# Would you object to these billboards in your area? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863 "2013-08-10T12:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/21 "2013-08-11T02:44:31Z")
I picked nuanced. I do think the campaign is a useless waste of tax money, rather like building a wall in the Arizona desert, but I don’t have advice on how they could handle it better. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/22 "2013-08-11T02:48:26Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > The Tory party say the billboards are not targeted at legitimate immigrants and minorities but only those here illegally. This is a lie. Despite knowing full well that they would cause offence and distress to many people, they are in fact targeted directly at white middle class bigots who have recently decided that the Tories are not xenophobic enough for them and are thus threatening to vote for UKIP in the next election. I therefore object both on the grounds of the vile message and the pandering to the readers of the Daily Mail. This, except in my case the parties in question would be the Republicans and Fox. The anti-immigration movement is massively dominated by thinly veiled racism. Very thinly veiled. Such a billboard might as well say _“brown people are subhuman and should be persecuted”,_ because that’s how it’ll be meant, and that’s how it’ll be interpreted. Very few people really care about immigration, they care about skin color, and will use anti-immigration laws as an excuse to persecute people of the wrong skin color regardless of their citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/23 "2013-08-11T03:16:32Z")
Never mind. Not going to derail the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/24 "2013-08-11T03:28:09Z")
That’s another thing I liked about living in Hawaii: By law, there are no billboards. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/25 "2013-08-11T03:31:38Z")
Are the billboards breaking any laws? If not, go nuts - free speech and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/26 "2013-08-11T04:15:36Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > I always thought an [Oxford comma](http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/what-is-the-oxford-comma) was one placed after ‘and’ at the end of a list; if not, ignorance fought. In any case it’s the least controversial part of the sign. Close. An Oxford comma goes BEFORE the “and” in a list of 3 or more. Ex: “Short, pale, and ugly.” ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/27 "2013-08-11T04:35:28Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I picked nuanced. I do think the campaign is a useless waste of tax money, rather like building a wall in the Arizona desert, but I don’t have advice on how they could handle it better. This for me as well. The billboards are pointless. If a private citizen/company wants to waste their money on pointless advertising, I’ll put up with just about any message they want to share. But the government has a responsibility to use tax revenue in a meaningful way. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/28 "2013-08-11T05:23:06Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That’s another thing I liked about living in Hawaii: By law, there are no billboards. Not even ones that say “No Billboards - It’s the Law”? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/29 "2013-08-11T05:51:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That’s another thing I liked about living in Hawaii: By law, there are no billboards. I am offended that the State of Hawaii would tell people what they can say on their own private property ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/30 "2013-08-11T13:40:46Z")
Shit, those billboards _are_ in my area. I haven’t seen any yet, but I guess it’s only a matter of time :(. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/31 "2013-08-11T14:29:51Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I am offended that the State of Hawaii would tell people what they can say on their own private property The whole point of a billboard, however, is for it to be seen by people who aren’t on your property. So the billboard owner is projecting his sign in to other people’s property - and those property owners have a right to object to that. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/32 "2013-08-11T14:48:02Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > they are in fact targeted directly at white middle class bigots who have recently decided that the Tories are not xenophobic enough for them and are thus threatening to vote for UKIP in the next election. . This. I’m not very familiar with British politics, but this at least seems obvious to me. Like\*\* Der Trihs\*\*, I only need to change the political parties’ names to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/33 "2013-08-11T15:03:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That’s another thing I liked about living in Hawaii: By law, there are no billboards. Even mobile billboards (basically on the back of a flatbed truck) like these? They’re used by just hiring someone to drive around with it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/34 "2013-08-11T15:08:11Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Even mobile billboards (basically on the back of a flatbed truck) like these? They’re used by just hiring someone to drive around with it. That I don’t know. I’ve never seen such a thing, in Hawaii or elsewhere. I thought we were talking about billboard billboards, but I see now. It would not surprise me if Hawaii did outlaw them though. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/35 "2013-08-11T15:17:09Z")
HEY. I like Oxford commas! That having been said, I don’t really like these billboards. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/36 "2013-08-11T15:46:06Z")
**Are you a Murderer?** Call this number: 0888 555555 ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/37 "2013-08-11T17:01:29Z")
Being from the UK and knowing that a lot of illegal immigrants here have realized that this country isn’t exactly the promised land and actually want to return home, but can’t due to the way they have got here I’d say that the billboards aren’t as bad as some may think. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/38 "2013-08-11T17:13:45Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > Being from the UK and knowing that a lot of illegal immigrants here have realized that this country isn’t exactly the promised land and actually want to return home, but can’t due to the way they have got here I’d say that the billboards aren’t as bad as some may think. Thanks; this is helpful to know. It still doesn’t excuse the comma, though. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/39 "2013-08-11T17:32:51Z")
> [@11811](#): > > Seriously? Undocumented immigrants in my area (South Philly) tend to be Mexican, and their English skills are nothing to sneeze at. I’m sure they know what their legal status is. You’re lucky then; the majority of Mexican illegal aliens around here speak no English, or very, very little. I suspect the only reason they’re fluent in Philadelphia is the lack of an existing Spanish-speaking community, and as a result they’re forced to pony up and learn English. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863/40 "2013-08-12T16:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=Longshanks] … actually want to return home, but can’t due to the way they have got here I’d say that the billboards aren’t as bad as some may think. [/QUOTE] But they aren’t phrased that way. They don’t say “Here illegally? Get amnesty and help returning to your homeland from the _nice_ party”. It is literally saying “GO HOME or we’ll throw you in prison!” With bonus bad punctuation. As others have said, it is really aimed at voters who might vote UKIP rather than Tory because the current Tories haven’t been nasty enough (particularly regarding gay marriage and foreign aid). If it was genuine it’d be written politely in Polish and Somali (or whatever, I don’t know where the illegal immigrants come from, but then the government don’t seem to either). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-object-to-these-billboards-in-your-area/665863.md?page=3)