Hi! We're Your Racist Neighbors!

i'm having an issue.

i'm having a long-standing issue with our (relatively) new neighbors.

i don't know if you remember, but way back in november, our newish neighbors put a sculpture of an "Indian Brave" on the decorative low wall in their front yard. my initial reaction was a general WTF? i mean, its sooo stereotypical, and racist as hell, and it was just suddenly there, like it grew out of the ground one night.

a week later, i realized, "ohhh... its a thanksgiving decoration. a horribly racist thanksgiving decoration." i mean, for fuck's sake... really... you want to put that up as a thanksgiving decoration? all right. i sort of understand. but remind me to get you a copy of "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn.

can i also mention, the matriarch of this family is a school-teacher? public education is great, except for the fact that it exposes one's children to the public... sigh...

anyway, yes. so i tried to let the indian go. not my business. and i let it go throughout december too. i mean, its still the holiday season, and i don't take my decorations down like, ever, if i get around to putting them up. no really, its totally common for people to leave their christmas lights on all year round in my neighborhood. i mean, on the house. you don't light them up at night, unless its like, your birthday or something.

but now we get to the crux of the matter.

the indian is still there.

its february. thanksgiving is long gone, and it was barely an excuse, so far as i'm concerned. christmas is over. mlk day has even passed us by. there is no, fucking, reason to have that thing out there anymore. i still find it really disturbing.

i have fantasies of taking it down at night and leaving it on their stoop, facing the front door and ready to be found in the morning. there'll be a sticky note on its forehead; "Hey! I'm racist!" maybe just put the sticky on and leave it where it is. or maybe just hit it with a baseball bat until it goes away.

its their bad taste, and its their private property, but aren't these the reasons that zoning laws exist? doesn't public opinion (or at least my opinion) carry a certain weight?

i hate that motherfucking indian.

and i would hate to have to do something about it myself.

but sometimes...