Formula 1 has criticised Bernie Ecclestone following comments the former CEO of the championship made about racism in an interview earlier today.
The championship, which Ecclestone ran for decades until Liberty Media took over in 2017, also stated he no longer occupied his previous role of ‘chairman emeritus’.“At a time when unity is needed to tackle racism and inequality, we completely disagree with Bernie Ecclestone’s comments that have no place in Formula 1 or society,” said F1 in a statement.
“Mr Ecclestone has played no role in Formula 1 since he left our organisation in 2017, his title chairman emeritus, being honorific expired, in January 2020.”
F1’s statement came following comments made by Ecclestone in an interview with CNN. The 89-year-old praised Lewis Hamilton’s initiative to promote diversity in Formula 1 as “wonderful” but added it won’t “do anything bad or good for Formula 1”.
“In lots of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are,” Ecclestone added. The report noted CNN had “challenged Ecclestone over the assertion and he was unable to provide any concrete evidence for the baseless claim.”
Ecclestone also criticised the removal of statues such as that of slave trade figure Edward Colston in Bristol, which Hamilton had praised. “I think it’s completely stupid taking all these statues down,” he said. “They should’ve left them there.”
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Qeki (@qeki)
26th June 2020, 18:52
Well Ecclestone is an old timer. He has lived and grown in different era than most of us. He says things that some other would not use in same situation. I see why he didn’t want the statue to be pulled down. It is part of our history and we should learn from it not repeat it.
Still some of his comments go over the line.
petebaldwin (@)
26th June 2020, 19:16
We should learn from statues but as many asked for, these should have been removed and placed in museums with accurate information describing who the person was, why the statue was erected and why it was removed. The statue that was thrown in the river in Bristol for example, had a plaque on it that described Colston as “one of the most virtuous and wise sons of” Bristol. What does anyone learn from seeing that?
Would you say that people would have learnt more about who he was through the statue continuing to exist in place or through what happened? Either option is inferior to placing it in a museum with an accurate description of his life but despite numerous calls for it, that option wasn’t considered so we’re left with the two options of it remaining or being destroyed. Personally speaking, I had no idea who he was until his statue was thrown in the river.
anon
26th June 2020, 21:35
@petebaldwin there was an attempt just a few years ago to have the text of the plaque changed to discuss the slave trading activities of Colston, as well as highlighting the other aspects of his life (such as the fact that the charitable institutions he founded also excluded Jews, Catholics, non-Conformists, moderate members of the Church of England and many others – and that there were instances of him then stripping people of any charitable goods they received if they later turned out to have been part of any of those groups).
Unfortunately, most of the proposed changes were removed because the Society of Merchant Venturers, which Colston was a member of and which still exists to this day, complained and managed to get almost all of the proposed changes to the plaque removed (with the modern Conservative party also having a lesser role, given Colston was also a Tory party representative). It means people have been trying to enact the sorts of changes you suggest, but those attempts have been frustrated – throwing the statue in the harbour is more of an act of frustration from those who seem to have felt that was the only option left to them.
As an aside, it is worth noting that it’s been a contentious statue from the start – when it was erected in 1895, there were actually violent demonstrations and attempts to tear down that statue by Victorians of the time because of his involvement with the slave trade.
BasCB (@bascb)
27th June 2020, 10:59
Thanks for filling in thes interesting background details there Anon. THIS really adds to what we know about the period and about the person of Colston, as well as their links to our current society!
Dave
26th June 2020, 22:52
The Colton statue was particularly objectionable. I won’t criticise people for taking direct action when there’s been a campaign for decades to at least put up contextualising signs around it.
Personally I don’t think statues should come down, I think they should have been surrounded years ago by signs and boards explaining why they’re there, and acknowledging our racist past. But it’s not my intention to tell other people how to feel when they’re much more affected by these things than I am, and in fact we haven’t done what’s necessary to make it acceptable to keep the statues.
frood19 (@frood19)
26th June 2020, 19:17
Totally over the line. I don’t like the whole “he’s from a different era excuse”; my grandfather is older than him and does not hold such backwards views. I also think bernie knows that his words are inflammatory (despite his level of incoherence, suggesting signs of dementia) and he just likes stirring the pot. F1’s response has been reassuringly swift – I was worried they might have tried to brush it under the carpet or ignored it.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
26th June 2020, 22:56
@frood19 Obviously, were this pre-February, they would. He landed them with so much baggage they just couldn’t wait for him to disappear – now he’s basically ostracised himself.
