Who Was Edward Colston, The Slave Trade Figure Whose Monument British Protesters Knocked Down?

Edward Colston Monument (Source: Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - George Floyd, a black man who died because a white policeman pressed his neck with his knee stirred up worldwide protests against racial injustice. During the final tribute ceremony before Floyd's burial, it is said that Floyd was 'an ordinary brother' who was transformed by fate into 'the foundation of a movement'.

Reported by CNN, Wednesday, June 10, the incident of Floyd's death prompted anti-racism protests in various countries, one of which was Britain. Even protesters in Bristol, England, tied a bronze statue of Edward Colston with rope before dropping it into the surrounding crowd which they threw into the river.

The collapse of the Edward Colston statue was celebrated by protesters. However, opponents of Edward Colston's bust have argued that it was vandalism and an attempt to erase history. Local police said an investigation had been launched into the incident.

"There is a small group of people who have clearly committed a crime in knocking down a statue near the Bristol port. An investigation will be carried out to identify those involved and we have compiled the footage of the incident," police said.

The Colston statue has been standing in the center of Bristol City since 1895. The statue has become increasingly controversial, with petitions being made to demand its removal.

Who is Edward Colston?

The Bristol Museum's official website describes Colston as a "reviled philanthropist / slave trader". It is said that Colston was born in the city in 1636, but spent his tenure in London. He became an active member of the governing body of the RAC (Royal African Company) which traded slaves from Africa to America.

RAC was also responsible for sending more men, women and children into slavery than any other company in the history of the slave trade. The RAC is known to carry nearly 150,000 people between 1672 and the early 1720s.

By this time, Colston was quickly moving up the ranks at the RAC. It is estimated that during his tenure as deputy governor of the company between 1680 and 1692, as many as 84,000 enslaved Africans were transported on the RAC ship. During the trip, nearly a quarter of these people or about 19 thousand people died on the way before reaching the coast.

All slaves were branded on the chest with the initials RAC; including children aged six years. One in four children is dying on the way. Conditions on the boat were overcrowded and unsanitary, causing the spread of fatal diseases.

"Edward Colston's representation was very controversial and offensive to many, and in dropping it (the Colston statue), it is important to note that we are not erasing history, but making history," said a statement from the International Slavery Museum.

Colston then left RAC and became Member of Parliament for Tory representing Bristol, where he defended the city's "right" to "sell" enslaved Africans. In the last years of his life, he became a major investor in another slave trading company, the South Seas Company (SSC), which traded mostly with South America.

During Colston's involvement with the SSC, the company transported about 15,931 Africans to be enslaved, with nearly 1 in 5 dying en route. On the other hand, Colston has also developed a reputation as a philanthropist.

He donated most of his fortune to charities such as building schools and hospitals in Bristol and London. His philanthropic nature made Colston's name permeate Bristol. Apart from the statue, there is Colston's, which is a private school.

There is also a concert hall called Colston Hall, a high-rise office block called the Colston Tower, and Colston Street. Although Colston is shown to have links to the African slave trade, it is explained by the Bristol Museum that the slave trade "was not purely his wish".

For some in the 19th century, Colston represented the honor of great wealth, paternalism as a bulwark against socialism, and charity. The slavery in which his wealth was built is obscured for a particular narrative of Bristol's history. The overthrow and sinking of the statue is an affirmation of a new historical writing.