Accusations of 'removing history' after vote to remove 'racist' statue
Time runs out for town’s 250-year-old ‘racist’ clock statue as officials vote to take it down… sparking accusations they are trying to ‘remove history’
- The controversial 250-year-old clock statue stands in Stroud, Gloucestershire
- Campaigners have labelled it ‘racist’ and say it is ‘traumatic for people of colour’
- The town’s labour-led council has voted to ‘pursue’ removing it from its position
- But it may not have the power to compel the owners of the statue to take it down
A council has been accused of trying to ‘remove history’ by voting to take down a statue of a black boy from a historic building.
The potential removal of the ‘racist’ Blackboy clock statue in Stroud, Gloucestershire, comes after campaigners argued it was ‘traumatic for people of colour’.
But the town’s Conservative MP, Siobhan Baillie, said: ‘I oppose [the] removal of history and statues.
The Blackboy clock statue in Stroud, Gloucestershire, has been labelled as ‘racist’ and ‘traumatic to people of colour’ by campaigners
‘To do so serves no purpose other than to allow some people to decide or be selective with history, or decide what is most comfortable and causes no offence.’
Stroud District Council voted overwhelmingly to ‘pursue’ taking down the 250-year-old statue, which depicts a child with red lips and a leaf skirt holding a club.
But the council – run by a Labour-led coalition – may not have the power to compel the Blackboy Clock Trust, which owns the clock on a Grade II listed building, to remove it.
It has stood above a clock in the town for the last 250 years and is one of the last surviving jack clocks in Britain, which feature a moving figure striking a bell on the hour.
And the decision can be blocked by Communities Secretary Michael Gove if there is an objection from Historic England, under a law passed last year.
The heritage body has said taking it down would ‘harm both the significance of the listed building and the character of the conservation area and would also seriously damage the integrity of the clock itself’.
A council meeting on Thursday heard that removing the statue and placing it in a museum, which councillors ‘strongly recommended’, would cost £33,500.
Labour councillor Natalie Bennett said: ‘As far as we know there has been no precedent set for this because the change in the law is so recent, so it would probably be a test case.’
The labour-led council has voted to ‘pursue’ taking down the statue which depicts a child with red lips and a leaf skirt holding a club
More than 1,600 residents took part in an eight-week consultation and 77 per cent said they wanted it removed.
Council leader Doina Cornell said the decision was ‘us listening to the community’.
But Tory councillor Haydn Sutton said: ‘Why are we sweeping history under the carpet? I’ve spoken to lots of people and they say it should stay.’
This sign tells the public of the history of the clock and the statue. It was first complained about last year by an activist inspired by Black Lives Matter protests
The clock, created in 1774, is one of Britain’s 20 surviving jack clocks, which feature a moving figure striking a bell on the hour.
The first complaint about the statue came last year by an activist inspired by Black Lives Matter protests.
Polly Stratton, of Stroud Against Racism, said the statue was ‘traumatic for people of colour’.
She added: ‘We’re not trying to hide it or tear it down. We want it on public display in a museum.’
Source: Read Full Article