Chair in tree: 'It has nothing to do with hanging anybody'
CAMAS, Wash. - A local couple hung a chair with the word 'NO-BAMA' written on it from a tree in what is being viewed by some as a racially charged message.
George and Kathryn Maxwell told The Columbian they were inspired by Clint Eastwood's famous Republican National Convention speech, in which he spoke to an empty chair meant to symbolize the president.
But the message is coming across as something different, especially in light of 'chair lynching' that has been reported in other parts of the United States.
We talked to Kathryn Maxwell on Thursday about the display. She said it has nothing to do with 'lynching' and that her husband simply put the chair in the tree after the first one they put out was stolen.
"It has nothing to do with hanging anybody - it's hanging the chair so people don't steal it," Maxwell said, later adding "a Texas guy hung up a chair and it was really neat. It attracted a lot of attention. And I showed it to George and he went 'I gotta do that.' "
"I see nothing wrong with it," she also said. "It's a freedom of speech thing."
"I think that people have the right to do what they want to do, free speech and all of that, but I think at the same time they have to be aware of the consequences of that and be able to take on the responsibility of free speech in terms of how other people respond to it," said Sirius Bonner, a diversity adviser for Clark College.
The Clark County Chapter of the GOP told The Columbian that it does not condone hanging chairs from trees in protest.
I almost laughed myself to death over the last sentence GOP told the Columbian it does not condone hanging chairs from trees in protest. What a joke! The GOP should have said "Why is KATU, Duh Columbian and other media outlets wasting our time creating issues over nothing? GOP...grow a pair why don't you?
Let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill. What purpose did it serve broadcasting the threat from Ms. Bonner? Evidently no one knows what a noose looks like. Looks like a half hitch to me. Once again the liberal media proves it's the propaganda arm of the Obama administration.
If you have ever been to the south, the culture is so different it might as well be a separate country.
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That being said, according to this Chestnut Archive, historically there have been 26 lynchings in WA state, and of those, 25 were white.
I would reiterate that "half kenyans" do not have a monopoly on lynching.
http://www.chesnuttarchive.org/classroom/lynchings_table_state.html
This year, mobs in Mexico lynched suspected child molesters and kidnappers.
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@epilogical Wow, that's a chestnut!
@The Resistance...hey George, why don't you go give that sweet sow wife of yours a roll in the slop?
Some people go to extraordinary lengths to be offended.
I haven't heard any chairs complaining about this. It is although a white chair... This is pure chairism plain, and simple.
""said Sirius Bonner, a diversity adviser for Clark College."" Â Who is this guy and what makes him the great expert . He is just some college liberal professor wanting his 15 minutes of frame. Move on no news here.
 @onceagain Actually, Sirius is a black female who is the diversity director for Clark College.Â
 @leapfrogger So what, being the director of diversity for a liberal rag college all of a sudden make her an expert. Give me a break here. I may have been born at night but it sure was not last night.
 @onceagain I don't know her qualifications or why KATU interviewed her. I just was letting you know Sirius Bonner was a female. I guess because she is black and a Diversity Director makes her qualified? Your guess is as good as mine ~:-D
They knew exactly what they were doing, it is beyond reasonable expressions. They are racists plain and simple.Â
@Luckylucy I AM NOT A RACIST! AND I WONDER WHY PEOPLE DECIDE THAT IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THEIR WAY OF THINKING THAT THEY ARE RACIST,
 @Luckylucy So you talked them yourself? You know what was in their minds when they put out the display? Yeah, didn't think so. You, like most of the others are making this into what you want it to be.
 @leapfrogger  @Luckylucy NO we asked a real racists like you...
Hate much...???
 @cptmac11  @leapfrogger  @Luckylucy Your comment speaks more loudly about your own hate and racism than cptmac11.
I'm surprised she is not Naked like every other person in Oregon.....LOL
@Glenn Pierce Do you really want to see her naked? I guess if you do, you could always ask nicely.
I didn't now there were Racist Muslims hanging each other in history....
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 @QuandoQuandoQuando What a great person you must be to use those comments. I may not agree with her, but I'd rather associate with her than YOU.
 @QuandoQuandoQuando Freedom of speech doesn't protect you from defamation.
 @pdxtvguy Â
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That fat trailer trash arse pimple has already defamed herself so greatly that nobody could possibly pile on anymore that would detract from her sterling character. In fact, she would have to show damage from the comments and those comments would have to be proven malicious and false. People here are clearly treating her better than she deserves.
All of you who keep referring to her as: fat, a hag, trailer trash, hillbilly, etc are all hypocrites! If you disagree with her, then make an intelligent comment without name calling. It's unnecessary and only devalues your opinion. I for one, only see a chair hanging from a tree and a board with an opinion on it. But then again, my mind is not filled with hate and twisted thoughts. The past is the past and nothing can be done to change it but to constantly make any action a person does today about yesterday then we will never move forward. People are too sensitive and everyone wants the world to be how they want it. Well, it doesn't work like that. I say quit making this out to be more then it is: a plastic chair hanging from a tree!Â
 @leapfroggerÂ
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Speaking any other way would be talking over her head and that would be rude. Please, this woman participated in a mock lynching and you're defending her honor. Idiot, please.
