'Go back to Kenya' anti-Obama display with watermelons and noose sparks controversy
theGRIO REPORT - Residents in Morgan Hill, California are calling a nearby homeowner's anti-Obama display racist and threatening towards the president...
Residents in Morgan Hill, California are calling a nearby homeowner’s anti-Obama display racist and threatening towards the president.
“Go back to Kenya,” reads a sign, made to look like a teleprompter, in front of the home, KTVU reported. Next to it sits a chair with two watermelons placed on it and a noose hanging from the side. A “Romney for President” sign stands just a few feet away.
Many local citizens are uncomfortable with the display.
“We shouldn’t be threatening with a noose and a watermelon,” resident Ben Gomez told the local station. “I believe that’s a little over the top. I like the chair and the teleprompter. I mean, they’re just copying Clint Eastwood, so I can’t blame them on that one. But the noose goes a little over the edge.”
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Another resident, Susan Shirley, was upset by the display and posted a photo of it to Facebook. She said she wanted people to know that it’s not a reflection of the community she lives in.
A local Democratic Party leader echoes Shirley’s statement by calling the display the work of an individual, not a campaign.
Steve Preminger, chair of the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, said, “I think it’s very disrespectful that someone should do that. I think there are racist overtones. To me it’s the mark of a kind of bizarre person.”
The home owner, Blake la Beck, has acknowledged that he made the display, but he declined to comment any further.
He said the display speaks for itself.
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