Jim Crow Rock
I am fed up With Jim Crow laws,
People who are cruel
And afraid,
Who lynch and run,
Who are scared of me
And me of them.
Langston Hughes
The monument is a rock daubed with red, black and white paint in a ‘Golliwog’ style. The rock also bears the motto ’Jim Crow’. The name ‘Jim Crow’ was the nickname given to the racial segregation laws observed in the US at the beginning of the 20th Century – the Jim Crow Laws. The name was also applied in the US to the grossly exaggerated ‘minstrel’ caricature of a black person – popularly known in Britain as a ‘Golliwog’.
For many years the racist Jim Crow rock has stood as a testament to blatant prejudice and profound ignorance.
The rock sits on the foreshore of the small community of Dunoon. In 2003 a letter was published raising the issue and objecting to the rock in the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard (the local newspaper) but with little tangible response. In the same year, an email was also written to Trevor Phillips, the head of, the then Commission for Racial Equality, but received no reply.
There are two guys we will call Thomas Rebel and Bill Child who are involved in a project to:
“permanently obliterate a racist monument on the shores of the Clyde Estuary on the West coast of Scotland. “
The monument is a rock daubed with red, black and white paint in a ‘Golliwog’ style. The rock also bears the motto ’Jim Crow’. The name ‘Jim Crow’ was the nickname given to the racial segregation laws observed in the US at the beginning of the 20th Century – the Jim Crow Laws. The name was also applied in the US to the grossly exaggerated ‘minstrel’ caricature of a black person – popularly known in Britain as a ‘Golliwog’.
For many years the racist Jim Crow rock has stood as a testament to blatant prejudice and profound ignorance.
The rock sits on the foreshore of the small community of Dunoon. In 2003 a letter was published raising the issue and objecting to the rock in the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard (the local newspaper) but with little tangible response. In the same year, an email was also written to Trevor Phillips, the head of, the then Commission for Racial Equality, but received no reply.
Feeling this was unacceptable, the two guys drove to Dunoon last June (2009), and in the dead of night, used several tins of Drummond’s International Grey (an almost perfect colour match for the rock!) and following closely the instructions on the tins, painted out the motif.
This resulted in the local newspaper taking the issue more seriously, publishing an article on ‘vandalism’, and allocating space for the debate in their letters section. There were several letters of support for the protest from local community members.
Despite this, within weeks of the efforts, the motif had been reinstated – most likely with the support of certain local politicians.
The guys have now pledged to repeat their ‘vandalism’ in order to achieve the original objective and will do so again year after year until the rock is allowed to exist in its’ natural state.
Most recently, they have tried to get additional support and endorsement from other quarters, including me. Support I am happy to lend if it means this nasty afront to diversity might be removed.
Please find some interesting links for your perusal below.
The following link demonstrates the strength of feeling of a portion of the local community.
http://www.huntersquay.co.uk/
Another independent website outlining the story.
http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/TheJimCrow
Information provided by the Jim Crow museum details the history and significance of Jim Crow
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
If you want to assist in maintaining the rock in a neutral (non racist state) by periodically painting it with Drummonds International Grey or if you want to just share your thoughts about the issue, please do so here.