@izzythepush,
There’s the matter of history, how black people were whitewashed out and how certain individuals have had the less savoury aspects of their lives unexamined.
The popular conception over here was that there were no black people in Britain until the reign of Victoria, and even then it’s just a few individuals.
That’s not true at all, there were black people in Roman Britain, and significant black people in Tudor England. John Anthony, Jacques Francis and Reasonable Blackman were all skilled craftsmen valued for their expertise.
What stands out for me is William Gladstone. I studied him for A level, most of which was taken up with his feuding with Disraeli and his failure over reforms in Ireland. It turns out he was the son of a prominent slave owner. He voted against the abolition of slavery and subsequently received millions in compensation. That’s why Liverpool University are removing his name from a prominent building.
I like to consider myself as reasonably well informed, but I did not know that until I read the report on BBC news.