MAITLAND’S RACIST GARDEN GNOME - THE SONG

You can find my song Maitland’s Racist Garden Gnome at https://marktindall.hearnow.com/maitlands-racist-garden-gnome and YouTube https://tinyurl.com/5ww5bws2

It’s related to my book Maitland’s Racist Garden Gnome.
Kindle version: https://tinyurl.com/2a2mjaa9
Paperback version: https://tinyurl.com/bdfethfx

The chorus lyrics are:

Maitland’s racist garden gnome
It’s a fountain hitching post
Maitland’s racist garden gnome
Don’t be fooled by history fans

The middle lyrics state:
Jocko is a black slave child
Slavery is the worst form of racism.

The song contains a hidden back-masked message that can only be heard if you play the song backwards. If you do so, please don’t reveal the message. I want it to be a surprise.

MAITLAND'S RACIST GARDEN GNOME - New Book Debunks Local Maitland Myth, Exposing Links to Black Slavery, Racism and "Amateur History" Errors

 

OUT NOW! New Book Debunks Local Maitland Myth, Exposing Links to Black Slavery, Racism and "Amateur History" Errors

MAITLAND, NSW — A groundbreaking new book by philosopher and educator Mark Tindall delivers a sharp, evidence-based correction to local folklore. Maitland’s Racist Garden Gnome dismantles popular myths surrounding the well-known local artefact, Maitland’s ‘Little Black Boy’, exposing its true origins as a gimmick from slave owning American tobacco companies to sell tobacco.


Tindall’s book establishes a critical distinction between searching for historical trivia with superficial data gathering and performing rigorous historical research.

While conservative defenders fight to distance the object from its toxic past, Tindall’s evidence delivers an undeniable verdict: the artefact was never intended as a civic monument. Instead, it functioned as a commercial gimmick utilised by American tobacco companies—an object inextricably tied to American slavery and racism.


Maitland’s Racist Garden Gnome systematically unpacks the errors that led to the myth:The Fiction of Jocko Graves: The book conclusively proves that Jocko Graves—the folklore figure often associated with lawn jockeys—is a fictional character who never existed.
A Fused Myth: Tindall demonstrates how amateur history fans erroneously fused the physical fountain hitching post with the fictional Jocko Graves legend, creating a false narrative that needs to be permanently separated.

Structured as a methodological guide, the book provides readers with essential tools for reliable historical research. It evaluates previous claims made by amateur history fans while drawing insights from institutions like the Jim Crow Museum of racist artefacts. Tindall concludes by examining the errors of reasoning common among local history fans, comparing the evolved folklore to a modern fairy tale.


Maitland’s Racist Garden Gnome is a vital read for anyone interested in Maitland’s history, and the preservation of verifiable truth over convenient local myths.


About the Author:

Mark Tindall is a dedicated philosopher and educator focused on historical accuracy, research methodology, and deconstructing popular folklore.


Media Contact:
Mark Tindall **** *** (Do you really think I'm going to give my contact details on a public forum?)

Kindle version: https://tinyurl.com/2a2mjaa9
Paperback version: https://tinyurl.com/bdfethfx

MAITLAND’S ‘LITTLE BLACK BOY’ IS NOT A STATUE OF THE MYTHICAL JOCKO GRAVES BUT A HITCHING POST TO SELL TOBACCO

 

Maitland’s vomiting fountain hitching post, currently known as the ’Little Black Boy’, had no front page news when it was first placed on Maitland’s High Street in the late 1800s. It wasn’t hailed as an important statue. It wasn’t a statue (a civic monument) at all but a vomiting fountain hitching post. It was created as a fountain which vomited water into a horse trough but since Maitland was not connected to a water supply that function never operated. Local children valued the vomiting fountain hitching post so much that they put sticks and pipes in its mouth! Eventually the mouth was sealed.

