the rix mix

Bob, I think you like to make an issue just like Ms. Hazlewood. The figure had been displayed at th house for approximately 5 years now and no one ever said anything. Stop associating this halloween display with the nooses that have been reported in numerous places the last couple of weeks. You, as well as Hazlewood and the president of the state NAACP are trying to create a problem - not the Maines. Why don't you try to understand the difference between what is really a hate crime and what is a decoration. Or don't you want to?
 

To the anonymous poster:

The attitude you express is no different from the one expressed by David and Cheryl Maines, namely that they have been vicitmized.

Having read both Madison area papers, I was astonished by the Maines's seeming inability to understand how someone might find the hanging figure offensive. Although I am a white male with no experience of lynching (unlike two of the Madison residents who requested that the Maines family take down the figure), I was deeply disturbed by the image. It conjured up the same images for me as it did for Hazlewood.

The insensitivity of the Maines family is nowhere better expressed than in Cheryl Maines' response to George Martin's recounting of his personal memories of lynching:

"Don't bring your ancestors into this -- it's something that happened; you've got to get beyond it or you're going to make yourself sick," she said. (Star-Ledger)

I find it astonishing that Cheryl Maines could find the gall to insist that someone get over such a painful experience. Exactly what length of time is appropriate for being traumatized by racism, according to her? Perhaps she'd be good enough to provide a timetable?
 

I didn't write that it was a hate crime. I don't consider it a crime at all, in fact. The Maines would have been within their rights to leave the diplay up. I even added the proviso, "Maybe next year." But this year Jena Louisiana was in the news, & there were other noose incidents with unmistakable messages. Last year doesn't count. The Maines simply could have said, "Sorry, we meant no offense," & removed the display, & they would been been thanked & considered good neighbors.
 

To anonymous #2, you're right on it. It began as excusable naivete, but it's ending with them looking like they have Confederate Star & Bars bath towels. Are they idiots?
 

To put it another way, Bob, imagine putting up a Halloween display of the World Trade Center in flames in 2000 and then see what happens if you put the same display out in front of your home for Halloween 2001.
 

I've grown up with the Maines family and there isn't a racist bone in any of their bodies. The hanging man has been up since 2002, and in the 2002 Madison Eagle, there was a picture of the Maines' son outside, putting some finishing touches on the hanging man. It may be more visible this year with less decorations up, but why only now is this woman making a fuss? Did she not see that decoration in years past, or did she not need her 15 minutes until now?

I also have no doubt that the town officials were guided 100% by morality in asking Maines to take this down. I mean, it's not like they have jobs to worry about, votes to secure and campaign funding that they need.

The problem here is that this has been turned into a "blacks only" thing, when in fact, blacks are not the only people to have been lynched. If one truly wishes to fight the issue of the hanging man, then they should address it globally towards people of all races, creeds and colors who have been victims of lynchings, instead of playing the predictable race card.

If the global issue of lynching had been addressed, perhaps we all would have learned something, but I really think that because it's become a black thing, nobody is really going to care and just develop further cynicisms instead of truly resolving the issue.

Is the hanging man really the issue tho, or is it the black cloth over it's head? Since when does a black cloth imply a black person? It's pretty self righteous to assume it's directed towards you or a particular ethnic group. If the dummy wore a white, yellow or red hood, would it be of offense to white, asian or native americans?

Through history books and films/tv, it's common to see people given a black hood just before being executed by a hanging or a firing squad. During beheadings, the executioner also commonly wears a black hood of some kind.

Was the issue of a hanging man more sensitive this year due to the climate? Perhaps, but if something is offensive, it's offensive. It doesn't suddenly hang for five years and become offensive in a split second. From the home videos shown on the news, it is quite clear that the dummy was very visible and not partially hidden in past years. So, why was no complaint made in the past? Has no member of the Hazlewood family driven on Rosedale Avenue in October prior to 2007?

A lot of this is also due to how the media has reported it. While nobody involved may have ever called the Maines racist - which is debatable - they compared to hanging man to lynchings, which implies racism.

The largest single lynching incident in America's history was the lynching of 11 Italian-Americans in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1892. Or perhaps this is the largest documented lynching?

I did a little research and found that 4,743 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968. I'm not insensitive to lynchings by any means, but this is a far cry from the millions that were murdered during the Holocaust, including plenty of non-Jews. Getting off on a tangent, there have also been instances of genocide that far outweight the Holocaust, such as the number of people that Stalin killed in Russia and the number of people that Mao killed in China.

Regarding people who comment on the fact that there is a halfshell of the Virgin Mary below the hanging man - Christians can't celebrate Halloween? And what is holy about Halloween to begin with? Who cares where it was hung? Did you also know that the Vatican has the largest library of witchcraft material? Does that make them devil worshippers?

The other day, I saw an episode of Law & Order in which the District Attourney was trying to prosecute a hetero white male who had HIV, yet was sleeping with as many women as he could before he died as to infect them all. Fictional case, but of course, the gay community shows up and says that prosecuting this man will only make people hate gays more since HIV and AIDS are associated with gay people.

Seriously, isn't everyone a little too sensitive these days? You can't say or do anything anymore without someone making a fuss, unless the people are white, European and heterosexual. I'm not saying that one should be insensitive to anti-semitism, but this is a little ridiculous. This has divided Madison.
 

You don't address most of my points.

Bottom line is everyone blew this way out of proportion. A lot of how this went down could've been decided by the initial reaction of Hazlewood and friends - did they ask to have it removed or did they demand it?
 

One thing I will admit to is at first, the Maines were seen as innocent people being attacked but through how they've handled the situation, it kind of makes you be like -- now they're just being stupid. I'm still 100% against that Millie Hazelwood lady and all her cohorts but I can definitely find fault in the way the Maines have handle the situation.

Refuse to take down the figure.
Take down the whole display.
Put up a sign on their law saying they'll never celebrate Halloween again.
Take down the sign.
Put the decorations back up minus the noose.

Like make up your mind and stick with it at least instead of flip-flopping all over.
 

If your point is right to free expression (could there be any other point?), I concede the right to the Maines & to everyone who would have showed up in Madison for peaceful public demonstrations.
 

To everyone and BOB get a life. And lay off the Maines Family and worry about your own F-ing selfs!!!
 

The people who blew this out of proportion were the Maineses. They should have just taken the controversial display down in the name of community harmony. Instead, they made a big stink and came out looking like jerks. You reap what you sow...