University of Wisconsin moves rock seen as symbol of racism

[TexasTowelie]

KAYLA WOLF, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL VIA AP
Crews work to remove Chamberlin Rock from Observatory Hill on UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wis., Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.


MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin removed a large boulder from its Madison campus on Friday at the request of minority students who view the rock as a symbol of racism.

Chamberlin Rock, on the top of Observatory Hill, is named after Thomas Crowder Chamberlin, a geologist and former university president. Students of color on campus say the rock represents a history of discrimination. The boulder was referred to as a derogatory name for Black people in a Wisconsin State Journal story in 1925.

The derogatory term was commonly used in the 1920s to describe any large dark rock. University historians have not found any other time that the term was used, but they said the Ku Klux Klan was active on campus at that time, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

University Chancellor Rebecca Blank approved removing Chamberlin Rock in January but the Wisconsin Historical Society needed to sign off because the boulder was located within 15 feet (4.6 meters) of a Native American burial site.

Read more: https://www.startribune.com/university-of-wisconsin-moves-rock-seen-as-symbol-of-racism/600085428/

[harumph]

1. A rock - a naturally occurring rock was

viewed as a symbol of racism?? So presumably this rock was referred to as n* rock? What's to stop a racist
from pointing to yet another natural or manmade object and referring to it in a racially derogatory way?
Will that object have to be removed as well?
The rock in the article was deposited where it was from the last ice age. IMO, moving the rock doesn't solve any problem
whatsoever - it isn't analogous to a confederate statue or a feature or object that "celebrates" or "promotes"
racism. This is wasted time, labor and cost that will be paid for by the students. Moreover, as an environmentalist,
I find this absurd exercise appalling.

[Scruffy1]

2. The cost was paid for by private donations.

IMHO removing one rock in the glaciated area of Wisconsin has no serious environmental impacts. It is common to find large granite boulders like this during excavation for construction. They are often broken up with explosives for removal. The term for this rock was very common when I was growing up in the fifties and I am sure it is part of the local vernacular.. As a boy, I helped remove boulders from fields. We called them "f__________" rocks.

[Owl]

11. Exactly

[oldsoftie]

12. You're right. And its only gonna get more silly

Yes, the term WAS wrongly used 100 yrs ago. But it was used to describe ANY rock of size, not just THIS rock. It was called that when it was dug up, not at the school. No idea what genius came up with the term, but THIS rock wasnt "named" it. Its not like Table Rock.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. At one time

Brazil Nuts were sold as this -



What is "absurd" is the lack of education about what white supremacy did in all aspects of life - whether by law or by culture and a myriad of symbols ingrained into society as a "norm" (which includes product promotion) and yes, sculptures, statues and "rocks", and how these impact on a continually marginalized demographic.

When you have what became a LOCAL symbol of hate and racism that this particular rock was assigned from its historic presence there, then it behooves to just step back.

This was just a "post" -



And it had an obvious notorious history yet was given a venerated place in Delaware -



Until the shit was removed.



Right now, the biggest travesty that needs to be blasted off the "rock" is this -

[Python boot]

3. Private donations

Private donations paid for the rock to be removed. Erratics are all over the landscape in my neck of the woods and one that size would be viewed as a nuisance to be removed during any building program. The fact that this natural feature was referred to by that name by students and faculty is more than enough justification for anyone on campus to want it removed.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. I guess I don't get why a naturally occurring rock was thought of as a symbol, either

Unless something hateful happened at the rock that people remember. Reminds me of a very large rock that was in the entrance of the main building of my college. It hung from the ceiling and was surrounded by a swing. People waiting would sit on the swing part, though I remember that someone would occasionally want to show off and lie under it - that is, until one time the chain broke and it fell. We didn't see anyone getting under it again after that...

[The Jungle 1]

10. I doubt the rock was naturally occurring.

It was probably placed there to honor the geologist. I do not know it is only my guess.
In many parts of the country round hard rocks are refereed to as -----heads. I live in a township called West Rockhill and the rocks were commonly called this and probably still are refereed to by this ignorant racist name.
We still have a lot of work America. But I believe we are headed the right direction.

[Rhiannon12866]

14. Oh, I believe you, though that is an awfully big rock

Maybe it's where I live, but the only rock I've run across in these parts that has a name is Roger's Rock on Lake George - visible from my house when I was a kid - which legend says that British Ranger Robert Rogers slid down to escape from the French and their Native American allies during the French and Indian War in 1758.

And I sure hope we're headed in the right direction. Too many died in the '60s for civil rights to contemplate the possibility that we're going backwards.

[johnthewoodworker]

5. Wait a minute. Are you telling me that in our history of Republican/Nazi racists someone

gave a rock a racist name? Yeah, that fits our history and current culture. Get rid of the damn thing.

[NurseJackie]

6. Where will it be taken?

[RVN VET71]

7. Why not just call it the "Asshole Rock" and pay a sculptor to shape it into a likeness of TFG?

[Historic NY]

8. Appears it was placed there in the first place...

[link:https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/uw-madison-to-remove-70-ton-boulder-some-view-as-reminder-of-campus-racist-past/article_cf1b2975-ef90-5df2-991e-23571d5a0afa.html|]

[harumph]

9. that is not what the article says:

"The boulder is a rare, large example of a pre-Cambrian era glacial erratic that experts say is likely over 2 billion years old. It was carried by glaciers from as far north as Canada and dumped on Observatory Hill along with billions of tons of other debris when ice receded from the state about 12,000 years ago. It was previously estimated to have weighed up to 70 tons, but an updated measurement shows it weighs 42 tons. It will continue to be used for educational purposes at its new site."

[Historic NY]

15. The old original articles.

From the 1925 newspaper

[link:?resize=1200%2C1279|]

[3Hotdogs]

16. I figure that stores should no longer be allowed to sell eggplant.

Ya see, in the Italian neighborhood where I grew up, ......