BasCB (@bascb)
27th June 2020, 11:00
Exactly @frood19 – being old does not have to mean one is ignorant.
Chris (@altitude2k)
27th June 2020, 10:03
He is alive TODAY and making these comments TODAY. His age is absolutely no excuse for these outdated and uneducated opinions.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
27th June 2020, 13:58
He is not wrong. Stop living in a fantasy. It is okay if a rapper says it, and they say it all the time, actors say this as well. Bernie is married to a Brazilian woman, he knows more about racism than cnn thinks and apparently f1 and Lewis. public comments like this contribute little to big corps, but these are the conversations we should hold, less touchy feely.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
28th June 2020, 19:10
Oh puhlease.
“i know black people so I cant be a racist.”
“Some of my best friends are gay.”
“Kyle Larson is half Japanese, so he can’t be racist!!!
“Ron Atkinson is old so it’s OK if he if calls a black player the N word. He employs black players, so he can’t racist”
How exactly does Bernie know more about racism and anyone? Because we’ve never heard him be one before?
Being less touchy feely is nothing more than making excuse for your when your racist uncle comes to dinner and meets your siblings black partner.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
28th June 2020, 19:30
I’m not saying he is a racist, and these comments do not show him to be one, but they were crass and unnecessary. Will Hamilton’s actions help get more black people into motor racing and F1? Maybe, maybe not, but clearly Mr Dinosaur has done nothing to help.
aj
29th June 2020, 4:50
Statues are placed to commemorate and adulate a figure. You wont see a statue of Hitler created so that we can “learn” from it. Statues commemorating vile humans belong in the garbage.
And I know plenty of honorable people of the same age of Bernie, and none of them are racist scumbags. So to say its ok for old people to act this way because they are “of an era” doesn’t mean anything in reality. It just shows that Bernie is racist pile of rat vomit.
Davey
26th June 2020, 19:02
The old man always knows how to keep his name in the news. I do believe every time he does an interview these days, attention is his only goal.
Mayrton
27th June 2020, 9:00
But why does he get a platform? Makes you wonder about the intent of the media. There is no reason at all why anyone should invite Bernie to talk
aj
29th June 2020, 4:53
well he’s doing a great job at making sure the history books remember him as a walking piece of excrement instead of a quirky businessperson.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
26th June 2020, 19:04
Ehm…maybe putting things in context would help a lot? I’ve read a full interview with Ecclestone and he definitely had many positive comments for Hamilton and the idea of anti-racism, he just didn’t agree with all the permutations the movement took. Said statues should stay there for educative purpose, or at least shouldn’t be destroyed. This article ommits many things and paints him in a goold old black and white way.
Dieter Rencken (@dieterrencken)
26th June 2020, 20:23
I’m guessing you’ve read the amended version of the CNN report then, not the one that erroneously referred to him as chairman emeritus – which was the main reason F1 reacted as the comments its seemed ‘official’.
Aapje (@aapje)
27th June 2020, 11:09
@dieterrencken
Presumably, CNN amended the report because they were misrepresenting what Ecclestone had said at first. That would be consistent with the lack of ethics that CNN commonly displays. For example, their meddling in the 2016 Democratic primaries when they gave debate question in advance to Clinton, but not to Sanders, so she could prepare, but he could not. Similarly, in the 2020 primaries they have been credibly accused of favoring certain candidates.
Aapje (@aapje)
27th June 2020, 11:46
This is a very good article about how CNN has become completely corrupted.
Dieter Rencken (@dieterrencken)
27th June 2020, 12:25
Thank you, good read.
aj
29th June 2020, 4:57
all of the major american “news” networks are just entertainment and echo chambers for their respective gullible audiences. Fox News, MSNBC, CNN: all the same brain-melting trash just fed from opposite ends.
Jack (@jt1234)
26th June 2020, 19:11
Sometimes the truth hurts.
Hemingway (@)
26th June 2020, 19:13
Wow, it’s reassuring to know that F1 truly is whiter than white. Bet they can’t wait to pull Bahrain off the calendar next!
I’ll sleep well at night now that I know they have morals- I know this because they made a statement.
TFLB (@tflb)
26th June 2020, 19:42
Some more context would be better, have you got the whole article?
