Naomi: Removing statue was inspiring
Supermodel Naomi Campbell has spoken of her admiration for Britain’s Black Lives Matter protesters – and described the throwing of slaver Edward Colston’s statue into the harbour in Bristol as “inspiring”.
Naomi said the case of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died during an arrest in Minneapolis, disgusted her.
A video of Mr Floyd’s arrest on May 25 showed a white police officer kneeling on his neck.
Naomi said: “What I’m watching disgusts me
– a funeral that is the result of violence against black people that never seems to end.”
But she said protests in Britain gave her hope.
“News from the UK makes me think young people there can be proud of how they’ve handled things,” said Naomi. “The Black Lives Matter demonstration in Bristol, when they took down the statue, was inspiring.
“This young generation, black and white together, decided they’re sick of injustice. No more excuses.”
Colston was a member of the Royal Africa Company, which had a monopoly on the West African slave trade in the late 17th Century.
Protesters had long called for the statue’s removal. Earlier this month, demonstrators pulled it down and threw it in the city’s harbour.
Naomi, 50, said that, even after 35 years at the top of the fashion business, she still experiences racism. She added: “Last year
I was refused entry to a hotel in the south of France because of my skin colour. It’s rude.
“It’s wrong. And there are still certain countries where I don’t appear on the cover of magazines for that same reason.”