What are some of those key myths, feelings and beliefs about Bristol and transatlantic slavery?
- It was too long ago.
- It doesn’t have anything to do with today.
- Bristol made all its money from slavery.
- “Whiteladies Road” and “Blackboy Hill” in Clifton/Redland are named as a result of Bristol’s slave trade.
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Loads of enslaved Africans were sent to and sold in Bristol. (on Blackboy Hill?)
- Slaves were kept in the caves under Redcliffe.
- We should stop talking about this now. Let bygones be bygones.
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Talking about slavery just stirs up trouble.
- It makes ‘black people’ feel angry / ashamed.
- It makes ‘white people’ feel guilty / ashamed.
- All white people were slave traders
- All black people were slaves
- ‘We’ did Africa a favour, look at them now.
- All the craft, strength and talent was taken from Africa which set it back.
- African slaves were treated better than European peasants and impoverished children.
- It’s time to move on.
These ideas are a selection of common feelings expressed about the subject. These are not all ‘myths’ necessarily. In order to have reasoned and well-informed discussion on the subject, there is still a need to raise the collective understanding.
The following definition of a ‘myth’ can be found on-line. The 5th one ( ‘an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.’ ) probably best sums up the situation with regard to Bristol and the slavery aspect of its maritime history.
//myth//
–noun
| 1. | a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. |
| 2. | stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth. |
| 3. | any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth. |
| 4. | an imaginary or fictitious thing or person. |
| 5. | an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution. |
In many cases, it’s the ‘unproved’ bit that needs further work. There has been increased academic interest in this subject in recent times. Previously the absence of dialogue was deemed to be a conspiracy of silence where ‘they‘ would never tell ‘us‘ about our history.
The work of Derek Robinson, Madge Dresser and Pip Jones come to mind as pieces which give us insights into Bristol’s shape-shifting through this period.
2007
The Abolition of the slave trade 202 years ago was commemorated in 2007. The subject blew up all over the country coming out of every cultural institution and media outlet. Lots of value was had in the airing, not least being able to hear people’s feelings about it. This was of course very valuable because ultimately this is what history it about. It’s not just the narrating of events and the recording of dates, but the extraction of meaning and the implications about how we live today and tomorrow.
2007 brought an increased awareness for sure, but now the hype has settled, there is a sense that ‘we’ve done slavery, we can let it rest now’. Our mission of clarifying facts and feelings we hope will lead to increased understanding and recognition of the impact of Africa on the wealth of Europe. We would also hope that we might be more aware of how some of the structures of power and exploitation still manifest today.
Maybe, just maybe we might be motivated to to emulate some of the (s)heroes, black and white, of that era and fight today’s instances of inhumanity in our backyard and around the globe.
