After 83 years of protesting, vandalism and relocation, the University-owned statue known as “Uncle Jack” or “The Good Darkie,” has stirred trouble again in its home town of Natchitoches. The Natchitoches Parish Citizens League, an organization which promotes civic responsibility, demonstrated Monday outside Natchitoches City Hall against the city’s recent request for the return of the controversial statue from the University.The 200-person demonstration began at 5 p.m. at the Natchitoches First Baptist Church and continued to the mayor’s office. The demonstration also dealt with other racial issues in the city — including high utility bills for the poor and unfairness in city zoning — but the initial cause was the requested return of the statue, said Pat Hoover, the demonstration’s organizer.Hoover said the overall tone of the march addressed equity issues in the city and also protested racial issues such as the inclusion of Confederate soldiers in the Natchitoches Christmas of Light Parade.The statue, which depicts an elderly black man tipping his hat, has been the source of controversy since it was first erected in 1926 on Front Street, the main drag of Natchitoches.Natchitoches Mayor Wayne McCullen said the city expressed interest in the statue’s return to be the cornerstone of the city’s proposed African American Museum. He said there was a misunderstanding the statue would be put back on Front Street as the museum construction will not begin for at least two years.The controversy came from racial overtones associated with the statue, which many feel displays nostalgia for a time when blacks were marginalized in the South.”It means that my ancestors were identified as less than human beings,” said Robert Jackson, Natchitoches Parish Citizens League president. “The implication is of the kind of people that would be a good darkie and get off the street, or bow his head or say ‘yassuh boss.'”Uncle Jack was first removed from Natchitoches in 1969, when blacks in the city began speaking and acting out against it.”We realize it is a part of our history, but it isn’t a good part,” Hoover said. “It’s like putting up a statue of Hitler.”The statue now belongs to the LSU Rural Life Museum and has been there since 1972 when it was donated by Jo Bryant Ducournau, the daughter of the man who commissioned the statue.David Floyd, director of the Rural Life Museum, said the University denied Natchitoches’ request and will keep the statue.The city of Natchitoches has asked for Uncle Jack back on numerous occasions since the ’70s, and the University denied the city each time, Floyd said.Floyd said the statue was originally commissioned to reflect on the contributions of blacks to the cultural and agricultural history of Louisiana.”It’s a relic, an artifact of our past,” Floyd said. “It’s not something we would create today. It’s not a pretty part of our history, but it’s important to remember — even if it’s just so we don’t repeat it.”—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]