It was the equivalent to a Ronald McDonald figure placed in McDonalds restaurants in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a sales gimmick to get more people to buy a product. The Ronald McDonald figure was used to get people to buy hamburgers. Maitland’s racist garden gnome was used to get people to buy American tobacco that was grown and harvested by black slaves. Slavery is the worst form of racism. Slaves were legally treated as property and completely stripped or their human rights. This was based solely on the slaves' 'race' / skin colour. It is very clear that the context of Maitland's racist garden gnome is tied to tobacco advertising. That tobacco was grown and harvested by black slaves in America. The object was situated outside a tobacconist store. Maitland's racist garden gnome exists because of the slavery associated with the American tobacco industry of the day. It's appearance on High Street in the late 1800s was in the context of racism within both Maitland and Australia.

Jocko Graves is a myth first written about in a children’s picture book by Earl Koger Sr (an insurance broker), The Legend of Jocko: The Boy Who Inspired George Washington” (1963). The black slave child never existed in time space history. There is no verifiable evidence that he ever existed. There is only distorted oral tradition of Jocko Graves incorrectly written down as fact 250 years after his supposed adventure took place. That means that Jocko Graves is not a hero as his supposed actions in the myth are also fictitious.

Waymon E Lefall (an American barber), first incorrectly linked the legend of Jocko Graves to the hitching post in his book, The Legend of Jocko: child Hero of the American Revolution (2003). Australian Jack Paten (known as country musician Drongo Jack), wrote to Waymon E Lefall and suggested a trip to Maitland. Lefall did so in 2009. Jocko:A Long Way from Home Down Under (2014) chronicles his visit to Maitland. Waymon E Lefall asserts, but provides no verification, that Maitland’s racist garden gnome is compared to the American Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the French Eiffel Tower. He incorrectly asserts that it “can be found in Maitland Australia. Where Jocko the first American child hero is located in the banks, city council office and on the curb side.” Maitland’s racist garden gnome is only found publicly at the Maitland Mutual building society main office in Maitland and not in all banks.

Neither Earl Koger Sr, Waymon E Lefall or Jack Paten (Drongo Jack) are historians with a university qualification in history. Don’t be fooled by history fans.

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The above adapted from my book Maitland’s Racist Garden Gnome (2026) available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.

 

HOW TO CRITIQUE MY BOOK, MAITLAND'S RACIST GARDEN GNOME

 

If you disagree with what I have presented in my book, Maitland's Racist Garden Gnome, then how should you address my supposed error?

1. The most important thing is that you must read my book first. You can't validly criticise a book without reading it. When writing my book, I read all the ahistorical nonsense from history fans in order to critique their nonsense.

2. Choose the best way to critique rather than the worst way. Refute the central point.

The following is from Paul Graham’s disagreement hierarchy (Paul Graham, How To Disagree, March 2008) which I have broken up with my own comments between points. This is an excerpt from my book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The worst ways to respond.

DH0. Name-calling.

This is used by your average social media troll. They don’t address the topic, they just insult the writer.

DH1. Ad Hominem.

This is a logical fallacy where one attacks the supposed character, motive, or personal trait of the author rather than addressing the argument.

DH2. Responding to Tone.

This is a response to the manner in which the writer has presented the argument. What the writer writes is far more important than how the writer writes. Responding to the author’s tone does nothing to address the argument.

DH3. Contradiction.

You disagree? So what? Stating an opposition to the argument, with little or no supporting evidence, is not properly addressing the argument.

DH4. Counterargument.

Although counterarguments sometimes contain useful points they often contain straw man fallacies. In this error of reasoning, the original argument that the author stated is replaced by a different argument that is easier to attack. It is a misrepresentation of the original argument and thus does not address the original argument, only a false representation of that argument. Make sure you understand what was originally stated by the author.

The better ways to respond.

DH5. Refutation.

This involves time and effort. You quote the source and explain why it is wrong. This may involve quoting experts in the field of study. The best expert is a person with a PhD in the exact subject area. A history fan is not an expert. This response, however, is not definitive as experts may disagree. Quoting an expert out of context is an error of reasoning called cherry picking. One should quote an expert in the context of their entire text.

DH6. Refuting the Central Point.

This is the best way to respond but it involves time and effort. One needs to understand, and correctly describe, the central point in order to refute it. A secondary or tertiary point is not the central primary point.