Taking Down Statues Isn't Enough. We Need to Radically Rethink How We Celebrate Power

A few days after protesters pulled down a statue of British slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, a statue of the Jamaican-born actor Alfred Fagon in the same city was vandalized with bleach. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a very pointed comment and shows there’s clearly a lot of feelings and emotions attached to the idea of what these individuals represent.

Public sculptures and statues have been used to signpost, to exemplify what power looks like and to maintain the systems of power. Now, the public is looking at its representations of people and delving into history, instead of glossing over uncomfortable parts of the past and moving on.