Protest set for Saturday
Why I can't feign outrage at the racist Iranian hanging poster in a Katybarbecue restaurant
Mr. NonmacherPhoto via Houston Living Guide
Let's Play Cowboys and Iranians posterPhoto by Charlie A.
Nonmacher's Bar-B-Q in KatyPhoto via Houston Living Guide
I think my selective outrage machine is broken.
The story of the Iranian lynching poster at Nonmacher's Bar-B-Que in Katy started on KHOU on Thursday and has been picked up by international media outlets, including Britain's Daily Mail. The poster depicts a crowd of men dressed as cowboys around a man dressed in Middle Eastern garb pretending to be hanged, with a caption underneath reading "Let's Play Cowboys And Iranians!"
There's a Facebook group opposed to Nonmacher's racism, a petition asking for the poster's removal and a peaceful protest outside the restaurant scheduled for Saturday.
The image is crude, racist and not at all funny. So why can't I seem to care?
Maybe because according to owner John Nonmacher the poster has been up since 1979, when Iranians took 52 Americans hostage in the Tehran embassy, which to me makes it more like a historical artifact of racist propaganda. You know, like all this stuff. Want to see a horrifying and real picture of a lynching? Try this one. See the difference?
The image is crude, racist and not at all funny. So why can't I seem to care?
Maybe because compared to people losing their damn minds over a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan, a town in Tennessee suing to prevent current Muslim residents from building a new mosque and a sitting senator singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran," to the tune of The Beach Boys, outrage over an old poster just seems kinda stupid.
If this guy was harassing Iranians, or denying them service (like this guy in central Texas), it would be a serious civil rights issue. But no one is claiming Nonmacher has treated them with anything other than respect, except that he refuses to take down a poster.
Maybe because it's his business and he can put whatever stupid, racist shit on the walls that he wants to, and there are plenty of other barbecue joints around town that will happily take your money if you don't like it.
Haven't we gotten to the point where old people being (harmlessly) racist is kinda adorable? Can we make Bill Cosby host a show called Old Racists Say the Darndest Things and then laugh patronizingly when they talk about the Kenyan socialist president and the welfare queens and the godless feminazis ruining the country?
You know, because they are all going to die out and their multi-ethnic grandkids will be toasting to them at their gay weddings.
