Students Confess To Hanging Obama in Effigy

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Those college students were definitely making reference to racial hangings though.

They were? I'm a little skeptical on this, but I could have missed it. Was it obvious or are people jumping to conclusions?

Hmm. Noose around the neck. Note attached related to the admittance of blacks.

Occam's razor, rand. Occam's razor.

[Kiwon]

Those college students were definitely making reference to racial hangings though.

They were? I'm a little skeptical on this, but I could have missed it. Was it obvious or are people jumping to conclusions?

Hmm. Noose around the neck. Note attached related to the admittance of blacks.

Occam's razor, rand. Occam's razor.

Bigguns, you jerk, TRY READING ENGLISH and separating FACTS from COMMENTARY/OPINION.

From the original post:

Effigy of Obama alarms George Fox campus
by Suzanne Pardington, The Oregonian

NEWBERG -- Students and campus leaders at George Fox University denounced the hanging of a life-size cardboard cutout of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama on campus, vowing to work together to fight racism and intolerance.

A custodial crew at the 3,355-student Christian university found the Obama likeness hanging by fishing wire from a tree at 7 a.m. Tuesday and tore it down before students arrived for classes.

A sign taped to the cutout said, "Act Six reject," referring to a scholarship program for Portland students, many of whom are minorities.

(edit)

The Obama image at George Fox is the third publicized incident on Oregon college campuses in the past year involving racist images hanging from trees.

At Oregon State University in Corvallis last fall, a noose was left hanging from a tree after a fraternity Halloween party. [A noose, no body]

And at Reed College in Portland, a Halloween display last year included dummies, supposed to represent ghosts, hanging by nooses from trees on campus. In both incidents, students said they didn't intend the images to be racist.

[BUT THE WRITER ALREADY DETERMINED THAT THE TWO HALLOWEEN DISPLAYS WERE RACIST ACTS.]

(The rest of the article alludes that racism is rampant and par for the course among Christians and Republicans. The good guys, the tolerant, open-minded ones are Democrats, of course. This is rich. I quote, "The campus has a Republican student group but not an organized group of campus Democrats. John Archibald, chairman of the College Republicans, said in a statement that forming a Democratic group should be pursued "now more than ever."

"What happened on campus this week is disheartening to American politics," he said. "Regardless of your politics, this act of hate cannot be tolerated."

[Brilliant. Reminding supposedly Christian students of the biblical commands to "Love one another" and "Treat others in the same way that you want to be treated" isn't enough. No, the solution lies in starting a new political organization on campus. An enlightened, tolerant one, i.e. Democratic one, of course.

So, TB, a clever, clearly biased writer plays off YOUR prejudice and IDIOTS like you fall for it hook, line, and sinker. That's why you invent facts like "noose around the neck."

And because you are such a humanitarian, TB, I'm sure that to stop the majority of the racist acts that you will write an editorial suggesting banning Halloween displays on all college campuses in Oregon. That's the only time and place where "a noose" was seen.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Kiwon,

What part are you missing. I cut out of Obama with a noose...that sure looks like a lynching. Maybe not...cept that they put a note that specifically refers to a scholly for that is utilized by minorities.

That pretty much says it all.

[Scott Campbell]

What part are you missing. I cut out of Obama with a noose...that sure looks like a lynching.

Lynching? That sounds like a warm crime to me.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

What part are you missing. I cut out of Obama with a noose...that sure looks like a lynching.

Lynching? That sounds like a warm crime to me.

You need new material.

[Scott Campbell]

What part are you missing. I cut out of Obama with a noose...that sure looks like a lynching.

Lynching? That sounds like a warm crime to me.

You need new material.

Pot meet kettle.

[th87]

In real lynchings, commonly used items included:

1. A tree.
2. A Black person.
3. A hanging instrument (i.e. a rope).
4. People who hate Black people.

In this "prank", items used included:

1. A tree.
2. A likeness of a Black person.
3. A hanging instrument.
4. A note attacking a policy related to Black people.

It's funny the dots are sooo hard to connect when it's conservatives in trouble.

[th87]

And here we go:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008217186_webeffigy30.html

NEWBERG, Ore. — George Fox University says four students have been punished for hanging a likeness of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama from a tree on campus.

The university said in a statement today the penalties are "immediate long-term suspension and public service." The school says the four confessed to their involvement.

It says federal privacy rules prevent it from disclosing the length of the suspensions or the names of the students.

The life-size cardboard cutout, a commercial product, was hung last week with fishing line around the neck.

An official of the Christian school of about 1,800 students called the image of a black man hanged from a tree one of the most hurtful symbols of racism in American history.
___

Damn that liberal media!

[Kiwon]

And here we go:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008217186_webeffigy30.html

NEWBERG, Ore. — George Fox University says four students have been punished for hanging a likeness of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama from a tree on campus.

The university said in a statement today the penalties are "immediate long-term suspension and public service." The school says the four confessed to their involvement.

It says federal privacy rules prevent it from disclosing the length of the suspensions or the names of the students.

The life-size cardboard cutout, a commercial product, was hung last week with fishing line around the neck.

An official of the Christian school of about 1,800 students called the image of a black man hanged from a tree one of the most hurtful symbols of racism in American history.
___

Damn that liberal media!

Sounds like the AP. Always concerned about the little details. So what happened to 1555 students?

Gosh, this is terrible. Cardboard cutouts are being lynched! Gee, I wonder how many cutouts have died?!

