Last week’s We Are Bristol History Commission report into the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue made fascinating reading, not least because it put a credible number on the strength of feeling on either side of the most heated “culture war” – among those who wanted the statue toppled and those outraged by the act.
Nearly 14,000 people, more than half from Bristol, responded to the commission’s invitation to complete a detailed survey on their feelings about the events of June 2020. Three-quarters agreed with the idea that the slave trader’s statue should remain on permanent display in a Bristol museum, while only 12% thought it should be restored to its plinth. Those who believed it should be seen horizontally and graffitied, in the state it was recovered from the harbour, outnumbered those who believed it should be cleaned and upstanding by five to one.
