A Halloween decoration hung by a Georgia resident deemed “offensive” has caused a stir in the community.
The decoration in question posted by WSB-TV appears to show a person with an animal skull head hanging with a noose around the neck with brown gloves. It’s displayed at a home in Cartersville, Georgia, about 43 miles from Atlanta.
It has been described as “racist,” “insulting,” and looking like a “modern-day lynching,” according to local news. Another person said she and her family were “mortified” when they first saw it because they thought it was an actual human.
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According to the report, a neighbor became so frustrated that she pulled the decoration off the tree. Speaking to the outlet, the unidentified homeowner said her family celebrates Halloween and decorates yearly.
“They love Halloween,” the resident said to WSB-TV, referring to her family. “They’re both excited about Mr. Creepy in the tree.”
In response to the neighbor snatching the decoration down, the homeowner emphasized that the decoration does not have racist undertones.
“She said because the thing underneath the mask is black and his shirt is black, she was thinking it’s a Black person. And it’s not,” she explained to the news station. “That’s just the spare clothes my husband had that he was gonna throw away anyway. That’s why I picked those. No reason other than that, and the gloves are garbage gloves so… .”
Despite brewing tension in the community, the homeowner re-hung the decoration, citing First Amendment rights, WSB-TV reported. The cops have been called on the family several times but can’t do anything because they are not committing a crime.
An official from the local NAACP chapter slammed the decoration as a reminder of the country’s dark past.
“Black folks have endured so much in this country, and to depict someone being [hanged] is not a place that we want to be in 2023,” Bartow County NAACP President Dexter Benning told Fox 5 Atlanta.
According to the report, the family officially took it down on Tuesday.
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