Letters: We can’t rewrite history, but we can make the present better

Perhaps we ought to think of demolishing the old Stirling’s Library, given that it was once the town house of a slaver.

Slavery happened. I despise both slavery, and the fact that it happened. We cannot however rewrite history.

Our efforts now should be aimed at ceasing the various forms of slavery still with us, rather than toppling a statue into Bristol Harbour.

Gordon Casely, Crathes.

HOW we cheered when the Berlin Wall was dismantled by the citizens of that city. How we applauded when the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled from its plinth by residents of Baghdad. How sad then that some politicians have concentrated on the negative, when the good people of Bristol finally got rid of a statue in that city, erected in the memory of a slave trader. We can only be liberated from the chains of the past, when the glorification of past evil comes to an end.

It may be that few memorials to the past would pass a test of modern0day morality, but as with Covid-19, hindsight is a marvellous thing.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

IT is high time this country recognised its contribution to the American slave trade and that the entire country benefited financially, one way or the other, from this appalling industry – be it employment or the buildings donated by those who made money from this industry.

Tearing down statues, be it Edward Colston or others who "financially benefitted", does not obliterate that terrible stain on our history.

I suggest that the authorities remove all similar monuments and gift them to museums with the implicit instruction that they create an appropriate place where we can all, every one of us, quietly reflect on the sins of our forebears and register our disgust that this was done in our name.

Nothing can change Britain's history but recognising and accepting its contribution to that appalling industry might start to correct an appalling wrong.

Alan McKinney, Edinburgh EH16.

SOME months ago I wrote to suggest that an appropriate monument or statue be erected in the Merchant City (possibly in St Andrew’s Square) to commemorate the Unknown Slave. Perhaps this might now be an appropriate time to consider that proposal again.

I do wonder, however, if the recent "renaming" of Cochrane Street might have been an error.

As most will realise, Glasgow’s street plan recognises many of the events and personalities involved in the Napoleonic Wars.

Is it possible that Cochrane Street recognises one of Scotland’s most iconic military figures from that era?

Admiral Cochrane (sometimes known as Scotland’s Nelson) is still revered in much of South America for his later role in ending European colonialism on that continent.

If this is the case, it would be a shame to lose that link to a man who made, within the context of the era in which he lived, a positive and sometimes radical contribution to the World as we now know it.

In the meantime, maybe the establishment of the memorial to the Unknown Slave might be just the beginning of this generation of the city recognising and understanding the dark role that the horrific and inhuman institution of human slavery has had and still has on Glasgow’s growth and success.

Ian Graham, Erskine.

I WAS saddened to see the word "racist" being used in connection with Scotland’s police force.

It made me think: who are our police officers?

They are our neighbours, our friends, our families, the people we socialise with. In short they are a reflection of our Scottish society.

So is Scotland racist?

I imagine there is not a country in the world that is free of racism and as such Scotland equally has its problems. However, Scotland is also a very welcoming country and over the years we have seen people from many diverse countries come and make their homes here. My own ancestry is with the Irish migration which arrived here in the mid 19th century. Growing up in the west of Scotland 100 years later was not always the easiest thing to do.

We are a diverse country but not as diverse as many. Many of the aspects of our lives are still not reflective of that diversity. These include politics, government, the police, the fire service, sport and on and on. Governments of every colour have sought to address that problem and although progress has been made, there is still a long way to go.

So back to my original point about racism in the police. That is no more true than recognising that there is racism in Scotland.

In recognising that, we must work towards education and the emphasis on the very real positives that diversity offers.

George Kay, Burntisland.

BLACK Lives Matter protests, many of which have not limited numbers enough to make social distancing possible, are likely to cost many times more lives – and mostly black ones – than all the killings of black people by police in the last 50 years. How is spreading a virus, so it kills thousands more people before effective treatments or a vaccine have been found, valuing anyone’s life?

While there is certainly still lots of racism on both sides of the Atlantic, those who say “they would never have done that to a white guy” are wrong. Only eight per cent of the people who die in police custody in the UK are black. Almost half of people shot dead by police in the US are white.

Yes, more black people are killed relative to their percentage of the population (due to more coming from poor neighbourhoods where crime is commoner, and racism). But there are cases of US police murdering white people almost identical to George Floyd’s. Tony Timpa, a schizophrenic white man phoned 999 asking for help because he’d come off his medication. Police arrived, forced him face down, and knelt, laughing, on his neck and back, as he said “you’re going to kill me”, for 13 minutes till he died. Charges brought against the three police were dropped despite video evidence.

Daniel Shaver, also white, was unarmed in a hallway, with video of a police officer alternately shouting “get on the floor, hands down” and “hands in the air” then shooting him dead. The officer was found not guilty of murder, and given a $31,000 annual pension for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder .

Black Lives Matter protesters could get much wider support by creating a movement against police brutality and impunity against all victims, of whatever skin colour. And the assumption that police are always “the good guys” which allows the worst to get off with murder.

Duncan McFarlane, Carluke.

REFERENCE to the demonstrators on Glasgow Green and attempts at social distancing recalled a little of why I am proud to be a Glaswegian. On the other hand, television pictures of thugs throwing bicycles, bricks and fireworks at the police made me reflect on history and how easy it is to point the finger at dubious norms in the past whilst refusing to accept that we today are forming the history of tomorrow.

Our concern at the pollution of the planet seems to have been overcome by our desire to get on a plane for a holiday, instead of taking the opportunity to make significant changes. Our rightful concern to tackle the apparent health disadvantage of black people to Covid-19, doesn't seem to stretch to the disadvantaged in the east end of our cities, where an address means a restricted choice of job applications and a lower expectation of life.

If we really care and want to avoid future criticism, then surely, we must speak out against our actions by default in Yemen and Syria; we must accept a lowering of our living standards to ensure others enjoy our benefits and surely we must consider repaying an equivalent to the ill-gained fortune on which many of our cities were built; accepting a standstill in economic progress until the Third World catches up, and abandon the fashion business, social media and "keeping up with the Joneses" until a more equitable society is achieved.

Japan after the tsunami was a great example where 80 per cent voted to abolish the nuclear power programme and go back to other means of production, until prices went up and 80% then voted to bring back nuclear power. There is an old saying about putting your money where your mouth is.

James Watson, Dunbar.

I ALONG with many others, no doubt, am incandescent that the marches which took place over the weekend were allowed to go ahead.

What was the Government thinking of? This makes it clearer than ever that there is one law for the majority and another for a vociferous minority. We are all horrified at the death of George Floyd but this is no way to honour him or support the Black Lives Matter movement. Why have those participating in country-wide marches been allowed to put the safety of the rest of the population at risk at a time we are assured when we are still in danger from the virus?

If there is a second wave of the virus I will have no difficulty in knowing who to blame – the marchers. How dare they at a time of national crisis?

Let us also remember that the situation in the United States regarding the status of black people is very different from that in the UK. There is a different history there no matter what the British involvement in slavery in the past. Who got it abolished way back?

Susan Nelson, Glasgow G44.

WATCHING the TV news presentation of the race-provoked rioting and looting in the US and their copycat analogues in this country, I was reminded of an observation of David Hume's in his Essays: Moral and Political: ''Nothing is more surprising to those who consider human affairs with a philosophic eye, than to see the easiness with which the many are governed by the few, and to observe the implicit submission with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers.''

Doug Clark, Currie.

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