No, you’re not reading the Onion. Green Bay FOX affiliate WLUK-TV reports on a homemade sign in little Redgranite, Wisconsin (population 2,149):
The new attraction in Redgranite? A controversial sign.
It reads: “Hang in there Obama,” next to a picture of a noose.
“A lot of people find it offensive,” said Rachel Kern, who lives across the street. “It’s definitely a very big eye catch to people driving past.”
From further away, you can really only read the larger print that says “HANG OBAMA” in bold, red letters. You can see the outline of the noose. But if you get up close, you can see the smaller print that says, “in there.” And this message has some people confused.
“I’m not really sure if it’s supposed to be for Obama or against him. Because if you actually read it, it’s like, ‘keep up the fight.’ But with the noose, it doesn’t exactly say, ‘keep up the fight,’ at the same time,” said Kern.
“That got your attention. It got you to look at the sign,” said Thomas Savka, who made the sign.
I’ll say. but despite the presence of, oh I don’t know, a freaking noose, Savka wants you to know that he’s not, not, not racist. In fact, he actually likes the President! (“See? I wrote ‘I love Obama’ on it! That means I’m not racist, right?'”)
He claims he’s actually pro-Obama. He says he even put that in small print in the corner of the sign.
“It’s my attitude for it. Everybody’s picking on Obama. It’s the attitude of ‘hang in there, buddy!’ It isn’t over ‘til you’re done kicking,” said Savka.
Dude. You drew a noose. Who do you think you’re fooling?
During the months-long fury over Governor Scott Walker‘s aggressive union-stripping, education-cutting, teacher-scapegoating agenda, some progressives referred to the state using nicknames like “Wiscissippi.” Given Wisconsin’s recent forays into ugly, racial politics, I’m starting to worry that their words may prove to be eerily prophetic.
Photos of Savka’s sign and video from the WLUK-TV report are below.
Obama sign causes stir in Redgranite