I’m not a Bernie fan and he has said a lot of questionable things, but he is not wrong here – look at some of the hateful rhetoric espoused by, for example, the EFF party in South Africa. Take a look at that and you’ll see that the claim is not ‘baseless’. However, in the world as a whole as it currently is, anti-white racism affects far fewer people than anti-black, so his comments are perhaps somewhat mis-timed.
But anyway, he’s not a politician, he’s an old mostly retired businessman, so it doesn’t really matter particularly what his views are – it won’t change anything.
theRoswellite (@theroswellite)
26th June 2020, 20:19
“..somewhat mis-timed.”….???
No one is claiming that Blacks can’t be racist, the point is the systemic racism which exists…WITHIN THE STRUCTURE…of most white dominated societies. Speaking as an American, I can say it is, unfortunately, alive and well in much, if not most of our communities….East-to-West, North-to-South. Bernie has shown that he is more than a bit tone deaf when it comes to social issues, anyone remember his comments regarding Putin? Perhaps Mr. Ecclestone can finally slouch off to an oblivious retirement.
TFLB (@tflb)
26th June 2020, 20:31
@theroswellite yes, somewhat mis-timed- understatement. He’s going to draw much more negative attention in the current climate than he would have a few months ago. I didn’t say racism isn’t a problem, neither did he I don’t think. I just said he’s not wrong – which he isn’t- but he is kind of missing the point, as black-on-white racism doesn’t seem to affect as many people as write-on-black, so his comment seems a little irrelevant.
Tallbloke
27th June 2020, 0:27
@theroswellite Also as a American. Please let me know what systematic racism exists. What laws apply to whites and not blacks?
I’m not saying is doesn’t exist on both sides from people but what system is racist? I want to know so I can help fight for change but I can’t see one.
Jabosha (@jabosha)
27th June 2020, 12:17
As a minority in America I’d like to know this also. I suggest some look up Richard and Mildred Loving for a look at what systemic racism is, also Jim Crowe laws.
Eccelstone is right. Blacks can be more racist than whites. This isn’t a secret or anything. I can give examples if need be.
Systemics in America? Look up the family court system and what it does to good men who love their children, systemically. It helps to destroy them on a regular basis.
Yet, here we are talking about a non issue of systemic racism in America. Racisim will always be alive. Systemic racism in America isn’t.
Jabosha (@jabosha)
27th June 2020, 12:24
This is a police brutality problem not a systemic racism problem. The question, is police brutality systemic in America? Look up Frank Serpico who was a cop set up by his own officers, the Seven Five, ran by Michael Dowd who protected drug dealers and DOJ statistics showing, more whites are shot and killed by cops than blacks.
These are all off the top of my head.
theRoswellite (@theroswellite)
27th June 2020, 17:41
more whites are shot and killed by cops than blacks.
….because there are more whites in the population. I believe that, Blacks are killed…disproportionately…to their numbers.
A more direct question might be…..are Blacks subject to unfair, or unequal, treatment from law enforcement?
Which might speak to “systemic racism” within our policing authority.
theRoswellite (@theroswellite)
27th June 2020, 17:26
@Tailobloke “I’m not saying is doesn’t exist on both sides from people but what system is racist? I want to know so I can help fight for change but I can’t see one.”
Fortunately, many of our laws (USA) have been changed to eliminate legal discrimination. However, when I use the term, “systemic”, it is in reference to the entire functioning of society, not simply the legal system.
Perhaps, with your permission, I would suggest you speak with a Black person about how racism is present in our society…..rather than hearing it from me.
Tallbloke
28th June 2020, 0:23
Well if your in Roswell GA I’d love to meet and discuss.
But I have spoken to many and after living in many countries I’d love to also discuss the benefits that in America all have over what happens in others.
Please be clear in the terms of systemic as systemic by definition is a system. In Atlanta with a police force that is or was 58% black I couldn’t say that system is more racist. If your talking about a population you live in one of least racist countries on the planet.
From what I have witnessed recently I would say yes there need to be police reform but also you need to look at what the police deal with. Life and death decisions are as fast as those a f1 driver has to make but with more dire consequences. I have several friends who never made it home because they hesitated and paid the ultimate price.
