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Two monuments to politicians from the colonial era are to be removed from the center of the British capital, London.
The background is the involvement of the two men in the slave trade, announced the authorities of the City of London financial district on Friday.
A local government anti-racism commission recommended on Thursday that the statues of former London Mayor William Beckford (1709-1770) and MP John Cass (1661-1718) be replaced with other works of art.
In addition, a memorial to the victims of slavery is to be erected in the City of London.
Beckford had made wealth through slave labor on his plantations in Jamaica.
Cass was involved in the slave trade as the leading representative of the Royal African Company.
The William Beckford memorial in the Guildhall of London
Source: Wikipedia / The wub / CC-SA-4.0
Photo released under license CC-SA 4.0
A statue of John Cass on the Sir John Cass Foundation building.
A replica of it in the Guildhall is to be removed
Source: AFP / TOLGA AKMEN
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"The slave trade is an eyesore on our history," said City of London Co-Chair against Racism, Caroline Addy.
A modern and multiethnic city should not put those who have benefited from it on a pedestal.
The decision follows the protests in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement last summer.
The activists at the time also called for a study of British slavery history and the removal of monuments linked to the UK's colonial past.
In some places the activists replaced statues of slave traders with their own sculptures.
This week, however, a new regulation came into force in Great Britain, according to which statues can only be removed "in exceptional circumstances".
In cases where the National Monument Authority objects to the decision of local authorities, the government has the final say.