"You feel like you've walked into a different era," says CBS Atlanta reporter Michelle Marsh. The Georgia Peach Oyster Bar in the little town of Temple sports a mannequin with a Klu Klux Klan costume. But it's the sign outside of Patrick Lanzo's restaurant that has some of the folks riled up.
It reads, "Obama's plan for health-care: N*&%*r rig it."
When Marsh asked Lanzo why he used the N word, he replied, "Well, I've used it most of my life. There are different ways to put your opinion up, but that's just the words I choose."
But Lanzo claims he's not racist. Where have we heard that before? He says he's just against Obama's health care plan and he's simply exercising his free speech.
Blacks and whites in the area think the sign is offensive and want it removed.
Lanzo says he "stands by my president, but I also stand by my First Amendment right to criticize him if I feel he's wrong." True, but maybe a different choice of words would be more prudent.
It's sad when people that seem intelligent are really just ignorant jackasses.
ReplyDeleteThe term in question is not particularly rare here in Sullivan County. I'd have to say, after some fair reflection, that it has become deeply enough acculturated into the local vocabulary that most of the people who use it are not at all racist and don't give much real thought to what they are saying. It's a commonly used term for a specific kind of improvised, on-the-spot repair job.
ReplyDeleteI'm not defending Lanzo, he sounds like he likely IS a racist crumb if he's displaying KKK paraphenalia. Nor is the sign in good taste.
I'm just noting that, around /here/, lots of people use the phrase thoughtlessly and without racial motivations in doing so.