Cobb bar protested as racist for Obama T-shirts | ajc.com
Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he’s peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with “Obama in ’08” scrolled underneath, are “cute.” But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.
“It’s time to put an end to this,” said Rich Pellegrino, a Mableton resident and director of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigrant Alliance. It was among the organizations planning to gather outside Mulligan’s Bar and Grill Tuesday afternoon to protest the “racist and highly offensive” shirts. “There’s no place for these views, not in this day and age,” he said.
Just down the street from Marietta’s famous Big Chicken, Mulligan’s has carved a provocative niche in an increasingly multicultural area, thanks to its owner’s ultra-conservative political views. If you live in Marietta, it’s impossible not to know what’s on Norman’s mind, as he posts his views on signs in front of Mulligan’s.
Among his recent musings: “I wish Hillary had married OJ,” “No habla espanol — and never will” and the standard “I.N.S. Agents eat free.”
I believe it was one of Rush Limbaughs’ minions who started this nonsense, so its a case of monkey see monkey do. As tasteless as this is, we still do support free speech, right?
Hmmmm…
A Curious George image…
Are you sure he isn’t recycling the image from 2000 and 2004, when there was an ACTUAL chimp running for President?
One of the benefits of free speech: ignorant folks introduce themselves.
That shirt is a pretty good likeness of Obama. I don’t see what the problem is.
#22 –
We don’t need a peek at your bookmarks. Keep those to yourself.
For those too young to remember or too ignorant to acknowledge their history, associating black people with monkeys is considered racist. Regardless if it’s Curious George or some other monkey. If you need that explained to you, do some research. The bar owner’s racist intent is obvious and willful. If you want to make fun of a presidential candidate, their are plenty of other ways to do it, such as caricatures that populate political cartoons, without feeding the flames of racism.
#30 – I’ve always loved how liberals bla bla bla yakkity bla bla bla…
Once you figure that “liberals” are not members of a monolithic hive mind, then come back and criticize.
“As tasteless as this is, we still do support free speech, right?”
Free speech in the USA amounts to bashing anything not supported by the Republicans, otherwise you’re a traitor to the nation.
#22 – Hey Mustard…
MAYBE A FUCKING WARNING FOR PEOPLE AT FUCKING WORK!
I’ve seen people get fired for less.
#22 – An NSFW tag would be nice.
#36 – You have to admit that Obama does kinda look like the monkey in question.
Hey “Anti Liberal Pukes” (sic) stop with the incessant dividing the world up into black and white, good and bad, liberal and conservative, etc.
Very few posts here reference conservative without a modifier showing the poster is thinking of a subspecies.
Very few post here referencing liberals ever make any distinction as in race baiting liberals verses free speech liberals. Those two flavors of liberals are on oppositie sides of this Curious George Issue while you “anti-liberal label hangers” try to steal the election this year once again with your shallow appeals to the ignornant gun loving Jesus freak values voters.
On this issue, I would think most conservatives would be on the side of free speech holding our constitutional rights in high regard as they do.
No, its only your rank and file Bush Repuglican that post the garbage you do. It does not go unnoticed.
#41 Bobbo- “Hey “Anti Liberal Pukes” (sic) stop with the incessant dividing the world up into black and white, good and bad, liberal and conservative, etc.”
Amen and Hallelujah!
bobbo – Now I’m trying to figure out which is more racist, the t-shirt or your comment. I think maybe your knee-jerk reaction pulled your head up your ass and you failed to get my point. Talk about part of the problem!
I agree with #19. The nature of this use is more likely to get him sued as well.
Unless he is secretly the man in the yellow hat.
Somebody should be counting how many of these t-shirts are sold.
Issue is: Many of the past presidents have been elected in squeekers, where 1% of the electorate swung the outcome. All that is need is more than that 1% in closet bigots to swing the next one.
We’re all monkeys, right? So what’s the big deal?
The implied racism comes from religious beliefs that we humans are not apes, in fact not even animals. So, to imply that a certain race are apes also implies that they are beneath us humans… a purely religious concept.
Teach the truth that we all came from apes and the stigma goes away.
46 see 36
0. McCullough. Maybe you could use the backside of the T shirt to print Rush as a Neanderthal at a lynching.
Mister Mustard: You know, it could be time to change the chimp references for Bush.
RBG
Andy, I saw 36, and my point still stands. If you see yourself as an ape, and know that virtually everyone else is an ape, what possible insult can you inflict on someone by drawing them as an ape?
The trouble is that the religious majority think they are different and special, above animals and specifically apes That creates the illusion of superiority which translates to insult and bigotry.
