Racist Signage Is Just Part of the Decor at This Fort Worth Bar, Apparently [Updated]

Jim’s Rodeo Tavern, a Fort Worth dive bar, is under fire for displaying signs that include offensive, racist iconography and language on its walls. Now, the sign has reportedly been removed.

Owen Beto McGrath, a manager at Jesse’s 50/Fifty in Fort Worth, tells Eater that he stumbled upon the racist imagery when he visited the bar on Monday. Upon entering the bar, McGrath tells Eater that he noticed a sign emblazoned with a disgusting racial slur that Eater finds so offensive, we won’t be publishing it here. McGrath surreptitiously took a photo of it, as did his dining companion. Underneath the slur, “Teresa Kidwell, 1-5-16” is written. It’s unclear who Teresa Kidwell is, but an online obituary indicates that a woman by that name did, in fact, die in Fort Worth on the date mentioned on the sign.

See below for a photo of the sign. The slur in question has been blurred.

Owen Beto McGrath

In addition to the racist sign, McGrath also noticed a Confederate flag, long associated with slavery and racist hate groups in the South, hanging from the ceiling. A photo uploaded to Google in February of this year confirms that the flag is a fixture of the bar, hanging just above the pool table. “Myself and my boss made this public because we don’t think this represents our city,” McGrath said. “We don’t think this is representative of our culture, and we want to call out bigotry in these small spaces when we see it.”

Phone calls from Eater to Jim’s Rodeo Tavern have gone unanswered. Stay tuned for more details on this story as it develops.

Update, April 18: The sign has been removed by its owner. Click here for a full update on this story.

• Fort Worth bar owner says N-word sign coming down after 2 customers complained on Facebook [Dallas Morning News]