quasi Report This Comment Date: October 19, 2007 12:13AM
Though protected as a form of freedom of speech, a noose displayed as a
deliberate insult to anyone is distasteful and ridiculous, however, this
eccentric man had this noose hanging in his own yard for several years as a
curiosity, a silly display, but has been forced to remove it to spare his
neighbors the idiotic hubub it has generated among some ignorant people.
Political correctness strikes again. The following is from our local
newspaper.
Homeowner to take down noose
Punta Gorda man says he never meant to offend anyone
Michael Whiteaker admits he can be stubborn, and at times, downright nasty.
But the 60-year-old Punta Gorda man said he never meant to offend anyone with
the noose display in his driveway.
Whiteaker will take down the coiled rope today, despite previous refusals to
budge. No one pressured him into the change of heart, although Scott Street is
now a destination for rubbernecking.
All it took was a few words from an old friend.
John Lloyd met with Whiteaker Wednesday to see if he would remove the display.
The two have known one another for about 50 years.
Lloyd said his boss, Punta Gorda City Manager Howard Kunik, asked him to speak
with Whiteaker about the noose because of the buzz it created. Lloyd works as a
utility locator for Punta Gorda.
"I told him you don't want to cause a war," said Lloyd, who is black.
"He means no harm by it, but we don't want to cause any
confusion."
The faded loop has dangled from a wooden post in Whiteaker's driveway for about
three years.
Whiteaker said the noose isn't intended as a racist symbol. He planned on taking
it down last week, but decided to defy a Punta Gorda Police officer, Sgt. Craig
Brandon, who photographed the noose about six months ago because he was offended
by the display.
"It's between me and that cop, and it got out of hand; I admit that,"
Whiteaker said.
Lloyd expressed concern that blacks and others who didn't know Whiteaker would
assume he is racist when they saw the noose.
Whiteaker thought about the advice for a while, according to Lloyd, and agreed
it needed to go.
In reality, Whiteaker doesn't have to remove the noose.
Charlotte County doesn't have a zoning ordinance prohibiting such displays, and
he is protected by the First Amendment.
"When it offended a friend of mine, I'm going to take it down,"
Whiteaker said.
The decision came as welcome news to Kunik, who has received many calls about
the noose since last week.
"I'm glad it worked out," he said.
By JASON WITZ
Staff Report
Placelowerplace Report This Comment Date: October 19, 2007 12:19AM
I am offended by ummm staplers, yeah thats it Staplers are offensive, so for
now on I decree no one it to ever use a stapler again!!!! Staplers are use to
put papers together that might be used in a murder trial and so there for in
order to stop exicutions everone will have to stop using staplers! also if you
have a white stapler it is a racist movement against all white people and it is
designed to repress the white race. Also cars are offensive as well because when
a white man is arrested they use cars to transport him to jail and to courts
where there is also staplers employed.
quasi Report This Comment Date: October 19, 2007 02:30AM
Good point, plp. Anything can be taken out of context and mentally placed in
another context which gives it a different meaning, in this case an object with
no racist intention is deemed by some who know nothing of it's origin or meaning
to be a racist object. To me this begs the queestion, who is being racist here,
some goofy guy who decided to put a noose up in his yard a few years ago just
for the hell of it or the people who are suddenly outraged at that nooses
existance because some other people in a far away place used nooses to make a
racist statemment?
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: October 22, 2007 03:54AM
I pretty much agree with what you say, except the bit about the 'far away
place'
We are talking about Florida (the South) right?
[
www.sptimes.com]
Not all that far from Alabama etc? Given the history of the region, I'd be more
inclined to try and be socially sensitive. If it was Auckland New Zealand or
somesuch place, ie REAL far away place, then maybe not.
As an aside, in Oz they have Coon cheese, this regularly stirs up a few of the
politically correct people.
[
en.wikipedia.org]