British imperialist monuments face bitter calculations amid Black Lives Matter protests

Some praised the move, while others condemned what they called the “rule of the masses.”

For some people, the statues have melted into the background of everyday life, but many people now question whether they should still stand on their pedestal.

On Tuesday, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced a commission to examine the future of landmarks around the British capital, including murals, street art, street names and sculpture.

The Commission on Diversity in the Public Sphere aims to increase “diversity across London’s public sphere, to ensure that the capital’s appropriate landmarks reflect London’s achievements and diversity.”

While these actions have divided public opinion, they are a matter of growing discussion about what must happen to individual statues like Colston, who benefit from the suffering of so many people.

Winston Churchill

In the Black Lives Matter protest on Sunday, a Churchill statue standing in London Parliament Square was daubed with the words “… is a racist.”

Cecil Rhodes

Oriel College has so far kept this Cecil Rhodes statue despite ongoing campaigns for her appointment. Credit: Carl Court / Getty Images

Cecil Rhodes, who helped build the British empire in southern Africa, is enshrined in a sculpture outside Oriel College, part of Oxford University.

Neither the Oxford University nor Oriel College responded to CNN’s request for comment.

In 2015, a statue of Rhodes was released from the campus of the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

“He represented the country’s former colonial representative – supremacy, racism, hatred of women,” said Ramabina Mahapa, president of the student group who led the campaign to remove the statue, at the time.

David Hume

A plaque was installed in protest against the statue of the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume, who condemned his racist views. Credit: jpi media

In Edinburgh, the statue of 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume was adorned with a plaque that quoted his view of white superiority.

Hume is considered one of the leading thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, and his bronze statue is located on the Royal Mile of Edinburgh, the city’s main thoroughfare.

But Hume’s reputation has been tarnished in recent years, with an increased focus on his views on race. The mark left on the statue displays a line from Hume’s essay “National Character” which says that he “tends to suspect Negroes … naturally inferior to whites.”

Nelson’s Column, topped by a statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the tower above Trafalgar Square in Central London. Credit: evenfh / Shutterstock

Henry Dundas

Statue of Scottish politician Henry Dundas stands on the Melville Monument in the city of Edinburgh.

Dundas, who held a number of government positions, including the Secretary of the Interior, was known for supporting the postponement of the abolition of slavery towards the end of the 18th century.

Activists instead recommend that the streets be named after Scottish-Jamaican slaves Joseph Knight, who managed to free himself in court by proving that Scottish law does not recognize slavery.

Different approach

William Gladstone served as Prime Minister of England four times in the 19th century. His father owned a slave. Credit: See Universal Pictures / Group Pictures / Getty Images

Tearing down the statues is a time-honored form of protest, from bringing down the statues of Lenin when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989 to the fall of the Saddam Hussein monument in Baghdad in 2003.

These examples of devastation have received widespread acceptance in the Western world, but recent campaigns to eliminate statues of controversial figures in places such as the US and Britain have divided public opinion.

An alternative approach was taken in Paraguay, where artist Carlos Colombino was asked to re-arrange the statue of the former dictator General Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled the country from 1954 to 1989. Instead of just destroying the monument, Colombino wrapped some of the most recognizable parts between two beams large cement as a warning to victims of the dictatorship.