Mark in Florida
28th June 2020, 16:37
The death rate of whites to blacks is about 4 to 1. Blacks are 13% of the population. Statistically they are involved in 60% of the crime most of which is black on black. That is why the numbers of blacks killed is disproportionate to the population numbers. There is simply more interaction with police on a daily basis involving serious crimes. More people are gunned down in Detroit and other big cities than the police ever could or would. Nearly all of which are neighborhood crimes that are…black on black violence.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th June 2020, 21:00
@tflb
Yes, it’s linked at the appropriate point above.
TFLB (@tflb)
26th June 2020, 22:17
@keithcollantine Ah, ta. Didn’t spot the link at first. I mean, apart from the ‘more racist’ bit which was poorly-judged and a bit odd, I agree with quite a lot of what he’s saying about statues etc – better to educate than destroy. Don’t see what’s so controversial about it really, but I suppose everyone’s in a heightened state of sensitivity now.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
26th June 2020, 23:06
@tflb whilst we’re discussing education, can I suggest reading up on the many campaigns and protests that go on regarding these lionised monuments to bad people? The Colston statue (and his entire history with Bristol) is an example of white-washing. He gave huge swathes of his money to the city in the hope that people would remember him for his philanthropy, glossing over that he condemned tens of thousands of slaves to a watery grave for profit.
TFLB (@tflb)
26th June 2020, 23:40
@optimaximal I’ve read up a lot in fact, as preservation of historic buildings etc is my area… My view is that it’s sad to lose any heritage, good or bad. Take down a statue, by all means, after a clear-headed democratic consultation and decision, and put it in a museum or something. What I am totally against is mob action and destruction. I will add that if one is going to go through history with a fine tooth comb looking for anyone who held views or did things that are now viewed as bad, then there won’t be too many people from before the mid-20th century, of any race, who would come out unscathed.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
27th June 2020, 0:13
@tflb My point is, the statue was petitioned constantly for its removal or, failing that, an official placard explaining Colston’s slaver heritage. It was always either ignored or ‘forgotten’ by the city council, with even the Mayor and city police force recognising it as an insult to the BAME population of the city.
That nobody from history comes out looking good from their actions is a good thing. We should, ultimately, all be judged by a) our actions and b) how we learn from the consequences of them. What we shouldn’t be able to do is acquire absurd wealth through the immense suffering of others then throw it all at a bunch of schools & concert halls on our death bed in the hope that people won’t think we were rotters.
TFLB (@tflb)
27th June 2020, 1:00
@optimaximal Yes I get your point, the council were too slow to act (no surprise there…) but still, I’d rather it had been removed in a less destructive way, mainly due to the fact it encourages vandalism in less justified cases by louts using protests as an excuse – not that that was the case in Bristol I don’t think. Now it’s done though I personally I quite like Banksy’s suggestion of putting it back up but adding statues of people pulling it down!
I didn’t defend Colston, so I agree with the second paragraph.
Bulgot
26th June 2020, 21:13
Statues are meant to glorify history. We learn from books, not statues.
andae23 (@andae23)
26th June 2020, 21:27
I never thought I’d see the day Formula 1 explicitly distances themselves from Ecclestone. And they are completely right, his commands have absolutely no place in F1 or society.
LMB-F1 (@luis)
26th June 2020, 21:49
I commented on it in previous days, this is a political and not a sports issue, this type of movements like “Black Lives Matter” want to affect everything by imposing their way of thinking on everyone, whoever thinks something a little different is crucified, … this is a dictatorship, and they are wrong… you don’t they realize?
If someone says “all lives matter”, they could have problems with the law, this is already happening in the Universities of America, … it is ridiculous, we are falling into a bottomless barrel, this is the dictatorship of political correctness.
Voltaire said, “I may not agree with what you say (Bernie), but I will defend to the death your right to say it”
… The only thing missing is that they say that Voltaire is out of fashion, because he was a white and straight man.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
26th June 2020, 23:09
Nobody prevented Bernie from saying what he said. That’s freedom of speech in action, but it doesn’t mean everyone has to agree with his views. Also, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequence and as a result of him saying what he said, as part of an interview concerning Formula One, the people who own the sport have decided they want nothing to do with him anymore.
Consequence.
GtisBetter (@)
26th June 2020, 23:28
I don’t think you know what dictatorship is.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
27th June 2020, 2:11
Born and raised in Malaysia during Dr Mahathirs original regime, when one could be arrested and held in detention without trial indefinitely for expressing opinions things that were deemed seditious by the government. While it has since been repealed, it’s largely exist in another guise.
