Richard Barnbrook

I’ll say one thing for Mayor Boris, there’s certainly nothing wrong with his work ethic. Having said that and commending him for putting in the hours, I really wish he would have taken this week off. There’s been some really encouraging signs of a return to common sense here at City Hall, but just like a wavering gambler trying to kick his habit, Boris has slipped into his old ways again.

Not that I wish to be too critical, after all I believe that if Ken Livingstone had still been here I think he would have arranged to have my tea poisoned by now. However, this habitual regressing back into politically-correct mode exhibited by the Mayor really does take a considerable bit of working out. After all does London really need a “permanent, slavery memorial statue” plonked in the middle of Hyde Park? Well Mayor Boris thinks so, proudly telling everyone on Monday, “It is important that this era in our history is never forgotten. Hyde Park is a fitting site for a permanent memorial to the millions who lost their lives and the courageous people who fought to end the brutal transatlantic slave trade.  I commend the efforts of the organisation, Memorial 2007, who have championed this project. I am also delighted that the maquette will be exhibited at City Hall. “

One Oku Ekpenyon, really did push the boat out as well stating, ”There is a lack of knowledge and understanding about the history of Africa, the repercussion of slavery and what it meant for Britain. This memorial will be an educational resource as the focus of curriculum based and life long learning. It will also serve within a broader context to highlight in a national and public setting the centrality of the experience of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the history of Britain. This in turn will function as a focus for family and local history researchers.”

Perhaps all of us wicked ignorant white people should be made to crawl past the monument on our knees as well just to guarantee we get the message. I shouldn’t complain too much though after all look at the number of comparable monuments in North Africa intimidating the local population so that they never forget the 1.25 million Europeans the Barbary pirates forced into slavery. In fact all over Africa you can find statues reflecting the fact that in the vast majority of cases it was Africans themselves who sold their fellow Africans into slavery. As for the identity of the actual owners of many of the transporting ships themselves well, that’s common knowledge isn’t it?

Why do you do it Mayor Boris, I know you don’t want to? There’s no need to be frightened of these self-loathing white liberals anymore and their constant need to generate guilt amongst their own community in order to facilitate their own sickening ethnomasochism. Just say no, if you don’t want to do it, I’ll do it for you.