London Boards Up Its Monuments as Tensions Run High Over the Fight to Topple Controversial Historical Statues

City officials have boarded up monuments around London in an
effort to avoid clashes over the weekend as hate groups have threatened to target protests
and “defend memorials” from activists seeking to bring down statues
of historical figures linked to racism and slavery. A bust of the
Jamaican-born poet in Bristol has also been vandalized with what
looks like bleach by an unknown perpetrator.

Far-right groups have been
organizing among themselves to protect landmarks after a week of
turbulence following the dramatic toppling of a
monument to a slave trader in Bristol by protesters, and the
targeting of monuments to Winston Churchill and others in London
and around the UK. 

Since those events last weekend,
debate has raged around the
country with thousands weighing in on whether statues of racist
historical figures should be removed. Some activists have assembled
a hit list for problematic monuments, and called for buildings and
streets named after controversial figures to be renamed. The
group Topple the Racists has provided a map of these sites on its
website. “It’s up to local communities to decide what statues they
want in their local areas,” it says. “We hope the map aids these
much-needed dialogues.”

Ahead of the weekend, the Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn ordered
monuments including the Cenotaph war memorial and a statue of
Ghandhi to be boarded up as a precaution.

But extremists including the
vocal far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (who is better known
as Tommy Robinson) are calling for counter protests to “defend our
memorials,” and Yaxley-Lennon has called for “patriots” to defend
the Churchill monument in Parliament Square that was graffitied
last weekend. 

The UK prime minister Boris Johnson weighed in on the issue on
Twitter, writing that
it is “absurd and shameful” that the Churchill monument is at “risk
of attack” by “violent protesters.”

“Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are
unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves
his memorial,” Johnson says. “We cannot now try to edit or censor
our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history.”

Some 155,000 people have
participated in nearly 200 demonstrations in the country since the
murder of George Floyd in May. Authorities have said that the Black
Lives Matter protests in the UK have been “overwhelmingly peaceful”
so far.

But some fear that the situation
may be about to escalate. Speaking to media earlier this week,
Clifford Stott, who is a member of the Scientific Advisory Group
for Emergencies, warned that authorities need to foster
police-community relations in the coming weeks as frustrations are
already high in many communities due to the fallout from the
coronavirus pandemic. Stott said that there is a risk of a repeat
of the 2011 riots across the country that occurred in the wake of
the police killing of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in
London.

In Bristol, a bust of the
Jamaican-born poet and playwright Alfred Fagon was attacked with
what appears to be bleach. The Bristol poet and community activist
Lawrence Hoo said in a video posted online that the vandalism was a reminder of the
“oppression and racism” that communities in the city have faced for
a long time.

“After celebrating the removal
of one slaver’s statue, let’s get back to what the crux of this
issue is about here in Bristol, which is racism, which is endemic
here,” Hoo said.

A statement from Avon and
Somerset Police shared with Artnet News said that they became aware
of the damage to the bust with “an unknown corrosive substance” on
Thursday but it is unclear when it occurred.

A spokeswoman tells Artnet News
that they are appealing for information about what happened and who
was responsible. Meanwhile officers are investigating the incident
and coordinating with Bristol City Council, which is responsible
for the bust, to establish whether the damage is permanent. The
Bristol City Council echoed this in their statement to Artnet
News.

The post London Boards Up Its Monuments as Tensions Run High
Over the Fight to Topple Controversial Historical Statues
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