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A STATUE of a “sadistic” 19th century slave owner will be removed from Cardiff City Hall following a vote from councillors.
The marble statue of Sir Thomas Picton has stood in the civic building since 1916, as part of the Heroes of Wales collection.
He was the most senior officer killed at the Battle of Waterloo, and was also known for executing a dozen slaves while governor of Trinidad.
In one instance, he authorised the illegal torture of 14-year-old Louisa Calderon, and while he was found guilty he was never sentenced.
After the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, Cardiff Council has faced calls for its removal by Black Lives Matter protesters.
Cardiff councillors voted 57 in favour of removing Picton’s statue, five against, and nine abstentations.
It will be covered up while Cardiff Council seeks permission from the Welsh government to remove it, as the City Hall is a Grade I listed building.
https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/...iff-city-hall/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a9636046.html
Isn't there a Picton Place somewhere in the city?
Even back then why would they put up a statue of someone they know has done all that stuff? Now we'll have brain dead idiots crying over something they weren't bothered about before they didn't know about it but now it's the most important thing in the world to whine over on social media.. ****ing numpties.
What about the slave traders, still alive.
Sir Phillip Green, for starters
yep..there's loads of slavery going on today. I don't give a feck about the statue or any statue tbh..But once again people are focusing on the past and not fixing the problems that are here right now
He wasnt a very nice guy let's be honest
If leeds city council were happy to take down statues of jimmy saville then I think it's fair enough that picton gets the chop
Billy Boston would be a nice replacement
I have some sympathy for the guy.
Apparently, as a child, he was badly picked on.
That Teflon-coated scumbag still retains his knighthood, despite having a long list of appalling behaviours that is typical of his sort:
Paying slave wages (a misnomer, I know) to his sweatshop workers, awful pay and conditions for his employees, massive tax avoidance, stealing from the pension fund, numerous sexual assault allegations, etc, etc.
But the system is built for people like him, so he remains protected by it. 🤬
Apart from his ownership and mistreatment of slaves he is chiefly remembered for his exploits under Wellington. he fought in many engagements, displaying great bravery. Wellington called rough foul mouthed and irascible. He was killed in 1815 fighting at the Battle of Waterloo, leading, with only his rolled up umbrella, a crucial bayonet charge in which his division stopped d'Erlon's corps' attack against Wellingtons centre. He was the most senior officer to die at Waterloo.
Seems that a fair number of folk in the past that were heroes of their times also had a very dark side
I do wonder how many councillors deep down voted to remove out of fear of being labelled a racist
The same thing could have been said in 1916 when the statue was put up.
With most of these contentious statues they were erected long after their subject died and reflect the attitudes and values of the people who put them up, not the contemporaries of the one in stone or marble. Taking them down is the same - a reflection on changed attitudes and values.
If it was a painting of Picton (or Colston, or Confederate generals) there would have been very little reaction if it had been put into storage and something else hung in its place. That happens all the time. For some reason some people think statues should be for ever.
Should we all hand ourselves in, as murderous scum ????
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.t...ience.research
The road where I live, is someone’s surname, I bet if you went through history, it could be associated to a bad person. Should it be changed ????
Where do people want to draw the line ????
Why not leave the statue where it is, but leave it boarded up with a plaque on the boarding explaining his full history?
This means, of course, that all effigies of the God of the Bible should be removed from all public places as in Exodus 21 etc. God lays down the ground rules for this abhorrent practice which incidentally is stile rife in many parts of Africa and beyond. Nor should we forget the complicity of African rulers and chiefs who entered into contracts with slave traders to provide slaves for the Americas treating their own people as a natural resource for export. Suggested reading would be Hugh Thomas’ masterful work The Slave Trade.
That is an option. It was what community historians (many of them black) proposed in Liverpool (not boarded up - just left as is) for the place names associated with slavers. Keep the name but erect an information board (like a blue plaque to explain the story and context). I think there is a case for both approaches, but not for leaving these things up with no comment.
Let's be honest here
Loads of the people who argue for these statues to be left up dont do it because they want people to be educated , they dont want them protected from vandalism because it's part of history , they dont give a toss about future generations
They previously knew next to nothing about these despicable people
They want them preserved because they are fecking daft racists , it's that simple
indeed the moral outragers are wearing and using the goods third world countries make off the back of child labour and appalling work conditions , oh and even in Leicester where the authority’s of that have turned a blind eye to people working in enslaved conditions .
Modern slavery exists their lives matter too