Save the cutouts, kill the babies!

th87, you better start "The Cutout Defense Project" and push back against the evil Christians. First they enslave Native Americans and now they're targeting cutouts. Is there no decency left in the world?

Obama or his pal, William Ayers, can probably hook you up with some funding. It's a cause so great that you should dedicate your life to it. You must work tirelessly until every cutout in America feels safe. A federal ban on fishing line might be in order.

th87, you're a man among men. Caring, compassionate. Who will speak for the cutouts? You are their silent voice.

[th87]

And here we go:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008217186_webeffigy30.html

NEWBERG, Ore. — George Fox University says four students have been punished for hanging a likeness of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama from a tree on campus.

The university said in a statement today the penalties are "immediate long-term suspension and public service." The school says the four confessed to their involvement.

It says federal privacy rules prevent it from disclosing the length of the suspensions or the names of the students.

The life-size cardboard cutout, a commercial product, was hung last week with fishing line around the neck.

An official of the Christian school of about 1,800 students called the image of a black man hanged from a tree one of the most hurtful symbols of racism in American history.
___

Damn that liberal media!

Sounds like the AP. Always concerned about the little details. So what happened to 1555 students?

Gosh, this is terrible. Cardboard cutouts are being lynched! Gee, I wonder how many cutouts have died?!

Save the cutouts, kill the babies!

th87, you better start "The Cutout Defense Project" and push back against the evil Christians. First they enslave Native Americans and now they're targeting cutouts. Is there no decency left in the world?

Obama or his pal, William Ayers, can probably hook you up with some funding. It's a cause so great that you should dedicate your life to it. You must work tirelessly until every cutout in America feels safe. A federal ban on fishing line might be in order.

th87, you're a man among men. Caring, compassionate. Who will speak for the cutouts? You are their silent voice.

That's a good idea - I think I will.

It's a shame you had to be wrong about this though. Can't win them all, I guess.

[falco]

why is it so hard to see how hurtful the symbol of the noose is?

i don't even necessarily think the students should be punished, since they were expressing free speech, but i certainly think people's outrage is justified

[mraynrand]

why is it so hard to see how hurtful the symbol of the noose is?

i don't even necessarily think the students should be punished, since they were expressing free speech, but i certainly think people's outrage is justified

The outrage is justified, but the assumptions are not. When is the last time you saw fishing line tied into a noose? You have a bunch of suburban white kids, probably born in 1987 or 1988, who have no clue about lynchings whatsoever - certainly no visceral connection, no connection probably to minority populations. It is what it is: a meanspirited prank observed by two students and a janitor. You've got some creepy, rude naive kids who need to be taught a lesson. But I highly doubt they had any idea about the total implications of what they'd done, except on a sensationalism level. Reading up on the incident, this seems to be the attitude of other kids at the school, including members of the Act Six program, who think the punishment matched the crime. The FBI will investigate whether there was a civil rights violation. It is their job to see if anything more serious was intended, such as threats of actual lynching. Stay tuned, I suspect they will find nothing. My guess is you have a collection of students who have really been shocked that what they saw as a prank, expanded into this huge problem. I could be wrong - these kids could be among the handful of true racists left in our younger generation - steeped in the symbolism of racial hatred by family and community, in full awareness of what they were doing and what it meant - but I doubt it.

[MJZiggy]

why is it so hard to see how hurtful the symbol of the noose is?

i don't even necessarily think the students should be punished, since they were expressing free speech, but i certainly think people's outrage is justified

The outrage is justified, but the assumptions are not. When is the last time you saw fishing line tied into a noose? You have a bunch of suburban white kids, probably born in 1987 or 1988, who have no clue about lynchings whatsoever - certainly no visceral connection, no connection probably to minority populations. It is what it is: a meanspirited prank observed by two students and a janitor. You've got some creepy, rude naive kids who need to be taught a lesson. But I highly doubt they had any idea about the total implications of what they'd done, except on a sensationalism level. Reading up on the incident, this seems to be the attitude of other kids at the school, including members of the Act Six program, who think the punishment matched the crime. The FBI will investigate whether there was a civil rights violation. It is their job to see if anything more serious was intended, such as threats of actual lynching. Stay tuned, I suspect they will find nothing. My guess is you have a collection of students who have really been shocked that what they saw as a prank, expanded into this huge problem. I could be wrong - these kids could be among the handful of true racists left in our younger generation - steeped in the symbolism of racial hatred by family and community, in full awareness of what they were doing and what it meant - but I doubt it.

If it weren't racial, then why the scholarship reference?

[Kiwon]

why is it so hard to see how hurtful the symbol of the noose is?

i don't even necessarily think the students should be punished, since they were expressing free speech, but i certainly think people's outrage is justified

The outrage is justified, but the assumptions are not. When is the last time you saw fishing line tied into a noose?

The suburban kids may not be able to do it but you can rest assured that Sarah Palin's children learned how to make a hangman's noose out of fishing line, probably at their Assembly of God church.

There's no doubt a connection to Big Oil and Haliburton in there as well.

[falco]

why is it so hard to see how hurtful the symbol of the noose is?

i don't even necessarily think the students should be punished, since they were expressing free speech, but i certainly think people's outrage is justified

The outrage is justified, but the assumptions are not. When is the last time you saw fishing line tied into a noose?

The suburban kids may not be able to do it but you can rest assured that Sarah Palin's children learned how to make a hangman's noose out of fishing line, probably at their Assembly of God church.

There's no doubt a connection to Big Oil and Haliburton in there as well.

lol what?