Shameful past of an Irish hero
HE is revered as an Irish revolutionary, famous for his Jail Journal and editing The United Irishman.
But there was a dark side to John Mitchel – he was a proslavery advocate who denied it was wrong to buy or hold slaves and flog them to work.
Now a campaign has been launched to remove his statue as pressure grows across the US and Europe to tear down tributes to racists from the past.
Born a Presbyterian in 1815, John Mitchel’s likeness stands on Newry city’s Hill Street and he has a number of GAA clubs named after him.
Locals Aidan Mcquade and Patrick Hughes have launched a petition for the removal of their city’s ode to a man whose views on black people were reviled, even when he was alive.
They would also like John Mitchel Place to be renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza.
Anti-slavery consultant Mr Mcquade said: “I have always been bothered by the statue of Mitchel.”
After taking up his post with Anti-slavery International – the longest-running human rights organisation in the world – he said he “wrote to Newry City Council” urging them to recognise the “deeply problematic nature of John Mitchel”.
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He added: “It’s important to bear in mind, at his time [in] the middle of the 19th century, Mitchel was regarded as being very much an extremist in terms of his support for slavery.
“Not only was he an apologist for the Confederates, but he was all for enforced slavery and white supremacy [and] was also an advocate for the reintroduction of the Transatlantic slave trade which had been abolished in 1807.”
The 54-year-old added that the practice is widely regarded as having been “genocidal” and Mitchel’s support for it cannot be overlooked.
Mr Mcquade said: “Millions of people were kidnapped from Africa and millions of people died mid-passage from Africa to the Americas.
“It was one of the most brutal systems and John Mitchel was a supporter of all of this.
“It’s one of these things, if you come from an Irish nationalist perspective, tended to be overlooked, apologised for or just ignored.”
He said he wrote to the council about the statue in 2007 and that they responded by telling him 19th century figures can’t be held to 21st century views.
But he argued: “I was holding him to 19th century standards.
“Bear in mind there were people like Daniel O’connell
[and] Isaac Nelson... a minister on the Shankill, who were radical abolitionists at that time. “Campaigners against slavery found Mitchel’s view repulsive” Following the death of George Floyd and the wave of anti-racism protests that followed, Mr Mcquade thinks a plaque explaining what Mitchel did is not enough.
He added: “Speaking as somebody from the Newry, Mourne
and
Down area, we need to nail our colours to the mast.
“We suggest that the statue is removed to somewhere where it can be properly put in a museum context to talk about the broader movement of abolition at that period of time.
“I think it would be good if it was replaced with something, a new work of art, which reflected the struggles of people of African descent.
“And change the name of the square because I don’t think Mitchel was worthy of that sort of memorial. If you look at the links Ireland, north and south, has with anti-poverty work and developing humanitarian response in Africa over the past 20, 30 or 40 years.
“Something like that Mitchel statue in the middle of Newry really is an insult to anybody who’s not only been involved in that work, but anybody who has experienced or lived under the curse of racism over all these years.
“It would be good to see Newry and Mourne Council take some decisive action around this finally.”
Queen’s PHD student Mr Hughes, 46, said he “was astonished” when he heard Mitchel’s views. He added: “When I learned of the legacy of John Mitchel, I was astonished by my own ignorance.
“I’ve heard protesters say, ‘Silence is violence’. Part of that silence is a lack of knowledge and interest in getting to know our own history, about the physical monuments that we have in our towns and cities.
“It turns out there has been a long debate about John Mitchel.
“For nationalists, he had a considerable legacy of republican activism, leading to the naming of various locations and GAA clubs after him.
“The argument has led many to say, ‘Hate his racism, but praise his nationalism’. The trouble is, I can’t see past the racism.
“It’s time to stop excusing racism, even when it is historical.
“For those who want to celebrate nationalism, there are many men and women with considerable legacies to explore.
“John Mitchel was a self-avowed and explicit racist who, when he went to live in Confederate America, argued that black people ‘were an innately inferior people’ and that slavery was something worth promoting. His writings on the subject are many.
“It is to my shame that I didn’t know about the legacy of John Mitchel. But now that I do, it is imperative that we work together to remove that statue from a place of honour on Newry’s streets.”
A Newry, Mourne and Down District Council spokesperson said: “Following a meeting of party leaders on June 8, it was decided that an Equality and Good Relations Forum meeting will be held this month to discuss this matter.”
The GAA has also been asked for their view since many local teams bear his name.
■■You can add your name to the petition here: www.change.org/p/newry-mourne-and-downdistrict-council-take-down-thestatue-of-slavery-supporterjohn-mitchel-in-newry.