Celebrate Colston Four acquittal - and fight harder

Submitted by AWL on 11 January, 2022 - 3:11 Author: Zack Muddle, Bristol
Colston Four protest

Onlookers in the public gallery, people across Bristol, and many more beyond celebrated on 5 January 2022 as the “Colston Four” were found not guilty of criminal damage to the slave trader’s statue.

The defence argued that the statue itself constituted an offence under section five of the Public Order Act, and the Indecent Displays Act; and that conviction would be disproportionate infringement of rights under the Human Rights Act 1998. The prosecution argued that the crimes of Edward Colston — enslaving and killing tens of thousands — were irrelevant. While we are be critical of the first two acts, the outcome was worth fighting for.

Given the high proportion — maybe a majority — of city residents that supported the action , and the growing movement in their defence, this jury verdict is perhaps not surprising.

Tory ministers and the right-wing press, predictably, condemned the verdict. They pointed out that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, currently with the House of Lords, contains a provision to tackle such actions. The maximum sentence for those convicted of “vandalising” such memorials is to be raised from three months to ten years. It would let courts consider the “emotional or wider distress” caused by damage to public property.

It seems likely the defendants may still have been found not guilty under such a law, but the chilling effects of such draconian legislation may be severe.

Anti-racists, the left and the labour movement must redouble our efforts to halt the Police Bill and reverse existing restrictions on the rights to protest, organise, and strike.

The removal of the statue by protesters encouraged many to reexamine the history of different institutions, places, statues, and countries; to think more about historic and systemic racism. It encouraged and accelerated wider renaming of places across Bristol named after the wealthy slave trader.

The statue should have been retired to a museum years before by council, but the tossing of it into the river by protestors, a mass direct assertion of popular opposition, caused much more powerful ripples than we would have seen otherwise. It was, in this sense, democratic act.

Ending the celebration of racist mass murders, and tackling the symbols of racism, is important. Yet police violence and persecution remains institutionally racist, racial inequality can be seen across education and employment, and reported racist hate crimes are high and have been rising. The UK’s border regime is intrinsically racist, and only getting worse; UK’s “foreign policy” likewise.

Anti-racists must celebrate this victory, while going beyond fights over symbols to organising to cut the roots of and end ongoing racism.

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.