The Nelson statue and George Floyd

Last Saturday, I went down on my knee on Broad Street in our capital city of Bridgetown just outside the Parliament Buildings and at the feet of the Nelson statue in our National Heroes Square. And for a few minutes, scores of Barbadians of all backgrounds, mostly dressed in black, did the same and we all chanted “Take down Nelson!”

It was a unique moment in our nation’s history, especially since our independence in 1966. Electrifying, heart-pounding and emotional all at the same time. This action part of the wider march that morning for justice and against discrimination brought to the forefront the long time discussion and debate on the removal of the statue of Lord Horatio Nelson from our National Heroes Square.

No longer was the discussion confined to our inner circles, gatherings, philosophical arguments and social media posts. It was now up front and center at the base of the statue itself. Certainly, a new precedent for Barbados. Barbadians are generally not that eager to be openly vocal and demonstrative, but this issue has definitely brought out a very different response.

The security around Nelson was evident as though a repeat of what transpired a week prior in Bristol, United Kingdom was anticipated. Protestors there pulled down the statute of the 17th century slave trader, Edward Colston, and rolled it through the streets before dumping it, unceremoniously, into the River Avon. I don’t think Barbadians are at that point yet, although shouts of “put him in the careenage” were heard coming from the crowd.

Nelson was likely rolling over in his grave as those shouts of taking him down were echoing through the square. It is ironic as Nelson himself, I am told, was not particularly fond of the Barbadian white planter class. They were the ones who paid for and erected his statue in March 1813, some 30 years before Nelson Column was erected in London in Trafalgar Square. I am also told that while he was on his ship berthed just off the waters of Barbados coastline in 1805, he received word of the French fleet coming to the region. He left Barbados with his ships to do battle with the French and met his deathly fate on October 21, 1805 at Spain’s Cape Trafalgar in what is commonly known as the Battle of Trafalgar. I am further told that Horatio Nelson had a fondness for rum and so his stores probably had some of Barbados Mount Gay. It is reported that after his death at Trafalgar at the hands of a French sniper his body was shipped back to England in a cask of rum so it would be preserved. If that rum was from the distilleries of Mount Gay, the French today would be having the last laugh.

I am fully supportive of the removal of Nelson’s statue from our National Heroes Square. When that Square was renamed from its original name of Trafalgar Square in 1999 the opportunity should have been taken then to remove the statue and have a completely new start to the Square. Twenty years on and emotions are even higher now to take him down.

When I posted my support for the removal of the statue on my Facebook page, I noted the varied responses there and in other posts. The responses ranged from complete agreement to robust disagreement. I guess that is a small sampling of what the general reaction is in Barbados. There are those who will not support the removal and they are in their right to do so. The discussions are happening and will continue to happen. But I believe the tide is changing and there is a swing towards moving the statue to some other location. One suggestion, I think came from Karl Watson, is to sell the statue, which due to its historic value may realize a significant sum (in the millions) for Barbados. This money can certainly help our economy at this time or be put to building up infrastructure that benefits the most under-privileged in our society.

Some questions are pertinent as we discuss the place or removal of Nelson statue from our National Heroes Square. Why was the statue erected there in the first place? Who put it there? Does it fit into what a National Heroes Square in our current era represents?

A true and honest answer to those questions would undoubtedly lead one to a conclusion that the statue is out of place in our National Heroes Square.

Now, several persons have asked what about other buildings, names and titles that remain from that time in our history. Buildings, I believe, do not have to be destroyed. They are useful and have been put to good use since Emancipation and especially since Independence. Codrington College recently celebrated its 275th anniversary. I was asked to bring greetings. I took the opportunity during my greeting to mention Codrington’s history and the need to speak to some uncomfortable truths about the plantation on which the College was conceived. And the need to start the discussion towards healing and social justice for all.

As for names and titles, these can certainly be changed as we go along and our own heroes and heroines are recognized.

The removal of Nelson statue is cosmetic for many and does not address many of the underlying issues facing our society and really needs to be dealt with. Prime Minister Mottley made the point in Parliament when she spoke to the issue of the protests after the death of George Floyd. While not dismissing the stances being taken in the US and around the world, Mottley explained that battles were also being fought in Barbados. She spoke to issues such as sexism and the need for black people to be proud of their skin, saying that there were “glass ceilings that were still not broken”.

The PM declared: “The battles that we need to be facing are the battles that stop our young girls and young boys from wanting to go and buy bleach and use bleach on their skin as if something is wrong with the pigment of the skin in which they’re born.

“I believe that the solution to the problem comes not simply at the institutional level but in changing the hearts and minds of people in the small things as in the large things.”

And that is true. Many people would say they don’t even notice the Nelson statue when they go into Bridgetown. The reality, however, is that what Nelson represents is so entrenched in our psyche that we don’t even recognize it. Catastrophic events like the killing of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer brings to the surface these prejudices that then cause us to ask what really is a statue of Nelson doing in our National Heroes Square.

David Denny in his speech to the march at Independence Square last Saturday said the statue should come down by August 1st, Emancipation Day. Not sure how realistic that is, but let’s see. One thing that is looking more likely is that it will come down in our lifetime.

For me, its replacement shouldn’t be another statue. Plant a tree and a garden and let our environment and our people breathe a sigh of relief.

Suleiman Bulbulia is a Justice of the Peace; Secretary of the Barbados Muslim Association; Muslim Chaplain at the Cave Hill Campus, UWI and a Childhood Obesity Prevention Champion. Email: suleimanbulbulia@hotmail.com