# Halloween Display Called "Racially Charged Symbol Of Hate" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392 "2004-10-21T12:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/1 "2004-10-21T12:57:25Z")
> [@](#): > > It had the face of Frankenstein and the hands of a werewolf. > > Outfitted in jeans and flannel shirt, the creature - stuffed with crumpled newspaper - hung by the neck on a homemade gallows outside a home in the Allendale neighborhood. > > To its owner, “Bob” was a Halloween decoration. But to Omali Yeshitela, it was a racially charged symbol of hate. > > On Tuesday, as police officers on the scene scrambled to contact the homeowner at work, Yeshitela and others from the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement tore the dummy down. > > “There is no history of hanging ghouls in this country but there is a history of hanging African people,” said Yeshitela, leader of the St. Petersburg-based group… > > Full Article To paraphrase [[URL=www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_344.html](http://URL=www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_344.html)]Cecil’s comment on subliminal messages[/A], some people can find an insult in a dial tone. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/2 "2004-10-21T12:59:30Z")
Wasn’t the first interracial kiss on television between Captain James T. Kirk and Uhuru? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/3 "2004-10-21T13:02:16Z")
If this is all that Omali Yeshitela can find to get worked up over, might I suggest that he needs to obtain a great big freakin’ ladder so he can get over himself? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/4 "2004-10-21T13:06:44Z")
“There is no history of hanging ghouls in this country but there is a history of hanging African people,” said Yeshitela, leader of the St. Petersburg-based group…" Christ almighty what a stupid piece of shit. I could see if they made the ghoul look black, but geeze… Hanging does not always equal racial lynching! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/5 "2004-10-21T13:34:36Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > There is no history of hanging ghouls in this country Well, gee, maybe that’s because **THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOULS**. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/6 "2004-10-21T13:35:31Z")
As a person who knows a person who knows a person whose cousin is a ghoul, I’m offended. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/7 "2004-10-21T13:38:10Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > As a person who knows a person who knows a person whose cousin is a ghoul, I’m offended. Hey, some of my best friends are ghouls. Not that I’d want my daughter to marry one. Seriously, the folks whose display was torn down seemed pretty reasonable in what I read about this. I’d bet a dollar if the PDUM had just asked them they’d have removed the “offensive” item. They didn’t need to destroy someone else’s property. Although I’d also wager they wanted the media attention that they’re getting for tearing it down. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/8 "2004-10-21T13:42:06Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > Well, gee, maybe that’s because **THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOULS**. Of course there, arent. Nothing to worry about. Move along. **Get back!** Uh, no. That was just… my retarded cousin. No ghouls here. I was on Lopez Island on Friday and there was a house there with a large (4’ x 8’) Bush sign in the front yard, surrounded by white “Christmas lights”. There were signs for other Republican candidates clustered around it. It reminded me of a Nativity display. At the driveway were a couple of “Happy Hallowe’en” signs. I thought, “Oh. The campaign signs must be a _really scary_ Hallowe’en display!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/9 "2004-10-21T13:46:40Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > As a person who knows a person who knows a person whose cousin is a ghoul, I’m offended. Funny, he doesn’t look ghoulish. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/10 "2004-10-21T13:49:49Z")
You know, a ghoul can do anything a buoy can do, and often better. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/11 "2004-10-21T13:50:53Z")
While I was in college, I had a gray foam mannequin. This color Gray. We had some beers one night while hanging out on the roof. Since work was getting done on the roof, there was a long length of safety line. For giggles, we made a noose and hung Kiki (the mannequin’s name) from it. Then, when people walked by, we made fake arguing sounds, then screamed “No, No, Nooooooo!” then flung her off the roof, where she would stop about 4 feet above the ground. We scared some folks, but they ended up laughing with us. Immature, yes, but normal college hijinks. We went to sleep/passed out. Then woke up with the police and landlord knocking on our door. A City Council person (A known nutjob) wanted us arrested for hate crimes. It seems we left Kiki in the window when we went to bed, and during the night Kiki had decided to take flight. The oversensative councilperson decided we were racists, and moved to have us arrested. Gray. Featurless. Foam. Yup. Damn grayists. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/12 "2004-10-21T14:18:19Z")
I’m personally shocked and offended by this “decoration”. Picture the poor child of a Frankenstein’s monster and a wolfman, who has to put up with all the discrimination of being a monster in a world where humans have all the advantages, plus facing the special challenge of being the offspring of a mixed marriage. This child has burdens enough to bear, but to see this hatefilled display is too much for anyone. Pity the poor Frankenwolf. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/13 "2004-10-21T14:23:33Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > “There is no history of hanging ghouls in this country but there is a history of hanging African people,” said Yeshitela, leader of the St. Petersburg-based group…" Nineteen Salem women were hanged as witches (and one man, Giles Corry, pressed to death with a boulder), thanks to a group of impressionable teenage girls who reported as truth a garbled mixture of fireside tales told by a West Indian slave . . . Sooo . . . “Ghouls”—all white women—were hanged in this country, partly because of what a black woman said? Feelin’ a little overly-defensive, Mr. Yeshitela? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/14 "2004-10-21T14:53:19Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Wasn’t the first interracial kiss on television between Captain James T. Kirk and Uhuru? Uhur **a**. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/15 "2004-10-21T14:54:54Z")
Has the man never seen a Western? ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/16 "2004-10-21T15:12:49Z")
**[Total hijack]** > [@](#): > > I was on Lopez Island on Friday You lucky bastard! Where were you staying? My family has a cabin up there, but since I live in MN, I don’t get there nearly as often as I’d like. It’s may favorite place in the world.[/Total hijack] OK, carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/17 "2004-10-21T17:26:03Z")
Two of y’all made posts that make it look like _I_ said the ghoul quote… Just to be clear, I was quoting the article on the OP. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/18 "2004-10-21T18:01:14Z")
Isn’t Uhuru guilty of trespassing and destruction of property? I think the HO was too calm. I would have been livid. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/19 "2004-10-21T18:08:29Z")
> [@the guy in the article in the OP](#): > > “There is no history of hanging ghouls in this country but there is a history of hanging African people,” said Yeshitela, leader of the St. Petersburg-based group… Oh, I dunno. H. H. Holmes got hanged, didn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392/20 "2004-10-21T18:09:06Z")
The poor guy probably came home, was like, “damn that was a perfectly good flannel shirt!”, cracked a beer and laughed it off. What a freakin’ sideshow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-display-called-racially-charged-symbol-of-hate/270392.md?page=2)