Bad Judgment or Race-Baiting?
This is what Georgia bar owner and seller Mike Norman says about it:
Norman said he sees nothing wrong with depicting Obama as Curious George. “Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears, he looks just like Curious George,” Norman said. He said he did not design the shirts himself but bought them through a Web site.
It’s worth mentioning this as well: Norman’s bar is in a very conservative area of Georgia. I use the term ‘conservative’ guardedly, since I know lots of conservatives who are not Republicans or bigots.
Evidently Norman gives equal play to women, too. On his restaurant sign, he’s posted these fine examples of political discourse:
“I wish Hillary had married OJ,” “No habla espanol — and never will” and the standard “I.N.S. Agents eat free.”
In an effort to justify his musings, he says “he says out loud what everyone in this town whispers.”
That much is certainly true. Given that, I’d say the t-shirt graphic was hardly accidental.
Technorati Tags: racism, bigot, georgia, marietta, tshirt,
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May 13th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Would you ever have written about this man if he didn’t go to the extreme? Well baited, Norm…
May 13th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Good point, Jessica. I debated the bait before biting. Ultimately I bit because to NOT protest something is letting it stand. I’m still torn about having the photo on it though.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:10 am
This was clearly an ignorant move on his part! Not only was the Barak t-shirt insane, so are the other comments he maes about hispanics. He needs to beon his ow little island by himself.
For him to say that he is just saying what everyone else is thinking just doesn’ cut it. He is just looking for attention and think he has finally found it….Well Mike Norman, here comes your 15mins of infamousness.