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Mayor refuses to order taking down of racist Halloween display
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by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | October 30, 2009 at 12:10 pm
324 views | 42 Recommendations | 18 comments
Despite filed complaints from the NAACP, a Maryland Mayor is refusing to order the taking down of a "disturbing display" in a public park.
In the town of Frederick, Mayor Jeffrey Holtzinger was asked by Guy Djoken, who is president of that county's NAACP chapter, to remove the figures, pictured at left.
In the way of personal commentary, several years ago my son and I encountered the same displays in Lancester, PA, on a Halloween visit there. We were both disturbed and offended by the similarity to Ku Klux Klan lynchings of black Americans in the South's infamous history.
"Something should be done right away," Djoken told FoxNews.com. "When you look from a distance, it doesn't look good. We should just remove it."But Holtzinger disagrees and dismissed the roughly two dozen complaints the NAACP received as part of an "attempt to get publicity" for the organization and to "justify" its existence. The display won't be taken down any sooner than scheduled, he said.
The dummies, clad in jeans and stuffed shirts, hang in Baker Park from ropes affixed to their torsos up to 30 feet in the air — creating a sight that some say reminds them of lynchings while others describe it as a harmless holiday display.
"Certainly these weren't meant to offend anybody," Holtzinger said. "But at the same time, if you look at these things, they're not realistic, they're not tied by a noose. So I don't think they're anything other than a typical Halloween display you can see at any number of places."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (18)
at 12:34 on October 30th, 2009
It seems that the mayor wants the shock value of the visual message to bring attention to the matter; I have seen worse displays of horrific scenes on Halloween lawns in my neighborhood..
at 14:50 on October 30th, 2009
Seemingly these dummies do not have black faces, I really can not see this as a racial problem.
at 16:52 on October 30th, 2009
Its head is white as far as I can tell -- not very pleasant either way.
at 18:26 on October 30th, 2009
I think it is obvious:WHO has traditionally been hung in trees in the American South? And by what group? I immediately think of African Americans by the Ku Klux Klan. Remember Black Blues singer Billie Holiday's song, "Southern Trees Bear Strange Fruit"? Now what was that song about? What was the "strange fruit" found hanging in the trees? Might it have been black people, human beings, strung up there. as in L-Y-N-C-H-I-N-G???
at 20:30 on October 30th, 2009
smk, I think you might be somewhat surprised by these Lynching Statistics.
at 23:39 on October 30th, 2009
smk, the state where i live has had 3 blacks lynched in it's history, and 55 whites. Percentage wise, that pretty much matches the black population. Would i think that picture represented a black man being lynched? No. I wouldn't even think it was a lynching....but i've never been accused of being the brightest bulb in the package, either.
Have seen similar "displays" hung out every halloween for years and years in peoples yards. Never heard a complaint from any quarter.
I'm with a211243 on the Halloween thing. Hate the stoooopid way it is "celebrated".
at 19:35 on October 31st, 2009
What is the matter with you? These are just Halloween displays, and not racist at all. Try thinking for yourself for a change!
at 20:46 on October 30th, 2009
i understand that in some states a method of execution is still lynching...new hampshire, delaware and washington
at 20:48 on October 30th, 2009
Halloween as celebrated today is barbaric. Sorry, I know that will offend some, but Dios de los muertos was never meant to be what the U.S. has turned it into. The obssession with the "undead," methods of killing people, ghouls and such are frankly pretty scary. Trick or Treating used to be safe and fun for kids, but now it's too dangerous.
The day of dead was a time to clean the cemetaries and remember your dead family members with lighted vigils and reverance. How it got turned into the commercial enterprise it is today I don't know.
Hanging the effigy of a human in a tree is wrong for all the reasons smk points out so well.
at 20:58 on October 30th, 2009
marianmo, to my knowledge lynching (legal lynching) is not permitted anywhere in the United States; death by hanging or firing squad is more likely to occur (see Capital Punishment)
More on the history of Lynching in the United States.
at 21:08 on October 30th, 2009
lynching , when i read the link was for rape mrder and in west for cattle rustling.....i didnt realize that any state still hung.......that surprised me........in some states death row inmates can choose their method of execution ie the washington dc sniper....utah \pparently still uses a firing squad, sorry for getting off topic lol
at 23:52 on October 30th, 2009
I agree with Babel-Fish and Rhonda, no color, no foul
at 04:17 on October 31st, 2009
I knew it, I just knew, someone would tell me it was whites and not blacks who were lynched. I just knew it :(
at 11:06 on October 31st, 2009
smk, I don't know who told you that it was 'Whites' and not Blacks who were lynched?? The truth is BOTH 'Whites' and Blacks were lynched during the period referenced in the link (even though Blacks were lynched considerably more often). Nevertheless, 'Whites' were often lynched for helping Blacks.
at 11:44 on November 15th, 2009
i agree" but those whites that helped Blacks(african americans)were looked upon as being no better and so faced the same hatered.So there for in the eyes of the whites that committed these crimes they were hanging no other than anoyher Black!
at 20:32 on October 31st, 2009
Get over it, it's Halloween. The whole concept of Haloween is gruesome but to get offended by a Haloween display is ridiculous.
at 11:37 on November 15th, 2009
of course most of you would not take offense to this,it wasnt your ancestors being hung form trees!If you cant put yourself in someonelse's shoes and see it from their veiw you are one of the reason that things like lynching came about!