Aaron Halliday insists that he is not a bigot. He is the owner of Checker Cab in Bloomington, Illinois, and recently came under fire for putting up a sign containing the following quote in front of his business:
"Things I trust more than Obama a Palestinian on a motorcycle"
When asked about the sign, Halliday had this to say:
Aaron Halliday: "Now when I read this, the only thing I could think of was action movies where the hero is trying to get away and is chased on a motorcycle by a man (typically) who is wielding a knife or a gun. Picture Indiana Jones being chased through the desert. This is what I thought of when I read this. It was not meant to offend anyone. It was in my opinion, humor. It's a joke"
A protester from the group Not In Our Town (NIOT) explained the sign this way:
Protester: "Checker Cab's sign is a passive-aggressive use of a racial and ethnic stereotype to promote a political agenda. We do not care about political views. We do care about stopping the promotion of hate."
Naturally, a representative from our local Conservative News and Misinformation radio station (Cities 92.9) showed up to defend the sign:
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| Benjamin Yount defends bigoted quote on sign in front of local business |
Yes, it's a joke, we all get that. However, when finding a joke humorous requires adherence to a negative stereotype about a specific group of people, like Palestinians for instance, then that joke is based on prejudice, and is by definition bigoted. Too bad only some of us get that.
Personally, I think the sign just to the left of Benjamin Yount's head does a pretty thorough job of describing both the Checkered Cab sign, and Cities 92.9.
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