 @Icarus Really? So you know her personally to say what her intelligence is? I didn't think so. You, however, I can clearly choose to behave like a juvenile.Â
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I'm not defending anyone's honor. I am pointing out that it is a stupid chair! Anyone can take any display and twist it any way they want no matter what the original intent was. I saw a picture the other day of a female singer singing into a microphone. What did the writer do? Turned the microphone & singer into a female interacting with a male body part! It's a microphone for heaven's sake, not a body part.Â
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I think most of you on here (including KATU) are make something out of nothing which only continues to fuel the fire of hatred, racism, bigotry and people like you making fun of someone because they don't meet you standards of acceptance. That's a bigger problem then anything else.
 @leapfroggerÂ
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And, I'm pointing out the obvious:Â
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a) She's a racist
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b) racism is associated with backwater trailer trash
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Look everyone knows what she intended because she references that the idea wasn't even original. There are some 260 comments on this thread because everyone knows what she intended there are some who call her out and others who still believe that this is some uncrackable code for racism that only racists understand. Which forces me to reiterate: Idiot, please.
 @leapfrogger  @Icarus So we should Not talk about your mom like that?????
 @leapfrogger White privilege is a great thing...almost as good as ignorance being bliss.
 @leapfrogger  Clint Eastwood's "Empty Chair" hanging from a tree! I was unaware chair hanging was racist or illegal. Its a chair for heavens sake. And she said someone stole the one they sat by the sign.
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I agree with you leapfrogger. I get really tired of everything anyone says or does being grabbed and turned into racism or something wrong.
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 @Yamhill354 Why not just stick with what you know...
The part ..."""I was unaware"""""
We know the rest...
@Hiker. That's because the Fed keeps printing money, causing the dollar to fall in value. All indications are that it will cause runaway inflation next year. Gas is *double* what is was 4 years ago, food prices are up 9%, and average family income has fallen $4300.The mideast is ready to explode, and the Iranians are threatening to close the Straight of Hormuz.
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Bully for you and your IRA. Think it'll matter much when milk is $8 a gallon, bread is $5 a loaf, and gas is $12 a gallon?
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I suppose you'll have to continue to rely on the Dem's Kool-Aid to supplement your diet.
 @Derek2mkÂ
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Fuel is nearly reached the highs achieved during the Bush administration. Bin Laden is dead and 80% of the troops are home. The economy is stabilized rather than in free fall and new home starts are on the rise.
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You can pitch the chamber pot in any direction that you wish but you cannot blame Obama for filling it in the first place. Obama has done exceptionally well particularly when Congress is filled with a collection of tea party arsewholes who's sole objective is to frustrate every positive effort planed by the Democratic administration.
 @Icarus So you enjoy the Kool-Aid
 @rozeguyÂ
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I did when I was a child but then I grew up and started thinking for myself and became an atheistic humanist and I place the Enlightenment humanist values of reason as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence first in my personal and social ethic. Yes, I tend to mock others who define themselves by other systems and base their values upon stone age superstitions.
 @Icarus  @Derek2mk Spoken like a true NW American that sees the lies republicans are spewing....Â
All I see here is the LIES that you and other DemocRATS are spewing - Obumanation has done NOTHING good for the country, but he's white-washing the bad enough so that folks like you can't see it for what it is!
 @Icarus  @Derek2mk Spoken like a true NW liberal pot smoking druggie.Â
Poor taste. It's clear they were making a reference to the lynching of black folks which took place in the South for much of the 20th century. I cannot believe anyone is actually defending these people. Certainly you have the right to say what you want in this country, and this right NEEDS to be defended, but we all have a right to complain about displays we find offensive. I do not plan on voting for Obama or Romney (two parties, one policies) but I can plainly see this ridiculous piece of crap is racist in nature. Just because you're hanging a white, plastic chair instead of an effigy of a black man doesn't make this any less racist when considering who this piece is aimed at. For shame.
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One "policy," sorry.
 @Morgan/Wilson2012 Livefyre strikes again!
 @Morgan/Wilson2012 Morgan/Wilson2012 Looking at the photo more carefully, they have trimmed limbs away, so they went to some length to make sure it was hanging. I think they should have tied it to the fence also if they wanted to make that point. I do not think this is racially motivated imho, blacks don't have a monopoly on hangings, criminals do for the most part. It is in poor taste and they obviously did it to be controversial, and for attention, so I wish news outlets would refrain from giving it to them. The chair thing is stupid anyways, and both candidates are a joke.
Am I better off than I was 4 years ago.  You bet I am. My IRA was in the tank 4 years and has now recovered nicely.
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Is this racist?  Well, is a black man still the president?
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I guess some people just simply like to believe the lies and crap put out by the GOP.  I feel sorry them and their lack of iintelligence.Â
 @Hiker123 Nothing racial about the fact that Obama is an unqualified, clueless person for the job. Makes no difference that he is black, he is just horrible.
Why do so many people think everything is racial. News flash, "Not everything is racial and does not need to be perceived that way." At sometime or another these liberal idiots need to grow up and act like adults. Leave this guy alone and allow him his God given rights.
 @Kent MiddourÂ
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Yes, but some things are blatantly racial and hate speech and it is the duty of Americans to haze racist speakers; otherwise, we are complicit with the slide to the racist bottom.
 @Kent Middour Yes, it is his right to be racist and you to be blind of it.
As Clark County Republican, I think the Clark County Chapter of the GOP maybe oughtta learn how to say "No comment."