Halloween Display Or Hate Crime?

[saigon68]

Source: Associated Press



OCONTO FALLS - An Oconto Falls teen who hung three black-faced scarecrows by their necks as a Halloween display says the mannequins aren't racist and he's not taking them down.

Eighteen-year-old Marc Monfort says only the media have complained

He says the figures hang from their necks but not by nooses. He says tying the rope to the neck is the only logical way to hang the figures.

Read more: http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/33213509.html

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Just in time for the election

[medeak]

1. this is silly n/t

[saigon68]

41. UPDATE UPDATE Update: Controversial display taken down

Update: Controversial Oconto Falls Halloween display taken down

OCONTO FALLS — A Halloween display that some considered racist has been taken down.


Marc Monfort said he decided to take down the black-faced scarecrows from the tree in front of his South Washington Street home after being threatened with a disorderly conduct fine.

Monfort, 18, said today that police told him they would issue a citation if a complaint was filed. No complaints were filed as of today, he said.

Oconto Falls Mayor Don Osborne is happy the display is down. However, he said the matter is not resolved. The incident will be referred to the Oconto County district attorney’s office for possible charges. What those charges could be was unclear today.

The scarecrows, which once hung by their necks with rope, now lean against the tree. Their faces have been painted white. A sign questioned whether the display would have been “a big deal” if the faces were white. A Confederate flag in Monfort’s yard is why some people concerned the display racist

Link:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20081024/GPG0101/810240643/1978

[Honeycombe8]

42. Of course it was a hate crime. As to the sign that questions if the display would've been...

would've been controversial if the faces had been painted white, the answer is "probably not." That is because there is no history of organized lynchings of white people in our country. Duh.

[Thorandmjolnir]

2. When did halloween go

from being about witches and ghosts, to be about hanging dolls resembling black people from trees?

Sick.

[JVS]

3. I need to see a better picture. Those figures don't look particularly black to me

[JimDandy]

7. Watch the video - all definitely have black faces

with big protruding eyes.

This is a "Lynch Scene" - plain and simple.

[jhrobbins]

9. The video clarifies that it is ABSOLUTELY racist!

[JVS]

30. Yeah, that is messed up

[Zuiderelle]

25. Here you go, maybe this will help you. Stills from the video:

[orleans]

18. it didn't. ghosts are suppose to be in the trees and the stuffed clothes

are suppose to sit in a chair on the porch, or sit under a tree.

[Control-Z]

24. I have to say

that from the photograph in the OP, if the faces are black, and human-like (which I can't see), it would be completely racist.

But then I started thinking about the decorations I'm doing with my girlfriend this year (same as we did last year) and we do hang a few bodies from the trees - one in a bride's dress, hanging from the neck like a suicide/leaper "Omen" style (We were just trying to decide what mask to use as her head the other night. Our choices are mostly black or green, monster/scary type faces) and then we'll hang a witch with flowing robes. I have also hung scarecrows from the trees in the past, but then, they have had pumpkin heads.

[Zuiderelle]

26. Here you go.

[Control-Z]

28. That IS as racist as it gets.

I was a little concerned that I might be doing something that could be construed as inappropriate with my decorations. After watching the video I realize that there is no comparison. The young man's intentions are obvious and sickening.

Edit to add: Those are the pics that really say it all. The one in the OP, not as much. When I saw the one on the right in the video I was absolutely shocked.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. "...the display, which includes a Confederate flag,..."

Nothing racist about that. It's just heritage, not hate, memorializing when Wisconsin seceded from the union.

[saigon68]

37. Its racist alright

The "Falls" is only 20 north of Green Bay

One only needs to go into any local drinking establishment to get a "flavor" of the bigotry.

[amber_86]

5. oh Please

It's racist. If they were suppost to be scarecrows they should be on the ground on it the air.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

23. Hanging Scarecrows

This is a travesty! Has this young man no decency? Scaecrows of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your ropes!

[wysimdnwyg]

6. WTF???

How the hell could they NOT see that it's racist? What would the guy have to do to make it more obvious? Put up a sign that said "Kill the <disgusting euphamism>"? Change the way to rope is tied to more closely resemble a noose? Give me a break. That f'ker is racist and nothing he or anyone else says will change my mind on that.

And for those who clicked through to watch the video, what is the mayor waiting for? He says if no one else complains so it can be taken down, he will. Why does he have to wait for someone else? Complain about it and make the jackass take it down.

[Punishedprimate]

8. blah

dont this kid still have a first amendment right of free speech? Im not defending racism, but when you start taking away people's rights, when does it stop?

