Now, when a noose on a flyer is distributed to 2200 students high on a hill in rural Central Ohio it evokes images of racially motivated hate crimes and causes the campus to shut down for several hours over two days for race forums. But, when a mannequin is placed in the outfit of a prominent political figure and STRUNG UP from a home in West Hollywood it's "art" and not a big deal, simply because the figure is a white woman, not a black man? I'm sorry, but that is not okay.
I'm not trying to say that the noose means as much or carries as much historic significance for white Americans as it does for black Americans. I understand that the noose is a very racially charged symbol that has instilled fear, created panic, and ended in awful atrocities for many people. I understand that.
What I am trying to say is that, if this homeowner had been member of the GOP rather than a Democrat, and had he decided to hang Barack Obama in effigy from his roof rather than Sarah Palin, you KNOW that it would be the top headline on every major news media in the country. Can't you just see the headlines? 'Bigot strikes fear into residents' hearts,' or 'Racism rears its ugly head in West Hollywood.' There would be interviews and video footage and protests all over the place. The NAACP and the ACLU would have, I'm sure, issued condemning statements, the Rev. Al Sharpton would be giving interviews every ten minutes, and this would be very, VERY bad for Republicans.
But is any of that happening? No.
Because it's Sarah Palin, because it's a white woman who is on the unpopular side of the trend that has become politics, there are no FBI agents swarming to determine whether there is an assassination plot in the works. There are no bright lights, no hounding reporters, no death threats on the homeowner's life. Hell, there hasn't even been a citation issued to the homeowner because of his First Amendment rights. It's considered "spooky" and described as "political satire" and "Halloween art."
If that had been Barack Obama it would have been described as "a lynching" or "racist" or any number of terms that would have ensured prompt chastisement for the homeowner.
GET RILED UP PEOPLE! There is no reason for this to be simply a display for laughs in a liberal area of a liberal state. This should be seen for what it is: a display of hate that should evoke very powerful sentiments from people who pass by.
I'm sorry, but this is NOT okay.
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4 comments:
i feel like i have seen this somewhere else, i would still like to point out that that looks more like an anti british ad then anything
While I think that the artistic and social value of this "art" is pretty much nonexistant... Lynch mobs were never used to target white women. Nor were women in the context of the death penalty, because women typically aren't sentenced to death. Lynch mobs targeted blacks, particularly black men, in an attempt to exclude them on the basis of their race alone. Were it Obama or any other black public figure depicted in this display, it would have a very specific meaning because lynching was commonly used against black men attempting to exercise their right to vote or otherwise assume political power.
Perhaps the "artist" depicted Palin in a noose to satirize her use of race and nationality ("paling around with terrorists") in this campaign. Palin is part of the group that very often incited lynch mobs (white women who claimed that black men violated their chastity). It's not a particularly compelling or original social comment, but certainly a noose around a white woman's neck does not have the same racially intimidating overtones as it would around a black man's neck.
That being said - you're right. A noose is a symbol of hate. Anytime any threat is directed toward someone in political power is serious, scary, and unacceptable. And I am really surprised that this is not a bigger headline. I think it should be... and maybe if it were, the type of racial dialogue the artist was trying to bring to light would accompany those headlines.
should read "nor were women hung in the context..."
although in our country the noose is racially charged, in the history of the world more white people were hung than black people. just some information.
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