Laurentino Gomes gives a history lesson about the English slave trader whose statue was toppled.
"Edward Colston was a shareholder in the Royal Adventures into Africa (RAC), which transported 80 Africans to America," the writer argued.
By Laurentino Gomes, on his Twitter account – A historical injustice spanning three centuries exacted its toll this Sunday on the streets of Bristol, a former port for the English slave trade. Protesters toppled the statue of Edward Colston, a merchant of enslaved Africans, considered (by whites) to be a benefactor of the city.
After the statue was toppled, one of the protesters placed his knee on the neck of the slave market figure, thus replicating the action of police officer Derek Chauvin, responsible for the death of George Floyd, a black man, on May 25th in the American city of Minneapolis.
Edward Colston was a shareholder in the Royal Adventures into Africa (RAC). Created in 1660 with a monopoly on the slave trade in England, the RAC transported 80 Africans to America, but went bankrupt due to competition from the Portuguese and Brazilians, who were more efficient in the business.
Among the shareholders of RAC was Queen Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal and married to King Charles II of England. Her brother-in-law, the Duke of York, conquered the city of New York from the Dutch and named the current borough of Queens in honor of Catherine.
A sort of curse hangs over the statues of the former shareholders of the RAC. Years ago, under pressure from the Black Lives Matter movement, New York abandoned plans to erect a statue honoring Catherine of Braganza in the Queens borough. It was the belated price she paid for the slave trade.
The story of RAC and the "sad" fate of the statue of Catherine of Braganza in the Queens neighborhood of New York are in the first volume of the "Slavery" trilogy, which I launched last year at the Rio de Janeiro Book Biennial.