From the family of Thomas Picton

I WOULD like to offer my views on what to do with the Sir Thomas Picton obelisk memorial in Carmarthen.

I am a descendant of Owen Picton, the grandfather of Thomas Picton.

In my opinion, the memory column should not be demolished on any account.

The memory column was originally erected to remember his role in Waterloo but Picton’s torture cannot be over looked and it is important to remember this.

In the meantime I suggest that information about Picton should be written next to the memory column to include its history.

Demolishing the pillar because it cannot be moved to a museum would be a tragedy.

The horrors of slavery are just as cruel as the horrors of the holocaust.

As we know, it is possible to visit Hitler’s concentration camps, such as Auschwitz and Belsen.

These have not been demolished and are a valuable resource for telling the story of the horrors that happened back in the time of the second world war.

Why not Carmarthenshire County Council do the same?

Sir Thomas Picton was honored for his role in the battle of Waterloo. But I feel that he should never be referred to by his title, Sir Thomas Picton, because he does not deserve the title despite being a hero in the Battle of Waterloo.

Titles should be reserved for people worthy of them.

I would love for Carmarthenshire County Council to lead the campaign to abolish this title because he does not deserve it. His cruel actions in Trinidad were unforgivable.

Hopefully in the aftermath of the horrific event in Minneapolis when George Floyd was murdered by a police officer, we as Welsh people can do our bit to try to eliminate racism.

By educating the public about the cruelty of people like Thomas Picton we hope that we can bring back self respect to the descendants of slaves especially the black people.

It is also up to us to accept and respect people of different races and treat them as equals to people of the same skin colour as ourselves.

Aled Thomas Llandaf, Cardiff