I AM heartened to see the ‘I can’t breathe’ protests around the world. No, that does not imply I support violence or looting, before anyone loses the plot.

Racism diminishes us all and we must all support those members of our community who are ill-treated or marginalised on account of the colour of their skin.

I agree with Keir Starmer that the Edward Colston statue in Bristol should have gone to a museum, displayed as a historical object, rather than dumped in the docks but the campaign to have the statue moved has gone on for decades without being sorted. Little wonder people gave up believing things would change.

Lest we forget, Colston’s company shipped 90,000 men, women and children to a life of slavery in the West Indies. They were branded with the company’s logo and the 20,000 who died in transit and were simply dumped at sea.

White people should do our best to try to imagine how welcome they would feel living in a city that proudly displayed the statue of a man who had been responsible for treating 90,000 white people in that way.

Black lives matter.

Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York