I couldn't pinpoint for a while what I felt was very wrong with #Bridgeton, and all the "forced racial correctness" of several #Netflix productions.
As I read yesterday about the Demerara massacre again (where British official brutally suppressed a non-violent protest in Guyana's sugar plantations exactly 200 years ago), I could finally pinpoint what is wrong.
Productions like Bridgeton are a shameful attempt of whitewashing the sins of colonialism and racism. Nothing less, nothing more.
They depict this ideal late-18th century Britain as a place where folks of African or Caribbean descent held noble titles, intermingle with white nobility, and even the queen herself is a racial mix.
Nothing could be further away from reality.
At that time, Britain was still all in with the lucrative slave trade, it used to indulge in what later was formalized into Kipling's racist doctrine of "the superior white man educating the inferior black man", and it used some among the most violent repression strategies of the time to suppress any form of dissent in its colonies.
Given the popularity of such productions with the young, I'm afraid that we're raising a generation that will underestimate the atrocities committed by their ancestors.
Can you imagine a Netflix production that takes place in the 1940s and it shows Jews and Nazi Germans peacefully coexisting and intermingling with one another? If we would be outraged at such a distortion of German history, why do we allow it when it comes to British history?
Another unlisted ecclesiastical building from the east end of Glasgow, this time in a much worse state of repair. This is the former Saint Clement's Pariah Church and hall on Brook Street. It was built in 1877. It is on the Buildings At Risk Register.
#glasgow #bridgeton #architecture #church #churcharchitecture #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #buildingsatrisk
#buildingsatrisk #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #churcharchitecture #church #architecture #bridgeton #glasgow
Greenhead Works on McPhail Street, Glasgow.
The central polychromatic brick section dates from around 1840, while the sandstone section in the foreground is from the end of the 1800s. In the background is a modern tenement block. Three very different architectural styles and periods, but I feel they all compliment each other very well, especially since the roofline has been maintained across all three.
#glasgow #bridgeton #calton #architecture #buildings #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture
#glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #buildings #architecture #Calton #bridgeton #glasgow
The Mathematician, 1874.
Situated on the former Buchanan Institute for Destitute Children on Greenhead Street in Bridgeton, Glasgow.
The sculptor, William Brodie, was also responsible for one of Scotland's most famous statues, that of GreyFriars Bobby on the George IV Bridge in Edinburgh.
#glasgow #bridgeton #sculpture #publicart #publicsculpture #greyfriarsbobby #architecture #architecturalfeature #designdetails #glasgowarchitecture
#glasgowarchitecture #designdetails #architecturalfeature #architecture #greyfriarsbobby #publicsculpture #publicart #sculpture #bridgeton #glasgow
Bridgeton Cross Mansions, Bridgeton, Glasgow. Built in 1896 from a design by John Cunningham. Absolutely love that finial!
#glasgow #tenement #glasgowtenement #bridgeton #architecture #building #glasgowbuilding #glasgowarchitecture #architecturephotography
#buildingphotography #finials
#finials #buildingphotography #architecturephotography #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuilding #building #architecture #bridgeton #glasgowtenement #tenement #glasgow
The once-imposing facade of the former Calton Police Station in the east end of Glasgow. Designed by John Carrick and opened in 1869, it contained offices, a muster hall, a court room, mortuary and 30 cells at the back.
Despite being B Listed, this building is considered at risk of being lost. Parts of its roof have already fallen in and it's generally in a very poor state of repair.
#glasgow #calton #bridgeton #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #building #listedbuilding #buildingatrisk
#buildingatrisk #listedbuilding #building #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #bridgeton #Calton #glasgow
Abandoned railway line passing under Crownpoint Road in the east end of Glasgow before disappearing under the city towards the northwest.
This line, part of the Glasgow City and District Railway, would have originally linked Bridgeton Cross Station (closed in 1979) with Gallowgate Central Station (closed in 1917) and on to High Street Station (still operational).
#glasgow #abandonedglasgow #abandonedengineering #oldrailwaylines #railwayhistory #glasgowhistory #railways #bridgeton #gallowgate
#gallowgate #bridgeton #railways #glasgowhistory #railwayhistory #oldrailwaylines #abandonedengineering #abandonedglasgow #glasgow
I've no idea what these animals on the front of the former bank building at Bridgeton Cross are, but I love them none-the-less.
#glasgow #animalsinarchitecture #animals #sculpture #bridgeton #architecture #design #designdetail #architecturaldetails
#architecturaldetails #designdetail #design #architecture #bridgeton #sculpture #animals #animalsinarchitecture #glasgow
The girls and boys entrance to the former Bridgeton Public Library in Glasgow. Designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by J.R. Rhind, it was built in the early 1900s. It is now home to the Glasgow Women's Library.
#glasgow #bridgeton #publiclibraries #glasgowwomenslibrary #architecture #buildings #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture
#buildingphotography
#architecturephotography
#architecturephotography #buildingphotography #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #buildings #architecture #glasgowwomenslibrary #publiclibraries #bridgeton #glasgow
To qualify for assistance, children had to be of Scottish extraction and preference was given to those with the surnames of Logan and Johnston (the family names of the husband and wife who founded it).
#glasgow #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #bridgeton #buildings #architecture #glasgowhistory #socialhistory #education #educationhistory #glasgowschools #scottisheducation
#scottisheducation #glasgowschools #educationhistory #education #socialhistory #glasgowhistory #architecture #buildings #bridgeton #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #glasgow
The former Logan and Johnston School of Domestic Economy, James Street, Glasgow.
Built in 1893 and designed by James Thomson in the Scottish Renaissance style, this school was founded as an independent educational establishment for the assistance of poor or destitute children.
#glasgow #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #bridgeton #buildings #architecture #glasgowhistory #socialhistory #education #educationhistory #glasgowschools #scottisheducation
#scottisheducation #glasgowschools #educationhistory #education #socialhistory #glasgowhistory #architecture #buildings #bridgeton #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #glasgow
Former Greenhead Weaving Factory, James Street, Glasgow.
Designed by Ninian MacWhannell and built in 1888 using polychromatic brickwork, which was a common feature of 19th Century industrial buildings in Glasgow. It housed power-looms of Thomas Thomson which were used to manufacture cloth.
#glasgow #polychromaticbrickwork #bridgeton #industrialbuildings #weaving #glasgowhistory #glasgowfactories #glasgowbuildings #buildings #architecture #glasgowarchitecture #buildingphotography #brickwork
#brickwork #buildingphotography #glasgowarchitecture #architecture #buildings #glasgowbuildings #glasgowfactories #glasgowhistory #weaving #industrialbuildings #bridgeton #polychromaticbrickwork #glasgow
This is listed as being built as a branch of the Trustees Savings Bank, but the Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland on the Bridgeton Cross Elevation would suggest an association with the British Linen Bank instead.
#glasgow #bridgeton #bridgetoncross #listedbuildings #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #architecture #buildings #buildingphotography #architecturephotography
#architecturephotography #buildingphotography #buildings #architecture #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #listedbuildings #bridgetoncross #bridgeton #glasgow
Former bank building at Bridgeton Cross, Glasgow. Built in 1894 to a design by John Gordon (although the date on the Landressy Street elevation says 1900). I particularly like the roofline creates by all those chimneys.
#glasgow #bridgeton #bridgetoncross #listedbuildings #glasgowbuildings #glasgowarchitecture #architecture #buildings #buildingphotography #architecturephotography
#architecturephotography #buildingphotography #buildings #architecture #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowbuildings #listedbuildings #bridgetoncross #bridgeton #glasgow