Portsmouth City of Culture: Racist hate comments get We Are Pompey Facebook page removed but bid 'won't be distracted'
‘We won’t be distracted’ - City of Culture bid organisers say an online penalty has redoubled determination to win the title for Portsmouth
The organisers of Portsmouth's bid to be named the 2029 City of Culture have said that a Facebook suspension will not derail the campaign.
Only a matter of days before the city sends off its bid to be named as the 2029 City of Culture, the campaign behind it, We Are Pompey, had its Facebook page removed by Meta due to hateful and racist comments left on posts celebrating the Portsmouth Cultural Festival.
A new Facebook page has been hastily set up to keep people up to date with how the bid is going ahead of it being lodged on Monday August 10.
"What has happened over the past few days has been deeply disappointing, but it has only strengthened our belief in why Portsmouth's bid to become UK City of Culture 2029 is so important,” said Gemma Nichols, who has been a leading force behind the campaign.
She said: “Portsmouth is a proud, diverse, and resilient city. It is built on the stories, experiences, and contributions of people from every background, culture and community. Most people in our city believe in kindness, respect and inclusion, and those values are at the heart of our bid.
“Our bid for Portsmouth is about celebrating the city we are today and shaping the city we want to be tomorrow, which is confident, welcoming, and united. We won't be distracted from that vision. Instead, we will continue working with communities across Portsmouth to make it a reality."
Andy Grays, CEO of the Guildhall Trust, said that the hateful commenters “do not present Portsmouth as a whole”.
“People who show disrespect in our community should be ashamed of themselves” he said.
“The City of Culture bid does reflect a city that is not perfect, nor is anywhere, but what we are trying to do collectively is raise the bar.
“This is not a new story, this has not just happened overnight. We have been challenging this behaviour for a long time.’
Dave Humphries, CEO of Shaping Portsmouth., said: “It was very saddening to hear about the comments posted onto social media, particularly following the great success of this weekend's cultural festival in celebrating the diverse communities that make up our incredible city.
“The Portsmouth100 celebrations and all of the work that has gone into producing the We Are Pompey 2029 Bid have shown what a wonderful foundation of culture this city has, but examples like this remind us all that there is still a lot to do in combatting those that seek to create division and hate,” he said.
“Like the Cultural Collective we at Shaping Portsmouth firmly believe nothing brings people together like culture does and success in the 2029 City of Culture bid will be transformational for our city.”
You can find the new Facebook page for We Are Pompey here.