To want to run for the hills

[Scaredcrow]

Have name changed for this.
I live in a "naice" village where we have an annual Scarecrow trail, each year there is a theme and people, school, shops, businesses etc build scarecrows and display them for a week around the time of harvest.
I won't say what the theme is as it could be identifying and I don't think the crow in question fits very well anyway. The whole thing is meant to be fun and an activity meant to build community spirit.
It has come to light that an organisation have decided that their crow this year will be a slave trader who later became involved in the abolition of slavery, not very obvious as you drive on a main A road through the village but there will be a written explanation next to the crow. All fairly harmless so far, BUT they are going to have a small crow depicting an African child in chains next to it.
I am quite frankly horrified and have suggested that they rethink, I went as far as saying "you can't do that" but they are unmoved.
I live on the same road and want to run for the hills as I can envisage a huge shit storm descending on the village in a few weeks time, not to mention numerous traffic incidents as shocked drivers catch sight as they drive past.

WTF? Are they crazy? Common sense and wisdom has left the building!

Thejeangenie I love your response, I'm going to pass it on to the people I spoke to.

Twotailed no black people on the church committee or the scarecrow committee, there are probably less than twenty black people living in the village.

I think I'm going to discreetly contact the chair of the committee today and give him a heads up simply because I care about the village, as for the people who came up with this ridiculous idea I literally have no words.

Why can't they? You haven't managed to articulate why this is inappropriate other than you are offended.

Hate crime? Racism? Get a fucking grip. Representing slavery is not racist.

Do you protest outside libraries if they have books about slavery?

Mont they can of course do whatever they like and of course I don't protest outside libraries because that would be fucking ridiculous.
My concerns are that depicting a grown man controlling a small child in chains is completely inappropriate for a family event that is supposed to be fun and aimed at building community spirit, add to that the fact that the small child is black and the man is white and it becomes offensive, racist and inappropriate because it will be seen out of context. Not everyone will read the explanation or view the film being shown inside the church.
If next year's theme is tv personalities of yesteryear would it be a good idea to make a crow depicting Jimmy Salvile.

"the fact that the small child is black and the man is white and it becomes offensive, racist and inappropriate"

No. Simply no.

It is not racist.

Offensiveness - well, you're perfectly entitled to be offended / triggered.

Inappropriate - well, that isn't up to you to decide.

You sound like a busybody. Interfering and looking to be offended and completely missing the point.

Mont you're the one missing the point, the scarecrow trail is not supposed to be a history or social engineering lesson, it's supposed to be a fun, family event and it will offend people.
If not wanting people to be offended or upset by the image and possibly bringing adverse publicity to the village labels me as a busybody then I'm proud to wear the badge.

Nope. It is offensive and it's racist.
I'm sure you can agree the slave trade was racist right?
Remembering someone who helped to end it is all well and good (though as mentioned before it sounds that this is being done in a "isn't the white man who freed all the poor black helpless child-like slaves a nice man even though he owned lots of slaves first" way)
But this is a light-hearted scarecrow trail! With no context to the hundreds of people who will drive by.
Tell me that if you saw in someone's garden a statue of a white man with a small black child on a chain you wouldn't make some serious judgements on that garden owner?!

Sorry that was to montFleur

Ketayuzu beautifully put

They really should stick to celebrating something they know about.
Like the harvest festival. Or farming. Or whatever. Just not this.

I can just picture the black minority residents being given sympathetic glances and shoulder squeezes by their white saviours.
[runs back to safety of multi cultural city]

Someone else put a really good link to an article showing how the whole narrative that we have around abolition is really quite racist and totally underplays the role that slaves and former slaves played themselves.

I've just been to see the crows - no chains, just a rich white man in resplendent costume holding hands with a black goliwog, naked but for a loincloth.

Oh god....

I've just been to see the crows - no chains, just a rich white man in resplendent costume holding hands with a black goliwog, naked but for a loincloth.

OMFG

I've emailed my concerns to the organisers, I feel sick that people think this is ok.

Typical little britain!

When you say a goliwog... I mean where did they even find one?

Unbelievable that they feel this is appropriate!

The small crow is a papier-mâché child painted black, pink lips, curly (not Afro) wig.

I have no words

Oh bloody hell OP!
My village has a scarecrow festival every year as well, the most controversy we've had is two houses accidentally both did Jurrasic Park theme. It was quite fabulous really.
I'm not sure what you can do more than you have.

Double Jurassic Park sounds ace!

So what link does the village actually have to slavery? These tend to be farming communities that have scarecrow events - not much in the way of slavery. There's a village in mid Suffolk where they have a scarecrow festival every year. (I shall have to pop up and have a look).

I believe the link is between a famous plantation owner turned abolitionist and the local Church. I was surprised by the connection, it’s an interesting story for sure.

We're going to see this in the Daily Mail!