9 JUNE 2020 — THE DEBATE STILL RAGES

What debate? The one about whether it was right or wrong to pull down the statue of Edward Colston and dump it into the river.

Today, Piers Morgan has tweeted: ‘Some people on here seem more enraged that a slave-trader’s statue was pulled down (why was it still up?) than they were by George Floyd being slowly murdered on camera by a racist cop. This strikes me as a ‘problematic’ mindset’.

Like any other controversial matter the fact that this is being discussed at length and people are diametrically opposed in their opinions as to whether or not the statue should have been pulled down and thrown in the river is, in essence a good thing because hopefully it will encourage each of us to look inward and assess our views and opinions on the matter. Hopefully, even those of us entrenched in our views.

One side effect, however, may be that instead of Bristol being famous for its connection with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, The Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain; the first thing that will come to peoples’ minds at the mention of Bristol is the part it played in the Slave Trade. This, of course, has always been an integral part of our history but perhaps one that has not been all pervasive in people’s minds.

THE POINT OF POWER IS NOW when we are able to accept all sides of ourselves, all situations and learn from them by allowing our feelings to rise and fall in the moment without blame or shame, thereby moving forward into the next moment. Hopefully, we will then be able to feel our feelings, see all sides of a situation, and not ignore ignominious present situations.