MARIETTA, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
A sign on a busy Marietta street has been attracting a lot of attention lately.
It has a racial slur targeting Hispanics and then reads "R Criminals. Hire One And U R Too! House Bill 87"
The sign is at Mulligan's Food and Spirits.
Leaders of the Hispanic community called the sign racist and said it encourages racism.
Mike Norman owns the bar and he said he does not think it's racist.
"No, absolutely not. I am just telling it like it really is," said
Norman.
Jerry Gonzalez is an activist in the Hispanic community. "It's
racist. It's pejorative. It's demeaning. It's dehumanizing," said
Gonzalez.
Gonzalez knows about Mulligan's. He protested against Mike Norman and
his restaurant in 2008. Norman was selling controversial shirts about
then-candidate Barack Obama.
Norman said his current sign shows his support of legislation targeting illegal immigrants.
Norman said he has something to say to his critics. "I would say to
them to wise up. There's nothing racist about it. It's a fact. That's a
term used for people who sneak into this country illegally."
According to Gonzalez, in the Hispanic community the word is equivalent to the "n-word."
"We are concerned about violence against our community. This sign
doesn't help," said Gonzalez. "That type of hateful rhetoric is not
appropriate for Georgia."
Norman said he put the sign up a month ago and it will stay up until
he gets bored with it. Gonzalez said if the sign remains, he is
considering a sit-in at the bar.
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