Cobb bar protested as racist for Obama T-shirts

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

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.


Read more: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2008/05/13/mulligans_0514.html

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Jerk!

[madaboutharry]

1. Unbelievable.

The ignorance amazes me. Oh, wait...no it doesn't.

[onehandle]

2. Welcome to Georgia. Ya'll come down and visit.

The racist donut around Atlanta beckons.

[lonestarnot]

32. Ack are you fucking kidding me. I hate those people.

If I went there they'd kill me or I'd kill somebody!

[darue]

36. Sherman's next march

we really should have depopulated the south after the civil war. still a bunch of would be traitors. wanting to build their white power empire.

[RebelOne]

3. That place is just a couple of miles away from my office in Marietta.

Maybe I'll take a spin down there at lunch to check out the protest.

[Dogtown]

24. R1

Wish I'd known of it sooner but I'm tied into a project now.
I'll check back after lunch to see if you can post here on your observations, & thanks!

[marylanddem]

4. What an a**hole - there should be major protests outside his

shithole grill.

[redqueen]

5. Hope his nastiness affects his bottom line.

That's all that some people care about, money.

[Dogtown]

25. Unfortunately, it will only increase

Cobb County is a republican safe-zone.
They make sure of it by excluding themselves from MARTA, the metro mass transit system. Seriously, because black burglars would carry off their HDTVs on the MARTA bus, o'wise.

Cobb County also includes Kennesaw, where you're required by ordinance to own a firearm, this in answer to Oak Park, IL.

There are "racial" neighborhoods in the county, but the bulk of constituents are of the republican persuasion.

[Fridays Child]

6. Even more disturbing is the AJC poll result.

What do you think of the Obama T-shirt?

It's racist
45.29%
1881 votes

It's fine
54.71%
2272 votes

[greiner3]

20. At first;

I would have said that, 'It's all right.' I've lived in the south some, however, I've lived most of my life in Ohio and to tell you the truth I guess the ignorance of comparing African-Americans with primates is too much of a stretch with me. I've never really heard of it much. Besides, I'm an Evolutionary Biologist and EVERY human is descended from a primate. But as it seems to be a big problem I will incorporate that particular bit of bigotry into my list of things NOT to bring up when I'm with my black friends.

[redqueen]

26. Ugh.

[deadmessengers]

7. I drive by that place all the time

I was wondering about the shirts. I saw the sign out there and was wondering what kind of BS that jerk was pulling. He's had a "Border Patrol Agents Eat Free" sign outside his place for years now - he's got an extra-special hardon for Latinos - which is significant because the neighborhood immediately around his restaurant is predominantly Latino.

[BonnieJW]

21. "Someone"

should call the health department and ask them to do an inspection on that establishment. Really.

[darue]

37. it's be a damn shame if someone burned the place down n/t

[Elspeth]

8. Why is Dubya on a T-shirt for Obama?

:evilgrin:

[onehandle]

9. Ha ha. Good point! nt

[RubyDuby in GA]

13. That can't be Dubya because this is Curious George and Dubya is about as uncurious as they come

:)

[Elspeth]

18. But Curious George did have a way of screwing everything up and his daddy had to put it right

I stand by my snark. :D

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Well, the word "curious"

is also a synonym for "peculiar," "odd." Those are some rather mild terms to use on Bush.

[Raejeanowl]

30. I Almost Went There

Only paid half attention on the first reading and wondered why * would be on an Obama shirt and where did racism fit in.

Having seen the shirt now, I agree: the whole monkey/gorilla/ape thing has been used as a racist insult too extensively in the past for even the great Curious George's cuteness to expunge it now.

[riverwalker]

10. if ya wanna call Mike

I think this is the number (if not the right bar, change it, I don't know Georgia)
I found it here, love the review....

http://atlanta.citysearch.com/review/46352831


200 Market Place Connector
Peachtree City, GA 30269
[phone]

[bigworld]

11. There's some good work for a copyright lawyer as well

Houghton Mifflin? Rey Estate? PBS? I think they can shut this down pretty quickly if they want to.

[RubyDuby in GA]

14. Not the same place. The city he's in is Marietta and Peachtree City is halfway between Atlanta and

Alabama.

This is the place:
698 Roswell St Se
Marietta, GA 30060 Map

[phone]

[riverwalker]

29. thanks! I'll edit n/t

[izquierdista]

12. Self-limiting stupidity

Reminds me of the Nazis who thought they could beat the world and expelled all their Jewish scientists studying nuclear physics.

[riverwalker]

15. Mulligan's sign: "I wish Hillary married OJ"

photo of their sign at the bar.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/cobb/stories/2008/05/13/88686180_mulligan.html

there is also a poll at the AJC web page. 45% say the T shirt is racist, 55% say it's fine.
The poll needs some help.

[BonnieJW]

23. It was apparently too hot because it's not there anymore.

[noamnety]

28. If a first grader wrote a similar thing about Bush

"I wish bush had married OJ" - the secret service likely would have been making house calls.

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. Half the crap in Cobb County is named after the nuts that lynched Leo Frank

Including a fucking elementary school!

Proud "heritage," that...

[OhioChick]

17. Terrible. n/t

[Ian David]

19. Anyone have a photo of Mike Norman? I want to make t-shirts! n/t

[lonestarnot]

31. Someone should take one if no one does.

[Ian David]

33. There's a company that archives yearbook photos.

Perhaps we purchase the rights to his yearbook photo, caption it, "Voted Most Likely to Be Ignorant Racist Bigot," and put it on t-shirts.

[jpak]

27. I heard they are handing out axe handles too

...old times thar iz not forgottin'...

:puke:

[Ian David]

34. Southern trees bear trange fruit. n/t

[rAVES]

35. .

[jmowreader]

38. I wonder if anyone's purchased one of these shirts

Poetic justice:

Racist asshole bar owner prints up a thousand shirts with Obama's name below George Bush's photo. Pays $10 each, even though they look like they're just cheap-ass undershirts.

No one buys racist shirts--whether it's because they understand racist asshole bar owner is attempting to use a racial slur against a presidential candidate, or because no one wants a shirt with Bush's picture on it, is not yet known, but no one buys one.

Racist asshole bar owner eats $10,000 printing bill.

Oh, and for his trouble every newspaper in America has a story about what a racist asshole he is. Bonus!