I was absolutely stunned to encounter this lawn jockey on my walk about this past weekend. I didn’t just take a double take, I took a quadruple take. Then I slapped my face a few times and looked again. Indeed, I thought I may have been transported back decades. I thought for sure this must have been one of the most racist things I’ve ever encountered in DC. But maybe I was wrong. I did a little research when I got back home and apparently back in the Underground Railroad days these lawn jockeys used to signify a safe place. Sometimes those supporting the Underground railroad would tie a a green string around the wrist to signify a safe place. You can read more about the history at this Web site or here at the Wikepedia entry.
So after reading the history a bit, what do you think about encountering a lawn jockey like this? Is it racist or in homage to the Underground railroad or is it simply a lawn decoration?
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