Via Belirico: It's not racist! It's just 'controversial!'
Filed by: Bil Browning
Back in February, I did a post about the U-Washee laundromat in Richmond, Indiana. The business features signs showing a 1940's-style stereotypical Chinese man doing laundry with lettering written in what Margaret Cho calls "feng shui hong kong fooey font." 
The photos are shocking enough but what amazed me was the laissez faire attitude the town held for the blatant racism; they'd normalized it.
"Racism is ingrained in the Midwest," I wrote then citing other examples like the Indiana congressional candidate who attended a dinner honoring Hitler's birthday or advocated for segregation. "The fact that he had no problem publicly stating his racism - without thinking that others would object - shows just how commonplace overt racism can be here," I wrote.
Sadly, today we have another example involving a general store in Noblesville, Indiana that's been selling decidedly racist soap while the owner defends his right to sell it. Eventually the mall's owner, state senator Luke Kenley, had it yanked as "inappropriate." Even the news report doesn't call the soap racist; they call it "controversial."
Watch the owner adamantly defend himself on video after the jump along with some money quotes from the story.
Continue reading "It's not racist! It's just 'controversial!'" »
The photos are shocking enough but what amazed me was the laissez faire attitude the town held for the blatant racism; they'd normalized it.
"Racism is ingrained in the Midwest," I wrote then citing other examples like the Indiana congressional candidate who attended a dinner honoring Hitler's birthday or advocated for segregation. "The fact that he had no problem publicly stating his racism - without thinking that others would object - shows just how commonplace overt racism can be here," I wrote.
Sadly, today we have another example involving a general store in Noblesville, Indiana that's been selling decidedly racist soap while the owner defends his right to sell it. Eventually the mall's owner, state senator Luke Kenley, had it yanked as "inappropriate." Even the news report doesn't call the soap racist; they call it "controversial."
Watch the owner adamantly defend himself on video after the jump along with some money quotes from the story.
Continue reading "It's not racist! It's just 'controversial!'" »
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