ROMEO ROCK

Washington Township workers moved the rock Thursday morning to its new home at the Romeo District Library on Van Dyke. The billboard of goodwill for greetings, birthday wishes and celebrations had been a welcoming beacon into Washington Township. In June, “Black Lives Matter” was painted on the rock, which started a volley of racial slurs and a back-and-forth struggle to control the message on the rock. While plans were being made to move the rock by late 2021, the contentious back-and-forth made the land owners uncomfortable. The library accepted Romeo Rock with open arms.

Romeo Rock moves to new location at Romeo District LibraryPublished: July 9, 2020, 5:40 pmThe iconic rock that normally welcomes people into Romeo had sat on private land for more than four decades, but after it was vandalized with racial slurs, the owners wanted it gone.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A large protest formed in Washington Township on Friday as around 1,000 people gathered near the “Romeo Rock.”There has been controversy surrounding the rock since racist graffiti was sprayed on it earlier in the week. READ: Future of ‘Romeo Rock’ uncertain after ‘Black Lives Matter’ message replaced with racial slurDemonstrators took to the streets Friday in support of Black Lives Matter. The tiny Romeo community of about 3,600 people was rocked earlier this week when vandals wrote racial slurs on the rock, which is a landmark. The rock had been painted with the Black Lives Matter slogan before it was vandalized. Demonstrators Friday said their collective voice will drown out the few who vandalized their beloved rock.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – The future of the “Romeo Rock” is up in the air as the owners fear the back-and-forth between people spray painting “Black Lives Matter” and others replacing it with racist messages could turn violent. For years, the rock has been on a private piece of property in Washington Township, just to the south of Romeo. But during the weekend, “Black Lives Matter” was pained on the rock, replaced with “all lives matter,” changed back to “Black Lives Matter” and then replaced with a racial slur, officials said. Now the rock has become a rallying place as regular citizens became civil rights warriors and sentries who guard the rock and the current message that Romeo will not tolerate racism. But the situation is complicated as the property is being torn up to make way for a new strip mall.