dave_j

Quite right Mr Shard.
These comments betray the attitudes and views of the posters more than they do the assumed purpose of the owner.
What do we actually see in the garden? A small collection of black figurines dressed in summer clothing. The link to slavery is nowhere to be seen. No shackles, no ball and chain, no rags and I'm tempted to ask the question.. 'will all sculptures of black people invoke this response?'
It seems the garden police are alive and well.. even on BE. Perhaps rather than question the mindset of the owner we should ask ourselves just why some of us feel upset by what is shown on the image.

Partially discharged

The homeowners probably couldn't give a damn what people passing by think. They may be black people who live here that have been the subject of this shaming through a photo. It all seems like a storm in a tea cup to me without any other information.

Almost Canadian

I first went to school in the late 1970s in England. I went to school with all different types of people despite the fact that, until I was 12, I went to a Catholic school. We were always taught to respect everyone so I would like to think that I don't see people as white, black, Sikh, Muslim. I simply see people as good, bad, arsehole, etc.

I believe that your views are a generational thing, rather than you being inherently racist. I had no idea what a "lawn boy" was until Dbd33 mentioned it and I had to Google it. I have never seen one.

Maybe you have experienced lots of racism in your life. I have to admit that I haven't. I don't doubt it exists. A lawyer colleague of mine in the UK (who practised criminal law) told me of stories of Court clerks and the like informing him that "he couldn't sit there" assuming that he was the accused, rather than the accused's lawyer.

Teaandtoday5

Have to say if I saw these I would be judging the householders. But then I'm not keen on the jockeys either, and there are plenty at the gates to horse farms around here.

Someone nearby has two dinosaurs (triceratops) , each about the size of our ride-on lawnmower. They definitely make a statement, makes me wonder if their neighbours are creationists.

dbd33

Yes, I see the picture now. I suppose I am neither a person of colour nor an angler but I don't see a problem there. Unlike horse holding, fishing doesn't seem to me to imply subservience or, indeed, anything at all. Is there a subtext I'm missing?

Teaandtoday5

I am not an angler either, but even I can see they're not going to catch much...

dbd33

Not in Ontario, the Chinese guys have always got there first.

DandNHill

So you have an issue with the Chinese do you?

bats

The faces, they're blackface. Coalblack, big white eyes, exaggerated lips. .

dbd33

Not especially, but I often see them fishing.

Danny B

The stuff nightmares are made of.

macadian

Better than a yard full of scrap vehicles, metal etc..get over yourselves....

bats

Well the location is in your neck on the woods,

caretaker

This has to be a case of unthinking crassness vs intentional racism. Go inside and you're sure to find a bunch of crafting shit, and no Klan robes. If it was old folk art or Jim Crow period collectibles there could be another explanation, but nope. And Bats, you're ok, I'd rather have you PC to a fault than racist any day.

Paul_Shepherd

I think thats a good way of putting it - a generational thing, it was a bit like the golliwog motif being removed from the Robertson's marmalade label, as another form of political correctness.

When i was growing up as a child, no one saw anything wrong with the label, it was just symbol representing Robertson's jam. I think my sister even had one of those dolls! However things have changed over time. As you say its generational.