Our approach to storytelling UK statues is flawed

Evidence suggests that the statues themselves are not the issue. It is the selective myth associated with memorable figures, which allows us to look at the past through rose-tinted glasses.^[1] For example, slave trader Edward Colston's statue was erected almost 170 years after his death in commendation of his philanthropy and status as a virtuous man in Bristol. His plaque has never been updated to include that he made his wealth as part of the Royal African Company.^[2] Colston played a huge part in shipping 80,000 men, women, and children from Africa to America to be sold as slaves, with a further loss of the lives of 20,000 people who died en route.^[3] There is a call for better education in the UK's national curriculum to stop teaching whitewashed views of history.^[4] There is also an argument that statues may remain if their plaques are truthful in teaching the horrors and the honours committed during the memorable figures' lifetime.^[5] This means the issues of taking down statues must be approached with caution. One solution is to engage in public debate to create a more balanced narrative in our storytelling of historical events.^[6] This opens up discourse for a better understanding of how the past, and the people we memorialise, impact the present day.