CAMPAIGNERS ARE rallying together to have the statue of a 17th century slave trader removed from outside a London museum.

The monument of Sir Robert Geffrye, who was the part-owner of a slave ship called the China Merchant, has stood above the entrance of the Museum of the Home since its transition from an almshouse in 1913.

Labour MP Diane Abbott joined protests against the statue, but the government’s former culture secretary Oliver Dowden came out in favour of keeping the statue, which honours the mass murderer.

Following the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol during a summer of Black Lives Matter demonstrations, a public consultation with the museum and Hackney Council found that 71% of participants wanted the statue to be removed.

A statement from the museum at the time said: “We feel that the statue of Robert Geffrye on the front of the Museum’s buildings does not promote the sense of belonging that is so important for our visitors, and fundamental to the Museum’s values.”

Geffrye made the majority of his wealth through the slavery, owning shares in the Royal African Company and the East India Company that traded African lives.

It is alleged that the museum’s sudden U-turn not to remove the monument in July 2020 was due to government pressure and fear of budget cuts to the buildings refurbishment during the pandemic, despite claiming the matter “a complex debate, full of nuance and different opinions”.

Hackney Stand Up to Racism (HSUTR) and other campaigning groups are still fighting against the presence of the monument in the city which Hackney Councillor Soraya Adejere has described as “a symbol of cruelty, oppression and subjugation.”

The campaign group, with the support of Labour MP Diane Abbott, are calling for it to be brought down from its plinth and put on display in the museum where the history of the slave owner can be told. 

The museum has now agreed for “an alternative and less prominent space” for the monument, but campaigners are still putting pressure on them to act on its statement. 

Sasha Simic, a member of Hackney Stand Up to Racism, told The Voice: “Our argument has been this is a museum; it’s about telling the truth about history. You get nothing from that statue, except that what you see is a highly civilised man with no no inkling as to his links with slavery and where he got his money. 

“The argument has always been to take it down, put it into the museum or by museum where the full story can be told,” he said.

“Our campaign is going to go on because, while it’s a statement of intent [from the museum] it doesn’t differ very much from what they asked the government 10 months earlier [to remove the statue from outside the museum] and that was refused. 

“We also know that just because [Oliver] Dowden has gone and been replaced by Nadine Dorries as the culture secretary, we don’t see any change in the government’s policy around these statues and around their interpretation of history.”

HSUTR have held eight demonstration outside the Museum of the Home under the hashtag #GeffryeMustFall and have called on Hackney residents to boycott the museum. 

The group have garnered the support of Hackney National Education Union (NEU) and the NEU branches in the neighbouring boroughs of Islington and Haringey.

The Claudia Jones Organisation, the Day-Mer Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre are also pushing for the removal of the statute.

As the 18-month campaign continues to build momentum, a HSUTR spokesperson said: “It’s no good the museum arguing that they will remove the statue when the government lets them. 

“The racist government of Boris Johnson has been defending the statue of slaver owners since Black Lives Matter activists toppled the statue of the Bristol slaver Edward Colston in June 2020.  

“Home Secretary Priti Patel has gone as far as to include a clause in her draconian Police and Crime Bill which would mean a prison sentence of up to ten years for anyone caught trying to overturn a statue to a slaver.  

“We will continue to call on schools and community organisations to join the boycott the museum and we will continue to hold demonstrations at the museum and to leaflet corporate events held at the museum until the statue to the slaver comes down. 

“If the museum is sincere about wanting the statue moved, they will have to challenge the government and bring it down. 

“They will have the support of the majority of the people of Hackney, and every anti-racist, if they did so.”

The Voice has contacted the Museum of the Home for comment.