Stories like this drive me nuts.
The sign, located on the south side of a building at 200 N. Richmond, flashed a series of statements sandwiched between pictures of President Barack Obama and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The statements appearing after Obama and before King said, “I conduct phony protests,” “I burned the city,” and “I aid the enemy.”
The statement appearing after King and before Obama said, “I have a dream.”
Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
OK, simple enough. On MLK day, somebody was making a statement comparing the lofty ideals expressed by MLK with his or her opinion of the results of Obama’s actions. It is a fairly clear political statement about how Obama is not living up to MLK’s legacy. Agree or not… it’s pretty straightforward.
But then people go off on this…
The meaning behind the message, whether political or otherwise, is unclear, but people who complained to Post-Crescent Media and the city viewed it as racially motivated and inflammatory.
“I find it extremely disturbing,” said Mary DeBraal of Appleton. “What are people who visit our city going to think about this? What do the people of color think?”
C’mon! Really? Racist? Are people not allowed to make any critical comments about our president without people thinking it is racially motivated? I guess not. Frankly, I think people who think a clear political statement like that is racist are racist themselves because they apparently can’t get their heads past the race of the individuals involved to understand the actual content.
I find Mary Debraal extremely disturbing ….can we ostracize and demean her radical speech as well?
she’s embarrassing to the 1st amendment.