By: Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show
In 1927, a white banker in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ordered the construction of a statue that was said to honor the contribution of black men to society. Bryan hired sculptor Hans Schuler of Baltimore to create the piece for $4,300. The structure would be unveiled in the city of Natchitoches. Once revealed, the crowd saw the inscription that said “Erected by the city of Natchitoches in grateful recognition of the arduous and faithful services of the good darkies of Louisiana.” The statue was the first known statue of a black man in the United States.
The white residents felt the statue, which was a black man slightly bending over and tipping his hat, was a sentimental tribute to the hardworking slaves who watched the masters’ families while they went to war to keep them enslaved. Nicknamed “Uncle Jack” the statue garnered major support from whites and mixed support from blacks; though it was called the “Good Darky Statue” in an October 1930 issue of National Geographic magazine.
During the Civil Rights Movement, the statue began to engender racial discord. The NAACP requested the removal of the statue. Often vandalized or whitewashed, the statue had undergone harsh attempts to destroy it. Local authorities were eventually told the statue would be bombed if it wasn’t removed. One night, “Uncle Jack” was chained to a bulldozer and hidden at the local airport. Soon after, the Smithsonian offered to take the statue for its own display. But the statue was ultimately donated by Jack Bryan’s daughter to the Rural Life Museum, owned by Louisiana State University (LSU).
By 1989, a state representative ordered the covering of the inscription. And as racial progress grew, the campus received requests to remove or reposition the statue, including one from Maya Angelou in 1997. And just last year, the Association of African American Museums refused to tour the grounds because of the statue.
Last fall, LSU decided to reposition the. It was placed near the old African-American Baptist church on the campus grounds.
Thanks to our dedicated listener, Milton Gibson in Shreveport, Louisiana, who wrote to us about the statue.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/moving_america_news/18129&page=16
