So, rocks are racist now.
Yes, the University of Madison is removing a large rock that was pulled out of a nearby hill in 1925.
UW-Madison will remove a 70-ton boulder from the heart of campus Friday morning following calls over the past year from students of color who view the rock as a symbol of the university's racist past.
Chamberlin Rock, located on top of Observatory Hill, is named in honor of Thomas Crowder Chamberlin, a geologist and former university president. But for some students of color on campus, the rock represents a painful history of discrimination.
WHY, you ask?
- Was the rock used in the slave trade?
- Was it a monument to a super racist person?
- Was it used as the site of lynchings or KKK rallies?
Nope. But the rock was ā like every other dark boulder at the time ā once called a "n*****head" in a newspaper.
The boulder was referred to as a "nāā-head" ā a commonly used expression in the 1920s to describe any large dark rock ā at least once in a 1925 Wisconsin State Journal story. University historians have not found any other time that the term was used but said the Ku Klux Klan was active on campus at that time.
So, to sum up, a common geological term with racial implications was used once in a 1925 news story to describe the rock, and despite the term not being used by anyone in campus since, it should be removed because the KKK was also around at the time... even though they had nothing to do with the rock...
What a time to be alive.
Stellar reporting! Seriously, this whole story shows how well adjusted and wise our universities are today.
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P.S. While you're here, watch our latest video about gaffemaster Joe Biden's "most profound and inspirational quotes" š:
