a gig and thought, “Blimey. I’m supporting slavery tonight. I hope it doesn’t spoil my enjoyment.” Of course, I wasn’t supporting slavery. I was going somewhere that was named after a road which was named after a bloke who made money from slavery.
Everywhere in Bristol, as we know, we can find reminders of a different time. Travel down Blackboy Hill onto Whiteladies Road – see what I mean? Shouldn’t these unfortunate reminders remain in order to remind us of what we once were and what we are today? (I mean ‘we’ in sense of we the human race.)
I realise that my arguments in maintaining the status quo are flimsy. I remain as opposed to racism now as I have been at any time in my life. I don’t want people to forget about slavery, I want people to remember man’s inhumanity to man. And I want to go to what we Bristolians call the Cole Snaw. But soon it will be called something else.
How about the Brunel Hall? Oh bugger, I can see a problem there too. “Isambard Brunel? What kind of name is that? Wasn’t his father an asylum seeker? And he never lived in Bristol, did he? Bloody immigrants, coming over here, building railway lines, bridges, ships and all the rest of it. Stealing the jobs of British engineers. We should look after our own engineers first.”
It’s not a fuss about nothing and it’s not “political correctness gone mad” because the very term “political correctness” is bollocks anyway, usually employed by people like racist and sexist comedians who don’t like being pulled up for racism and sexism. But it divides people when the last thing we need in this hopelessly divided country is more division.
You can probably tell that I am slightly uneasy with my view that there is no compelling reason to change the name of our premier concert venue. In any event, the decision has been taken out of my hands by the charity which runs the place in what is, I suspect, an attempt to ditch the controversy forever, even if that controversy only really affected a very small group of people.
