Sinn Fein
05-13-2008, 10:16 AM
He's not getting a pass here:
Bar selling shirts with 'Curious George' picture... (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2008/05/13/mulligans_0514.html)
Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he's peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with "Obama in '08" scrolled underneath, are "cute." But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.
"It's time to put an end to this," said Rich Pellegrino, a Mableton resident and director of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigrant Alliance. It was among the organizations planning to gather outside Mulligan's Bar and Grill Tuesday afternoon to protest the "racist and highly offensive" shirts.
"There's no place for these views, not in this day and age," he said.
Just down the street from Marietta's famous Big Chicken, Mulligan's has carved a provocative niche in an increasingly multicultural area, thanks to its owner's ultra-conservative political views. If you live in Marietta, it's impossible not to know what's on Norman's mind, as he posts his views on signs in front of Mulligan's.
Among his recent musings: "I wish Hillary had married OJ," "No habla espanol - and never will" and the standard "I.N.S. Agents eat free."
"I'm saying out loud what everyone in this town whispers," Norman said.
Whatever residents think of the signs, organized opposition to his blunt commentaries - ongoing for 16 years - had been nonexistent. No longer, says Pellegrino, who, though familiar with Norman's politics, said he was still surprised by the stark imagery of the Obama T-shirts.
"There's a lot of people hurt by this," he said.
Norman said those offended are "hunting for a reason
Bar selling shirts with 'Curious George' picture... (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2008/05/13/mulligans_0514.html)
Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he's peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with "Obama in '08" scrolled underneath, are "cute." But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.
"It's time to put an end to this," said Rich Pellegrino, a Mableton resident and director of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigrant Alliance. It was among the organizations planning to gather outside Mulligan's Bar and Grill Tuesday afternoon to protest the "racist and highly offensive" shirts.
"There's no place for these views, not in this day and age," he said.
Just down the street from Marietta's famous Big Chicken, Mulligan's has carved a provocative niche in an increasingly multicultural area, thanks to its owner's ultra-conservative political views. If you live in Marietta, it's impossible not to know what's on Norman's mind, as he posts his views on signs in front of Mulligan's.
Among his recent musings: "I wish Hillary had married OJ," "No habla espanol - and never will" and the standard "I.N.S. Agents eat free."
"I'm saying out loud what everyone in this town whispers," Norman said.
Whatever residents think of the signs, organized opposition to his blunt commentaries - ongoing for 16 years - had been nonexistent. No longer, says Pellegrino, who, though familiar with Norman's politics, said he was still surprised by the stark imagery of the Obama T-shirts.
"There's a lot of people hurt by this," he said.
Norman said those offended are "hunting for a reason