Call for statue in city centre to be taken down

CAMPAIGNERS have called for a statue depicting a 19th Century Dundee politician to be torn down because of his links to slavery.

Protesters have hit the headlines for bringing down statues in Bristol and London.

Now a national movement, Topple the Racists, has highlighted a number of statues across the UK which it believes should follow suit.

Dundee features in a map the group has produced, specifically the statue of George Kinloch, a Dundee politician and slave owner, on Albert Square.

The group has claimed the monument gives Kinloch an undue level of admiration, while ignoring the fact he owned an estate in Jamaica which was staffed by slaves.

In a statement on their website, Topple the Racists said: “Statue to George Kinloch (1775-1833) who was, as the statue says, a ‘radical’ politician who advocated for

British parliamentary reform.

“However, it fails to note that his wealth was derived from the Grange Estate in Jamaica which he inherited upon coming of age and used slave labour.”

Kinloch was a British politician and Dundee MP who pushed for parliamentary reforms, and held views which were so radical he was forced to flee to France after being declared an outlaw.

However, Topple the Racists has now shone a light on the politician’s ownership of slaves, and the fact that large amounts of wealth came from his inherited Jamaican estate.

The Kinloch statue is just one of many on the anti-racism group’s list, with others such as the statue of Henry Dundas in Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Lord Roberts Monument facing similar scrutiny.

The movement has been inspired by others around the world, with other statues and monuments across the globe being removed due to a lack of racial sensitivity.

In Brighton, a statue of slave trader and merchant Edward Colston was torn down by Black Lives Matter protesters before being pushed into the city’s harbour.

However, the future of Dundee’s Kinloch statue remains uncertain.

Councillor Lynne Short, Fairness and Equalities spokesperson, said: “It’s very difficult. It shows the kind of era that they lived in back then, that he could be so applauded and have a statue built for what he did in the UK without a care for what he did overseas.

“We have to be really aware of our education of that time.

“We need to learn the full character of these people.

“Obviously, black lives do matter and we have to remember that.

“I think the future of the statue is a conversation the city needs to have.”

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Edward Colston’s statue is removed from the harbour in Bristol where it was dumped.