Singapore used to practise the same law, I believe it still does to a certain extent.
Well, what we have now is that you can express your point as long as it fits the narrative. If doesn’t, well that will be the end of your professional reputation should you have one. We aren’t getting thrown in detention yet, but we’re just a few political moves away from that.
In recent weeks, this website has become a political forum. Covid 19 does wonderful work.
LMB-F1 (@luis)
26th June 2020, 23:47
…freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequence.
That’s why democracies exist, so you can think what you want, without consequences, … to say what you want, without consequences, this is a human right, enshrined in the constitutions of almost all modern democracies, today.
It seems that you are already trapped by the dictatorship of what is politically correct, … how much time is left for you to think that freedom of thought should have consequences? … you are two minutes away.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
27th June 2020, 0:23
@luis No, no, no… Freedom of speech is *always* framed in the context of the law – If you speech is hateful towards another individual/race/sex/religion/insert category here, then it is not right – it never has been. Or do you think Islamic Hate Preachers are perfectly entitled to carry out their work too?
Fundamentally, you’re *allowed* to say what you want to say, but the consequences of said hate speech could well mean a brush with the law, because you’ve probably broken one, be it a workplace regulation, a public decency law or directly infringed on someone’s personal rights.
anon
27th June 2020, 11:48
@luis the right to freedom of speech that you are given in those nations states that you have a right to express your views, but you are not protected from the consequences of expressing those views.
As Optimaximal notes, if you want to express hate speech – such as those wanting to deny the Holocaust happened and to promote anti-Semitic theories, or to express racial prejudice or to espouse Islamophobic remarks, to list just a few examples, you can do so. However, when you abuse that right to then harass, intimidate or threaten others, then you are breaking the law with respect to the rights of others who wish to live peacefully – the right to freedom of speech comes with the requirement to use that right responsibly.
If you are incapable of accepting those responsibilities and end up abusing those rights to suppress those of others, then you cannot avoid the consequences of breaching those responsibilities.
LMB-F1 (@luis)
27th June 2020, 18:19
Anon; I believe in liberties, I believe in freedom of thought, and in freedom of speech, I personally detest political correctness, because that forces me to think as someone else wants me to think, it obligatorily puts me in a drawer, and if you try to get out of that drawer you will be sanctioned, political correctness does not allow our right to think and say.
Political correctness tends to dictatorship, “political correctness” is wrong.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which establishes: “Every individual has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; This right includes that of not being disturbed because of their opinions, that of investigating and receiving information and opinions, and that of disseminating them, without limitation of borders, by any means of expression ”.
This includes people who believe in flat earth or Holocaust deniers, everyone, you and I anon, we all have the right to say what we think, whether we are wrong or not, whether we are right or not, … the big difference is in the weight of the arguments.
Anon I understand your point, offending someone is wrong, I agree, but that is not corrected by taking away liberties, that is corrected with education.
And also with education people become less vulnerable to what other people say.
LMB-F1 (@luis)
27th June 2020, 0:12
No, thank God no, I have never lived in one, but I think like it was in USSR, Nazi Germany, Mao’s China, Fidel’s Cuba, there were no freedoms, there was no freedom to think, there were no freedoms to say, I never knew of a dictatorship where you could think freely or speak freely, …here we already started with being careful with what we say, it’s ridiculous, … but this forum is about F1, not politics, … and that happens with this new ideology who wants to catch us, the individual does not exist, they want to collectivize everything, I have to think like that ideology, if not, I am wrong,… and I can have consequences.
It’s ridiculous.
The good thing is that we are a few days away from ending the drought, we better talk about F1.
SadF1fan
26th June 2020, 21:54
Did Bernie watch Chris Rock’s Bring the Pain before the interview?
JMDan (@danmar)
26th June 2020, 22:16
Hey F1! Society can take care of itself. It doesn’t need your advice. Stick to your own backyard; there are enough meddlers already.
koddamn (@gufdamm)
27th June 2020, 2:17
Hey JMDan! You can also mind your business. F1 doesn’t go around telling you what to do.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
26th June 2020, 22:18
Black people calling white people racist is okay but a white guy calling black people racist has no place in society??? Give me a break. I’ve met racist people of both races. All Lives Matter, not just black.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
26th June 2020, 23:14
Can I suggest you learn more about the concept of Institutionalised Racism?
