Walker's Point antiques shop under fire for racist antiques

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Walker's Point antiques shop is under fire for allowing a vendor to sell items many people view as racist. A small business owner is calling for them to be removed because they should not be celebrated or sold for profit.

About a dozen people protested Thursday outside Antiques on Pierce, calling on the owners to remove the offending items. There are dozens of figurines, dolls, posters, and more that depict Black children and adults as racist caricatures.

Chloe Longmire, a small business owner, said, "I was shocked to even see things like this still on dis- they're really not on display, they're on sale. I was shocked to see these things on sale."

Longmire went to Antiques on Pierce over the weekend to sell some of her products but was completely caught off guard by what she saw for sale. She said, "They are so upsetting, they are so offensive."

Longmire said the portrayals have been devastating for the Black community because they were created to spread a fear of Black people. "These depictions are rooted in white supremacy. They're rooted in what's known as the racial caste system of Jim Crow."

In a now-viral social media post, Longmire said she would not breathe life into the images, and that when she brought it to the owners' attention, she was told the antiques are a part of history. She said, "I know that has come up a lot, that 'oh it's history.' But it's a part of history that deserves some education around it."

An art historian told us antiques like this are fairly common because they were mass produced years ago. But what's missing when they're sold for profit is context, to explain what the images are and why they are hurtful.

The historian said selling the antiques is much different than presenting them in an academic setting with descriptive notes, placards or lectures.

Longmire said the antiques were so offensive she'd like them destroyed, and while she welcomes conversations about them, they shouldn't be on display and for sale. "But I think that should be left up to those whose stories are being told. And that's Black people. It should not be left to someone who doesn't understand or doesn't want to understand what these things mean to us."

The art historian we spoke with said ideally antiques like this would be donated to institutions that can provide proper context, and where they can be made available to scholars.

The owners of Antiques on Pierce let us film inside the shop, but they declined to go on camera.