Glasgow has a number of street names, statues and heritage sites that have direct ties to transatlantic slavery and colonialism. Some of these can be found in the Story Map. How do you feel about people who have been complicit in transatlantic slavery being commemorated in street names, heritage sites or statues?
Are the statues, street names and heritage sites in any way promoting, advocating for or otherwise endorsing slavery? If not then I have absolutely no issue with it. If a plaque or some sort of slavery info panel is to be added then fine BUT this must also include a full breakdown of everything the person did and is recognised for, not solely that they owned/sold slaves.
By modern standards many things our ancestors did are abhorrent or distasteful however to ignore the context of the time is nothing more than intellectual dishonesty. We also fail to recognise the involvement of Africa and Africans in the slave trade, those who enslaved and sold their own neighbours, slavery is a blot on human history, not solely Glasgow's history.
A number of the statues could come down. Time has moved on and we have the opportunity to create new public art that celebrates the people of Glasgow. Those that are historically significant enough should stay with perhaps better historical information. This could be combined with investment in public history resources — interpretive panels, for example, or digital guides.
Slavery did not impact everyday Glaswegian people although the profits made did help the businesses and businessmen involved which in turn helped some areas of Glasgow . We know the struggle people who were slaves endured but this was yesteryear. Do we hate all Germans because of the war or all Russians because Putin. The statues and heritage sites/street names should remain it is a reminder of a bygone era that we should learn from not eradicate. There seems to be some bitterness in the council’s approach and it seems to be adopting a more left wing fringe approach to dealing with things whilst ignoring the bigger issues in Glasgow
Hear hear!
This whole thing is nothing more than racial grievance propaganda with the sole purpose of lining pockets and creating victims. Public money spent on this would be an utter disgrace and should be pursued legally as misappropriation.
It's disingenuous to suggest slavery is being celebrated. Everybody understands they are not being commemorated for any ties to slavery but for positive things they did with their lives. Past generations understood what we seem to have forgotten. That's why so many were put up by the Victorians, who were passionate anti-slavers and dedicated huge amounts of blood and treasure to eradicate it globally.
Wow, I'm despairing as I read through these responses. They don't reflect my opinions, or the opinions of my friends, family or colleagues. This argument that we're applying today's values to history really frustrates me. It's not about that. It's about learning how that history has shaped our present. I find it empowering to understand how the flows of resources and wealth – extracted from places and people via enslavement – have led to the situation we find ourselves in today, with vast economic inequality (in this city and country, and globally), racial inequality (ditto), absurd concentration of land ownership, runaway climate change, etc. As far as street names, heritage sites and statues go – I think these should probably be considered on a case-by-case basis, but in every case I think there should be an effort to re-frame the person in question with a fuller and more honest account of their lives and their involvement in the colonial project.
Your opinions don't reflect my opinions or the opinions of my friends, family or colleagues. We dont have any interest in dredging up historical crimes that no one alive today perpetrated in order to brow beat people today.
You also state "This argument that we're applying today's values to history really frustrates me. It's not about that." then go on to say "I think there should be an effort to re-frame the person in question with a fuller and more honest account of their lives and their involvement in the colonial project." So it IS in fact about using today's values and applying them to history.
No need to change anything. A lot of the people linked did other great things for Glasgow, Scotland and Britain as a whole. We cannot sanitise history and neither should we be ashamed of it. Scots and Brits have had an outsized positive contribution to the world. We have no reason to apologise.
From a practical point of view we need to retain the street names, because to alter them would require a lot of additional work so that maps, legal documents, etc were not compromised.
In any case, these names and sites are part of our history, so we ought not to erase them. However, we can update the information, such as byn plaques and we can augment them with more humane stories.
Are the statues, street names and heritage sites in any way promoting, advocating for or otherwise endorsing slavery? If not then I have absolutely no issue with it. If a plaque or some sort of slavery info panel is to be added then fine BUT this must also include a full breakdown of everything the person did and is recognised for, not solely that they owned/sold slaves.
By modern standards many things our ancestors did are abhorrent or distasteful however to ignore the context of the time is nothing more than intellectual dishonesty. We also fail to recognise the involvement of Africa and Africans in the slave trade, those who enslaved and sold their own neighbours, slavery is a blot on human history, not solely Glasgow's history.
No need to change place names. u cant change the past, leave things as they are.
I agree with Citizen, also how far back do we go, vikings, Romans, serfs?
I do not care that the people have been complicit. We are applying today's morales to history!
A number of the statues could come down. Time has moved on and we have the opportunity to create new public art that celebrates the people of Glasgow. Those that are historically significant enough should stay with perhaps better historical information. This could be combined with investment in public history resources — interpretive panels, for example, or digital guides.
They are statues because they were historically significant enough.....
Slavery did not impact everyday Glaswegian people although the profits made did help the businesses and businessmen involved which in turn helped some areas of Glasgow . We know the struggle people who were slaves endured but this was yesteryear. Do we hate all Germans because of the war or all Russians because Putin. The statues and heritage sites/street names should remain it is a reminder of a bygone era that we should learn from not eradicate. There seems to be some bitterness in the council’s approach and it seems to be adopting a more left wing fringe approach to dealing with things whilst ignoring the bigger issues in Glasgow
Hear hear!
This whole thing is nothing more than racial grievance propaganda with the sole purpose of lining pockets and creating victims. Public money spent on this would be an utter disgrace and should be pursued legally as misappropriation.
It's disingenuous to suggest slavery is being celebrated. Everybody understands they are not being commemorated for any ties to slavery but for positive things they did with their lives. Past generations understood what we seem to have forgotten. That's why so many were put up by the Victorians, who were passionate anti-slavers and dedicated huge amounts of blood and treasure to eradicate it globally.
Wow, I'm despairing as I read through these responses. They don't reflect my opinions, or the opinions of my friends, family or colleagues. This argument that we're applying today's values to history really frustrates me. It's not about that. It's about learning how that history has shaped our present. I find it empowering to understand how the flows of resources and wealth – extracted from places and people via enslavement – have led to the situation we find ourselves in today, with vast economic inequality (in this city and country, and globally), racial inequality (ditto), absurd concentration of land ownership, runaway climate change, etc. As far as street names, heritage sites and statues go – I think these should probably be considered on a case-by-case basis, but in every case I think there should be an effort to re-frame the person in question with a fuller and more honest account of their lives and their involvement in the colonial project.
Your opinions don't reflect my opinions or the opinions of my friends, family or colleagues. We dont have any interest in dredging up historical crimes that no one alive today perpetrated in order to brow beat people today.
You also state "This argument that we're applying today's values to history really frustrates me. It's not about that." then go on to say "I think there should be an effort to re-frame the person in question with a fuller and more honest account of their lives and their involvement in the colonial project." So it IS in fact about using today's values and applying them to history.
No need to change anything. A lot of the people linked did other great things for Glasgow, Scotland and Britain as a whole. We cannot sanitise history and neither should we be ashamed of it. Scots and Brits have had an outsized positive contribution to the world. We have no reason to apologise.
From a practical point of view we need to retain the street names, because to alter them would require a lot of additional work so that maps, legal documents, etc were not compromised.
In any case, these names and sites are part of our history, so we ought not to erase them. However, we can update the information, such as byn plaques and we can augment them with more humane stories.