Josh (@canadianjosh)
26th June 2020, 23:21
All lives matter pal
JC
26th June 2020, 23:40
All lives are not subject to the same roadblocks as black lives, in all walks of life.
That’s the point of black lives matter.
Do your research maybe?
Roger
27th June 2020, 19:18
There are wealthy black people and poor white people, so its not one quote fits all.
Also where is the outcry about black Africans starving to death? Those poor people would be absolutely mortified looking at black Americans crying about being ‘underprivileged’!
GtisBetter (@)
26th June 2020, 23:41
Saying oneliners is pointless. Funny how white western people are suddenly offended when black people draw attention to a deeply rooted problem and go and cry:”but what about me? I am important too! Give me attention!” And then when you ask what daily situations are so troublesome change is needed, they actually hardly can think of any. So sad.
Grakkis
26th June 2020, 23:53
Western societies are the most diverse and welcoming of different peoples of all societies worldwide. This self flagellation is nauseating.
Just say ‘systemic, systems, structure and deeply rooted’ and you’ve earned your virtue points for the day.
slowmo (@slowmo)
27th June 2020, 0:25
Black Lives Matter is also a one liner…
An example of daily situations is how you can have people who work for a living unable to buy their own homes and visiting food banks to eat while their pay masters take home 10 times or more their salary. There are huge issues of class, status and money that have worsened over the last 50 years of rampant capitalism. When people are struggling to live day to day, they might not have an appetite to fight others battles. Dismissing people offhand is not educating them or fixing the issues in society.
I despair for the world we’re living in where you’re either for something or labelled as something negative if not pro the current trend. Be that politics, Brexit, black lives matter, clapping for the NHS, etc, etc. Social media is becoming a toxic influence on society and following a cause is now seemingly more important than understanding it.
Aapje (@aapje)
27th June 2020, 13:45
@passingisoverrated
Don’t you think it matters when white people are murdered by the police?
I personally think that it is quite racist to ignore injustices against one race, because you have prejudice against people of that race.
CC
26th June 2020, 22:48
Ecclestone likes to push buttons and seems to enjoy getting a reaction out of people. Likewise, interviewers would surely know that he is good for a controversial headline. If you want to talk racism with Bernie, don’t be surprised with the results.
jet
26th June 2020, 23:15
He’s a self-proclaimed Hitler fan. I didn’t expect anything less.
Jon Bee
26th June 2020, 23:23
Looks like Bernie will have to pay for race tickets in future. LM won’t be returning his calls, payback for years of being the Bully of F1.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
27th June 2020, 0:38
The amount of racism apologist comments here are shocking, though not surprising. Maybe there is some truth in the assertion made by the anti-racism educator, Jane Elliott, that all white people are inherently racist – because they have been brought up in a system expressly created to keep the idea of white supremacy alive. Video link here –
As for the issue of keeping statues so as to teach about history, that has to be the most risible and facile excuse ever put forward. To begin with, these statues were put up to venerate these men and eulogize their achievements (read atrocities). Secondly, teaching history has nothing to do with erecting statues. Almost everyone knows about Hitler and his extermination of the Jews, yet no statue of Hitler exists anywhere in the world, nor are people clamoring for one to be put up, so as to make sure history is not “forgotten”.
Ditto the same for the Berlin wall. It was torn down, and no one claimed we wouldn’t remember what happened because of that. Furthermore, no one can claim they learnt what genocidal manics Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold were merely on account of staring at their statues.
I think those these who want these statues to remain standing like to see them as a reminder of their white supremacist history, which they want to retain in their memories and consciousness.
There cannot be any other excuse for the illogical argument.
Leroy (@g-funk)
27th June 2020, 4:35
@kbdavies Well said. All of it.
SadF1fan
27th June 2020, 9:41
Ah, yes more of the only people with a certain skin color can be racist argument…
But lets ignore 400.000 years of intertribal massacres and genocide.
Coz the argument that all people have got the capability of being horrible is too nuanced…
Damon85
27th June 2020, 11:04
Exactly, funny how people have conveniently forgotten that the whites didn’t start the slave trade in Africa. They were doing it just fine on their own without our help. Of course this doesn’t count now does it?
theRoswellite
27th June 2020, 17:10
I agree with kbdavies…Exactly….and very well expressed. Final point…the BLM movement DOES NOT SAY THAT ONLY WHITES ARE RACIST…it says that because white’s control the majority of the societal and cultural landscape acts of violence against Blacks have been disproportionately unaddressed. Blacks don’t want more rights than whites, or special rights…..they just want…..EQUAL RIGHTS…in actual practice, not just on paper.