Why isn’t anyone up in arms about the subtle innuendo that the T-Shirt’s graphic conveys, and that’s that Obama is a homosexual, since we all know that a banana is merely a phallic symbol, which makes the message too obvious to ignore!
BTW, for those of you incapable of understanding, that was a joke.
#43–mark==while both of your posts are lamentably vague, non-specific, unsupported, without example and lacking any anlsysis, I still took your first post to mean America is facing more important issues than some dope calling Obama a monkey.
That statement is true but completely irrelevant. Logically there is only ONE SUBJECT that cannot be superceded by more important topics. But we have all already had breakfast, the most important meal of the day, and we all know what we had to eat.
So, on a thread about Obama and racism, how do you propose to remain on topic?
Or do you wish to link to every other thread on this blog and show us how you disdained the posted topic to recommend discussing something else while offering nothing yourself?
Course, there are certainly more important issues that YOU could consider for the rest of the day as well.
BTW–“I” am not being a racist at all so I don’t know who’s head is being rammed up whose ass, gee, another more important question for your befuddlement.
freedom of speech trumps any other concern, period.
so when some douchebag makes thinly veiled racist remarks and jerk-off frat boys applaud him, don’t get mad, you’ll just encourage them.
people like this have the emotional maturity of a three year old, and the mental capacity of a lobotomized sheep, let them have their say, who cares?
any one of average intelligence can see that they’re just stupid imbeciles incapable of understanding anything other than their own needs.
big whoop. assholes are easy to find.
#49 – Andy, I saw 36, and my point still stands. If you see yourself as an ape, and know that virtually everyone else is an ape, what possible insult can you inflict on someone by drawing them as an ape?
For one… Curious George is NOT an ape. Curious George is a monkey. Apes and monkeys are two different things.
And Curious George isn’t there to imply that Obama, like all of us, evolved from a common primate ancestor. He’s there as shorthand for porch monkey… because the shirts that said N + igger = Obama seemed a little too on the nose, even for a Grand Wizard like Mike Norman.
Racism isn’t over. It isn’t even in sight of the finish line. And it never will be unless we (pardon me) are willing to call a spade a spade.
bobbo, you bore me with your post, but I read the first couple lines then was reminded of my grandfather who tells long stories about nothing.
“You see, monkey==obama==racist.” You are the one that made that jump, so who is the racist here? The person that makes comments like that, or the one that simply laughs and immediately is called a racist? You have no idea what I found funny, so in your boring terms…look before you leap asshole.
I think there is more racism in the United States than most people think, but less than some people fear.
The 2008 will be an interesting election and we’ll get to see pockets of racism on display but probably not so much as what some think.
OFTLO, I’m not denying that the shirt is intended to be racist. I’m just offering a solution to at least bury the effectiveness of the insult in the future and move further away from the bronze age at the same time.
Old World Monkey classification includes apes, but really is immaterial to my point. Monkey or ape, the source of the insult lies in religious concept.
#56 – Well, I agree that many factors that make up racism are rooted in religion… in fact, all evil is rooted in religion…
But I don’t want to bury the insult… I want the brazenly racist to be on display for all the world to look down its nose at.
I mean, I hate to sound like a classical conservative, but shame can be a very effective punishment.
McCollough,
If Rush is such a racist as your narrow minded self thinks, then why does he have Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell, both Black, guest host his show?
I can understand if you don’t politically agree with Rush, but trying to paint him as a racist is a bit pathetic. As for being racist, do you consider many in the Black Caucus racist? Do you think Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton is a racist? Or are you of the opinion that Blacks can not be racist?
#54–Bob==tsk, tsk==all that time to consider and reflect, and you stuck to your guns huh? I made no reference to your sense of humor, and yet I laugh at you now.
How many good folks here pointed out to you that you confused racism with sexism when going off thread about Hillary?
But, always willing to learn. So tell us —Bob— what meaning did you take from the teeshirt?
Be specific and use as many words as you can muster.
#58. Nowhere in this post will you see I called Rush a racist. I called him a hypocritical asshole….and I will go to the mat on that one, care to wrestle?
For the disingenuous/ignorant among you:
To call Bush a chimp is an insult to the man’s INTELLIGENCE. Bush’s actions and statements are things that he can control, and making fun of how bad those decisions and statements are is fair game.
To call Obama a chimp is an insult to the man’s SKIN COLOR. Obama has no control over his race. To make fun of a person’s physical attributes is stupid, racist, and wrong.
This race issue is going to get a LOT uglier, sadly, as we get closer to the election. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity and ignorance.