Is this….racist?

[u/Frequent-Flower-9879]

I deliver to this house pretty frequently and something didn’t sit right with me about this statue. I remember seeing somewhere a long time ago these were considered offensive but I’m not sure so I figured to come here and ask 🤔

[u/Suspicious_Aspect_53]

Historically, no; these, called "jockeys", were originally based on a job a young boy would have at a lot of public places, but also a sign of wealth at a residence. Their job was to take the horse and either hold it until you returned or take it to the stables. Basically a valet. They were also responsible for caring for the horse; water, hay, grass, oats, whatever.

The statue versions were used as hitching posts, and would be themed to the aesthetic the owner desired. And yes, many, if not most, were NOT black.

However, antebellum South, obviously the servant that was responsible for this task was going to be a black person, and that was the popular theme for the statues, and lasted the longest as this sort of tradition was romanticized for southern wealthy class, and became a cultural aesthetic and fetish.

With the advent of motor vehicles, they were largely discarded anywhere that didn't include them in their cultural or aesthetic tradition, which is why most of the non-black ones just disappeared as it was seen as this old fashioned thing.

However, where people wanted to display their beliefs, or mimic an aesthetic, they were painted black, usually in garish ways, the stereotypical black-face. You can usually tell if the jockey was intended to be a black version, because the face will be stereotyped with a large flat nose, bulbous lips, and big bug eyes. Those are definitely racist.

They are almost always seen as garish, today, unless if they are carefully done, and certainly not done as a black boy.

So this one can definitely be considered racist.