Damon85
28th June 2020, 7:12
They have equal rights ffs! Has it slipped your mind they have just had a president?!?!
So basically you’re saying we should hinder whites to give blacks more opportunity?
This is nothing to do with race and everything to do with social inequality which at the end of the day will be around for ever unless you suggest we say goodbye to capitalism and say hello to the hell hole that is communism, that way we are all equally worthless!!
aj
29th June 2020, 5:05
equal rights arent automatic assumption of criminality leading to overly aggressive police actions per capita. equal rights arent demonstrated discrimination for bank and other loans. equal rights arent voter suppression tactics in poor black communities in the south. equal rights arent demonstrated medical discrimination during the COVID pandemic. etc etc etc.
Wass85
27th June 2020, 11:11
Bernie is spot on, blacks are often way more racist towards whites.
I remember a certain Boxer named Bernard Hopkins, well he was boasting that “No white man can beat me!” before our very own Joe Calzaghe put him in his place.
Now imagine if the ball was in the other court, Calzaghe would have been lambasted!
The far left (media) ought to hang their heads in shame, they do not speak for the silent majority.
Aapje (@aapje)
27th June 2020, 11:32
Black racism is quite common. For example, in a 1998 survey by the ADL, 34% of black Americans gave answers that put them in the most anti-semitic category vs 9% of white Americans. The Nation of Islam (that represent black Muslims) is a deeply anti-semitic organisation. This high level of anti-semitism is also evident in the very high number of anti-semitic attacks in places like New York, where you won’t find many far-right white people, but there are a lot of black Americans.
There is also a long history of targeted attacks by black rioters on Asians. Asians fairly often own businesses in black neighborhoods, so this is probably resentment.
Finally, it seems very common for black people to force other black people into behaving a certain way, what they don’t demand of white people. This is also a form of racism. It also plausibly causes part of the under-performance of black Americans, because studying hard seems to be seen as ‘white’ behavior that black Americans shouldn’t do, by quite a few black American youths. Hard-studying kids are often bullied, but this seems to differ by culture. Asians seem least likely to do so, white kids bully ‘nerds’ more often and black kids do that the most. Unsurprising, we see this reflected in academic performance, where Asians do best, white people worse and black people even worse. Unfortunately, the solution by the American left to this is to discriminate against Asians as part of affirmative action, to punish Asian-Americans for their pro-education culture, rather than to try to fight this anti-education bullying that hurts so many.
But of course, we live in a time where people are not allowed to recognize these facts and instead, there is this vague conspiracy theory about institutional racism and ‘whiteness,’ which is something that only white people do and that will magically fix itself if they flagellate themselves enough.
RocketTankski
27th June 2020, 12:28
They erected a statue to Bernie. I’m not sure if it can educate us about the past.
Well I say statue, but it was more of a bust.
Balue (@balue)
27th June 2020, 16:55
So what’s the score? They are equally racist? I guess it has to be if saying one race is more racist than another ‘has no place in society’, but then I do believe the current campaign is about white racism, or at least racism against blacks. Or is racism uniquely white or something only blacks suffer from? Isn’t saying that racist in itself? I am genuinely confused.
Sergey Martyn
27th June 2020, 21:06
I was born and lived almost half of my life in USSR. Not sure why some of you equal it to Nazi Germany, Mao’s China, Fidel’s Cuba etc. – I don’t care – I recall those times as the most free years in my life. The freedom and the faith etc. is in the heart and soul, not in the tumbling down the statues and make other people kneeling (not to mention shoe’s kissing) before you only because their skin is different color. There was a joke then – an American and a Soviet citizens met and American says – our country is the epitome of freedom – I can go near White House and yell that Reagan is an idiot. So what – says Soviet man – I can too go to the Red Square and yell that Reagan is an idiot! I seen the many statues tumbled down here but it only led to unprecedented crime rise and Nazi revival. If for some dubious democratic or blm qualities you want to destroy your past – you’ll be destroyed in the near future as well – and much more sooner than you expect. If just one death no matter how cruel and senseless it was, leads to such consequences I don’t believe in democracy, universal human rights and whatever people are yelling near the White House or Red Square.