As a Council member, I have encountered my share of odd issues and I understand that these go with the territory.  However, I received an email that had been forwarded numerous times that was a little out of the ordinary.

The issue was that some Springfieldians were upset about a small concrete statue that was being displayed on the front porch of a Springfield house.  The statue was of a young black male holding a fishing pole and sitting on the edge of the porch.  The real issue was that the statue apparently had a piece of twine around its neck.

Some folks felt like this was a reference to the lynchings that had occurred in the city back during the early 1900s.  In fact, there was a photo that was being circulated by email that showed the statue on the porch.

After numerous forwardings, the email made its way to my city email account with the comment that I should know about it, since I was the Council representative to the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights.  It had also come to the attention of the local NAACP.

My initial question, which no one could answer, was “Has anyone talked to the occupant of the house?”  As near as I could tell, the answer was no.  No one had any idea if the issue was one of racism or simply a matter of questionable taste.

After driving by the house in question a couple of times, I decided to talk to the occupants in person.  I stopped by after lunch earlier this week and knocked on the door.  There was no answer nor was there any vehicle in the driveway.  I left a business card in the door with a request for the folks to call me.

Several hours later, I got the message from the Clerk’s office that the gentleman had called to talk to me.  I returned the call and explained the situation.  While the occupant was a bit nervous and defensive at first, he indicated that there was no intent to defame a particular segment of our population—rather he was simply trying to affix the statue to his house to prevent theft.   His holiday decorations had all been stolen last December.

He also indicated that he had removed the fishing pole and replaced it with an American flag—because of Flag Day and the approach of the Independence Day holiday.

I believed the gentleman because, as I had walked up his driveway to the front door, I could see that it wasn’t twine or rope around the neck of the statue, but actually a cable that then wrapped around the porch pillar and was secured with a small padlock.

At the end of the conversation, I reiterated to him that he was not in trouble, he was not in violation of any ordinance, and that he could decorate his private property however he wished.  I also repeated that what he had done to secure the statue was being interpreted as anti-Black by a segment of our population.  I suggested that anything he could voluntarily do to secure the statue in a way that didn’t entail a cord around the neck would be a welcome change.  And I left it at that.

I think the lesson to be learned from this is four-fold:  first, if there is a question, for heaven’s sake, ask it.  This entire situation would have been unnecessary if the first folks to see the cable around the neck had simply asked the occupants about the intent of the decoration.  City Council or a City Council member didn’t need to be involved in this, although—once it reached this level—I was happy to look into the situation.

Secondly, we must be careful about inserting our own context into someone else’s reality.  The only intent, I’m convinced after talking with the gentleman, was to provide some decoration to the house.  Incidentally, there was also a replica of some of the Chinese warriors that were archeologically uncovered several years ago.  It was also secured to the side of the porch.

Thirdly, we can’t and shouldn’t legislate taste in décor.  What other folks find attractive is really none of my business.  Nor is it the business of others—it’s private property and, if it doesn’t violate other ordinances, then it’s the owner’s or the occupant’s taste in decor, not ours.

And finally—and this is a “walk in their moccasins” type of thing:  if we don’t live in those neighborhoods, let’s not pass judgment on those who do.  I don’t know what it’s like to worry about your belongings being missing every time you return home.  But some folks in our city do have that concern.

The take-away for me from this situation is simply this:  we really have to look at the context of a situation and ask ourselves if it’s similar to our own experiences.  If there is no similarity, maybe we shouldn’t feel the need to rush to judgment of others.