Ah, the racism. It's just so casual here.

[OkieGranny]

Needed to restock the pantry this morning and I'm trying to do the responsible thing, so I drove a few extra miles to shop at a locally-owned grocery store here in Oklahoma City, which happens to be located in a neighborhood largely populated by Latinos and African-Americans. Just down the street from the grocery store, I saw this sign:



Watermelon? Seriously?

[catbyte]

1. Where's the fried chicken?

[TrueBlueinCO]

2. Is is possible

that the owner of the business or manager that made the sign decision is black?

[MADem]

3. Do you think that was meant as racism, in a multi-racial neighborhood?

If that's the case, are they looking for the place to be torched?

Who resides in that apartment complex?

It doesn't make sense.

[OkieGranny]

10. Beats me

I tried googling to see who owns the complex, but all I could learn was that it's passed through several different owners over the past decade, and the reviews I read make it sound like an absolutely horrible to live. Looks like most, if not all, of the tenants are HUD-subsidized. A young man was shot to death in the parking lot last June.

[MADem]

12. It might not be a racist comment, then--just an inaccurate one.

It's a slice of the HORRIBLE life, more likely!

[Bluzmann57]

4. Something I've asked racists several times,

"I like watermelon and fried chicken. So am I black?"
They rarely answer me.

[sadbear]

5. After watching Ken Burns' Dust Bowl documentary, I wondered why the Dust Bowl is still republican

and the only reason I could come up with was racism.

[Coyotl]

6. Without racism, what would happen to Republicans?

[southernyankeebelle]

7. Exactly right. My daughter-in-law's grandparents should fit right into the dem party and

I think at one point they were until President Obama became president. Now they are pissed at him because they can't get more food stamps.

[Nye Bevan]

9. They would nominate Herman Cain and/or Condi Rice? (nt)

[LiberalAndProud]

8. It isn't the only reason.

Taxes, guns, gays and women's reproductive rights all play a role. There is the notion that all government assistance comes with strings attached and is therefore a bad thing. Government is 'them' and not a welcome entity. Racism plays a part, but the Republican message, in its entirety, resonates in the Dust Bowl.

[Spike89]

11. Exactly! In fact, Dems were the racists during the dustbowl era

Amazing how little we are willing to admit that really until the 60s, maybe the late 50s, the Democrats were dominant in the South and the party of racism (of course, at that time, both parties were pretty racist). The dust bowl Republicans were opposed to government intervention more than they were attracted by the racial issues.
If it had simply been racial, they'd all have jumped to the Democrats side.

[sadbear]

13. Oklahoma was a Democratic state during the Dust Bowl.

All of the South was Democratic during the 30's. But when Democrats more or less embraced civil rights during the 60's (and Nixon and Reagan subsequently exploited that) most of those Democrats became republicans (yes, it's an oversimplification, but it's pretty accurate.)

Neither we nor the republicans are the same party we were during the 30's.

But it was definitely not economic issues that turned those Southern Democrats into republicans.

[OkieGranny]

16. Religion

The place is thick with fundamentalists, so the Teabaggers had no trouble gaining a foothold here. Or stranglehold, really.

I grew up in a suburb of Tulsa and am FB friends with about half of my graduating class. A good percentage of them regularly pepper my news feed with scriptures, prayers, inspirational messages, and updates on their church activities. That doesn't bother me so much, as I'm Christian myself, though my denomination falls on the more liberal side of the spectrum, but I've unfriended 31 of my classmates since the election who could not stop rending their garments and tearing at their hair. The pissy-pants hissy fits were EPIC, and were mostly religious or racially-themed rants. I haven't seen or spoken to most of those people in over 30 years anyway, and don't feel any need to subject myself to that kind of assault to my senses every time I check in to see what my kids and grandkids are up to on FB.

[CBGLuthier]

14. Hey I know that neighborhood

My daughter used to live just around the corner from there. Fortunately she does not any more.

Myself I prefer the Mercado down off of 16th and May. The produce prices are so cheap it is worth the time it takes to sort through it a bit. Plus the deli makes great fresh corn tortillas.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

15. I'm going to have to disagree with your interpretation.

A slice of watermelon on a hot summer day is a slice of the "good life", no matter what color you are. I don't think the watermelon in this image is being used as a racist slight. Granted, it would be better placed at a farmer's market and not as a marketing device for a rundown apartment complex.

[OkieGranny]

17. Why not a slice of cake?

That's pretty good, summer or winter. The other side of the signs reads "Take a bite out of your rent," illustrated with the same piece of watermelon. Why not an apple?

I don't know, man. If I was asked what image to use to illustrate either sentence, watermelon would not be the first thing that would spring to mind.

[GeorgeGist]

18. It appears to be seriously ...

bad Photoshopping.

[OkieGranny]

19. Sorry to disappoint you

Last edited Wed Nov 28, 2012, 09:30 AM - Edit history (1)

This second photo was snapped as I drove further down the street: