Dispute Over Statues in Europe

In America and Europe, statues of figures accused of supporting racism are being pulled down. Extreme right-wingers and hooligans demonstrated in London in support of these statues.

On Saturday, June 22 (May 13), the city of London witnessed unprecedented demonstrations. Hundreds of extreme right-wingers and hooligans gathered in Parliament Square in the British capital to, as they claimed, “defend” their country’s “historical war monuments” against destruction by anti-racism opponents.

In a report published by Spiegel Online on Sunday about this gathering, several demonstrators spoke about the protest movements of recent days.

The street protests of the past three weeks are not limited to London, but are a consequence of the killing of George Floyd, an African American citizen, in a violent operation by a white police officer. These protests are being held in a number of countries across the continents of America and Europe.

Protesters demand the removal of all symbols of racism and are either defacing statues with paint and other materials or pulling them down.

They believe that the presence of these statues in public spaces indicates that racist ideologies still exist in these countries. For this reason, they are calling for the removal of statues of Christopher Columbus, known as the main discoverer of the American continent, Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, Leopold II, former King of Belgium, and many other famous political and military figures from the colonial era.

Violent Protests

Spiegel Online reported on Saturday’s London gathering that right-wingers and hooligans had not come to “defend” anything; instead, holding beer bottles, they chanted nationalist slogans and attacked police officers, journalists, and photographers.

According to authorities, on that day 15 people, including two police officers, were treated for their injuries.

A counter-protest by anti-racism activists was supposed to take place on Saturday as well, but police postponed the counter-protesters’ demonstration to Friday to prevent clashes between the two groups.

Spiegel Online’s report also noted that a large number of protesters participated in the gathering to “defend their British identity.”

One protester named Sean said he had never heard of Edward Colston, who is considered one of Britain’s notorious slave traders, until now. He and his friends’ intention in participating in the demonstrations was to defend “historical war monuments.”

Sean emphasized that Churchill is part of his country’s “glorious history.”

Racism Debate

Spiegel Online continues its report by noting that for Sean and his friends, the discussion of racism is largely incomprehensible.

On the advantages that white people have over black people, he says: “We are from the working class and we grew up in apartments that the government built for those in need.”

Johnny, another protester whose body is tattooed and whose right cheek bears a scar, while stating that the discussion of racism is also meaningless to him, emphasized that “history belongs to the past.”

During the margins of Saturday’s protest, a small number of anti-racism activists were also present to demonstrate their opposition to the demonstrations.

Dua Ragni is one of them. According to her, those who defend these statues are actually defending the idea that white people are superior to others.

This 28-year-old woman was born in London to an Indian-Jamaican family and considers herself a British citizen. She emphasized that she is willing to debate even extreme right-wing demonstrators about racism, “but on the condition that they are not drunk.”

Source: DW