Should slavery's statues be removed? On transitional justice and contested heritage

What should we do with statues and place-names memorializing people who committed human rights abuses linked to slavery and post-slavery racism? In this paper, I draw on UN principles of transitional justice to address this question. I propose that a successful approach should meet principles of transitional justice recognized by the UN, including affirming rights to justice, truth, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence of human rights violations. I discuss four strategies for handling contested heritage, examining strengths and weaknesses of each strategy. Examples from Bristol, England highlight common challenges as well as positive lessons.