[kick-ass-bob]

10. Because Hate Speech is not protected.

Completely painting the faces black and flying a defeated Civil War battle flag is the definition of Hate Speech.

Welcome to DU.

[Mari333]

19. hate speech is protected by the first amendment

http://www.aclu.org/studentsrights/expression/12808pub19941231.html

[Zuiderelle]

11. HA HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! Oh Man.... LOL! ROFL! LMAO!

Welcome to DU!

For like, a minute or two anyway.

[musette_sf]

12. *snort*

:spray:

[llmart]

32. Obviously from a freeper.....

the wonderful grammar always gives them away.

[Indenturedebtor]

13. Could you press charges if followed you around for a few months

whispering "I'm gonna gut you son." while I waved my knife around? Yes.

This is the equivalent.

[noiretextatique]

21. yes. you are defending racism eom

[tavalon]

22. Don't blow your wad yet!

We hardly know ye!

[alfredo]

27. It's protected speech, but ill-advised. Calling your wife a trollop and

c*nt is protected speech. Of course the wife is free to cut him off until he gets on his knees, grovels and weeps, apologizing, pleading for mercy..

[llmart]

33. Now, how did John McCain get into this?

:)

[alfredo]

34. On a film of slime.

[Haole Girl]

40. "Im not defending racism, but"

When you have to add a "but" then you just did. :-(

No move along.

Bye-bye.

[LynnTheDem]

14. hate display.

[Politicalboi]

15. I don't think the flag

Is part of the scene. But it is racist. I think the flag is there 365 days a year.

[krkaufman]

16. Oconto Falls, WISCONSIN

(for reference, Mapquest)

[Raschel]

17. McCain and Palin must be proud of what they've stirred up and encouraged. n/t

[kimmylavin]

20. Not racist?

Then why the fuck are they hanging from trees?

Pardon my language, but who the hell hangs scarecrows from trees?
You want a charming Halloween display, you can prop them up at the base of the tree, or put them on the porch.

Hanging black faced figures from a tree, with the Confederate flag flying in the background - are you freaking kidding me???

And I think someone mentioned this before, but what the hell is the mayor waiting for?
If he'll file the complaint himself, he should just do it - show the town that this sort of thing cannot be tolerated.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. Wonder what the reaction would be if the neighbors

hung effigies of white-pointy-hooded assholes in the neighborhood trees?

I mean, they're just ghosties.

[bemildred]

31. That's a hate crime.

Someone needs to slap this fool around a little.

[Xithras]

35. As others have mentioned, it's not a hate crime.

So many of us here seem to think we live in Canada or Europe. In the United States, words or actions only qualify as hate crimes if they are an immediate incitement to an illegal action. There is NO SUCH THING as a stand alone "hate crime" in the United States. What we do instead is attach "hate crime" enhancements to normal crimes to increase their penalty. Standing in front of a crowd and yelling "I think we should kill all black people" isn't illegal. Pointing to a black man walking past the crowd and yelling "I think we should all kill THAT black man!" is a crime.

Here's the difference: If you yell "I think we should kill all black people", and there are no black people around, your speech isn't going to incite any kind of immediate crime. With no immediate crime, it's just speech, and there is nothing to pin a hate crime enhancement on. If you yell "Let's kill THAT black person", you are inciting the crowd to commit an immediate crime in assaulting a person. Because you made that declaration due to the guys race, prosecutors can pin a hate crime enhancement on too.

Other nations, like Canada, have laws making it illegal to say or do things that infringe on the public good, racial harmony, or that sort of thing. There is no equivalent law in the U.S. None.

The U.S. is the only nation in the world with such broad speech rights. Like it or not, this guy isn't actually breaking the law so long as the scarecrows are on his own property and aren't set up to intimidate a specific person. If the police pull the "scarecrows", the homeowner will win any lawsuit he files against the city...and he'll have the ACLU backing him up.

[Hardrada]

36. Okay. yah, well. we don't want to turn into a fascist country.

[Dark]

38. It may be a lot of disgusting things, but it's not a hate crime.

it's free speech. It's ugly, ghastly even, but it's not a hate crime.

[Haole Girl]

39. "..tying the rope to the neck is the only logical way to hang the figures."

I call bullshit.

[fed_up_mother]

43. Hate speech. Definitely.

but whether this is an actual crime, I'm not sure.

[Honeycombe8]

44. You might be a redneck if....

You might be a redneck if...you're stupid enough to hang black-faced scarecrows by their necks from the tree in your yard, next to your confederate flag, and you're surprised when people catch on to the REAL meaning of the display.


You ALSO might be a redneck if...you have a confederate flag on display in your yard.