Historic pub sign stays put after public outcry

by Claire Hu

A £25,000 project to remove a pub sign after claims it was racist has been abandoned following a public outcry.

A special group had been set up to look at replacing the sign at the Labour in Vain, in Westergate, near Chichester, and public cash was pledged from heritage groups.

The sign, thought to be 200 years old, depicts a woman scrubbing a young boy in the bath.

On the other side, she is scratching her head in confusion that he remains black.

Campaigners said the sign was offensive, and should be put in a museum and replaced with one by a modern artist.

It raised questions about the political correctness of hundreds of historical pub signs throughout the country, and letters flooded in to Steve Bundock, owner of the freehouse, saying he should keep the sign.

"I have been inundated with letters saying not to change the sign," he said.

"I've not had one saying it should be taken down.

"Locals say it is part of the heritage of the village.

I don't think it is racist, but I am just the piggy in the middle.

This is a local community pub

so I have to go with what the locals want."

Bundock said none of his black customers had taken offence.

The project has now been abandoned, according to the Countryside Agency which pledged money.

This is partly due to opposition to the plans, and also because Bundock has not heard from the project organisers for months.

The Morning Advertiser reported last year how another Labour in Vain pub in Oldwinsford, near Stourbridge, removed a sign showing a black man being washed in a bath by two white women, after complaints from race equality groups.

Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, said: "Each case needs to be looked at individually and it's best for licensees to discuss these issues with whoever is complaining.

"It's a difficult issue when a sign has been there for hundreds of years.

If it was called the Black Boy, for example, I can't see what's wrong with that.

If I was black I would be proud to be called black.