Interesting article Seems that he wasn't even much of the philanthropist that justified his elevation in the first place "Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this whole Victorian charade is the fact that the much vaunted charitable efforts of the Colston Societies were largely superficial. For example, in 1884, the combined contribution of all the Colston related charities made up only 1.5 per cent of the total cost of relieving the poor that year."
Bill Gates attracts a lot of criticism, mainly it seems from the anti-vax crowd. He's donated something like $45bn so far which is an incredible amount of money. He's worth something like $110bn though, so when you have that sort of dough in assets it's not surprising you keep accumulating more and more.
There aren't many Police horses down here bro, so I might go out and lob a rock at some cows tomorrow or something
Female black american historian from Boston, and a male black education consultant, both disapproving of the banning of the films, such as 'Gone with the Wind' @Number 1 Jasper - the male view who is from Croydon, said if anything, why are they not banning gangsta rap if we are going this route, and taking up these issues with the likes of MTV. Whites are reacting to not offend, but are missing the whole concept of the problems and arguments. So much to take in from this debate, but great disapproval of removing gone with the wind. They are not defending them, but are disapproving of the banning of them.
As a comparative. When I lived in Leicester many of the local names and sites were about De Montfort and it was contentious in the community as it is one of the most diverse cities in the country and yet De Montfort was not exactly famed for his tolerance: "Montfort bears responsibility for persecution of Jews. In addition to his expulsion of Jews from Leicester, his faction in the Second Baron's War initiated pogroms killing perhaps the majority of Jews in Worcester and around 500 in London. The violence and killings unleashed by the war targeting Jews carried on after his death. Leicester City Council made a formal statement in 2001 that "rebuked De Montfort for his blatant anti-Semitism And yet, various local honours were dedicated to his memory, and he has become eponymous several times over. De Montfort University in Leicester is named after him, as is the nearby De Montfort Hall, a concert venue. A statue of Montfort is one of four to adorn the Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower in Leicester. A relief of Montfort adorns the wall of the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives." Ok he wasn't to my knowledge racist nor a slave trader but he shouldn't be a poster-boy just because he was a different era to the ones who were. Though I would add that taking down a statue isn't always the answer. When De Montfort was killed they hacked off his head and then hung his testicles either side of his nose. Now that would be a cool amendment to his statue, much more fitting.