Ridiculousity 2

I think maybe I already titled a post "Ridiculousity," so this is the 2nd one. But if I haven't done so, then it's the first.

Anyway, a grand jury tossed out the charges levelled against two men in Lexington for hanging an effigy of Obama during the campaign. Part of the article reads: "Defense attorney Fred Peters said common sense prevailed among Fayette County grand jurors. He said they realized the case "had been blown way out of proportion." Fischer and Bush apologized Tuesday for what they called a "political prank." They said they hung the effigy after seeing a similar display of unsuccessful GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin hung from a tree in a California man's yard."

This, my good readers, is beyond ridiculous. It's just another example of racism that is inherent within our society and will stay that way if people don't get a clue! The defendants argued that they had seen a similar act done with Sarah Palin as the figure in California. Now, I want it to be noted for the record that I do NOT condone hanging Sarah Palin in effigy. There are issues with that as well (particularly the use of such a violent means of expression against a political candidate whose opinions I happen to disagree with). I'm not so sure I'm for effigies in general--I don't know in the end how effective they really are for accomplishing anything, not to mention that they are pretty violent expressions. I'm all about freedom of expression but NOT about cultural insensitivity. Did these men not understand the unavoidable racist and lynching implications of their actions? I'm not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. How can you be an American in 2009 and NOT realize that hanging the figure of any African-American in a tree would not bring to mind such things? SERIOUSLY. And the fact that the jury threw this case out means that such hate crimes will continue to go unpunished and be tacitly condoned by fellow citizens.

We may have elected our first African-American president, but racism is by no means absent from our society, and if this article is any hint, it won't be absent for quite a while...

I'm disgusted.