White History Month

The sign in the deli window says, "CELEBRATE YOUR WHITE HERITAGE IN MARCH, WHITE HISTORY MONTH."

Jim Boggess, proprietor of Jimbo's Deli on Main at 22 Main St., says, "No matter what you are -- Muslim, Jewish, black, white, gay, straight -- you should be proud of what you are. I shouldn't have to feel bad about being white."

But a neighbor and former customer, Bhakti Curtis, who is bi-racial, doesn't accept that. He said the sign, is "mocking Black History Month," especially the way the T was crossed in "WHITE." The cross piece was not right at the top, it was lower down, in a style used by the Ku Klux Klan and other white-power groups, Curtis said. That cross piece of the T has since been broadened to make it a more traditional, if top-heavy, capital T.

On March 3, Curtis saw the sign, told Boggess it offended him, but got no satisfaction. So he filed a complaint with the Flemington police. Detective Sgt. William Svard said Cpl. Louis Hribik's report indicates that Curtis said the sign is "racist," that he felt harassed by it and wanted to know what would be done about it.

Hribik went to Jimbo's, looked at the sign, spoke with Boggess and decided that the sign wasn't derogatory or racist and that no further police action was needed.

Boggess agrees with that assessment and believes he's lawfully exercising his right of free expression. He keeps a copy of the Bill of Rights in his establishment for ready reference.

He said reaction to the sign has been mixed. Lots of people have been photographing his sign with their phones and giving him a thumbs-up. But others have objected, including someone from the Business Improvement District who asked him to take it down, he said.

Another critic of the sign is John Puckett, owner of the Main Street Bagel Co. a couple doors away. He said the sign is "an embarrassment" to Flemington "and makes us look like a town full of inbreds."

Boggess said, "If there's any racial discrimination going on, it's by people who are objecting to his sign "because I'm white." He said that while other groups have their own celebrations, "I just want to be included. Why is this such a big deal? I don't get it."

He said, "I love everybody and everybody should celebrate what they are."

But Curtis is not feeling the love. "A business can't go putting racist signs in the window because everybody has a right to go in that store. Everybody! And have a right to buy something from that man and not feel demoralized or degraded."

He said that racial parity has not yet been achieved, as evidenced, for example, by the recent shootings nationwide of unarmed black men by police.

Boggess notes that he didn't invent White History Month; it has its own website, which celebrates it in April. "But I'm having it in March," he said.

So is the sign staying up? Boggess said on Wednesday, March 4, he'd leave it up for as long as he can, "but I'm getting a lot of pressure."

That same morning, Curtis encountered Sgt. Svard and Police Chief George Becker in Cocco's Cafe and asked them about the case. The conversation got unpleasant. Afterward Curtis went to the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office to file a complaint that he had been unfairly threatened with arrest. "You can't use authority like that," he said.

Because of the involvement of the Prosecutor's Office, Svard said he could not comment yet on what transpired at Cocco's.

Curtis observed about the Cocco's episode, "I'm big and black and have a loud voice. But that's not against the law." Curtis is determined to stand up for himself and continue his exploration of what is and isn't against the law. On Wednesday morning, he said he was going to see a lawyer to talk about whether his civil rights have been violated by the police and by the sign.

For the record, although Curtis has a problem with White History Month, he is part white. "I'm black, Irish and Polish," he said, "but I look black. I grew up in a white family, and I love white people. I just hate racism."

Source

Celebrating something you were born into is kinda dumb, but that's just me.

So black history month is dumb ?

Celebrating something you were born into is kinda dumb, but that's just me.

Thing is when you are white it equates to being racist...even if you think the guy is dumb (it is)for doing this everyone will think he is racist.

Not calling you a racist or anything (need this disclaimer to protect your feelings), but this kind of sentiment is common among people who are actually racist.

It's really all about context. Two different people can perform roughly the same action, yet have that action be perceived in different ways, depending on context and intent. This common fact everyone should have learned from a young age simply by being alive is something racist can't seem to be able to grasp.

Celebrating something you were born into is kinda dumb, but that's just me.

You see, I've never understood national pride. I've never understood ethnic pride. Because I'm Irish, and all four of my grandparents were born in Ireland, so I'm fully Irish.

And when I was a kid, I would go to the St. Patrick's Day parade, and I noticed that they sold a button that said "Proud to be Irish." And I could never understand that because I knew that on Columbus Day, they sold a different button that said "Proud to be Italian." Then came black pride and Puerto Rican pride.

And I could never understand ethnic or national pride because, to me, pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth.

Being Irish, being Irish isn't a skill. It's a f***ing genetic accident. You wouldn't say, "I'm proud to be 5'11". I'm proud to have a predisposition for colon cancer. So, why the f*** would you be proud to be Irish or proud to be Italian or American or anything?

Hey, if you're happy with it, that's fine. Do that. Put that on your car. "Happy to be an American." Be happy. Don't be proud. Too much pride as it is. Pride goeth before a fall. Never forget Proverbs, OK?
- George Carlin

But in America you have a right to be offended by everything.

I agree with this, but I can understand why there is a Black History Month and no White History Month and where there are Gay Pride parades but no Straight Pride parades. African Americans take pride in the fact that they can now live free in the U.S. and I think the month itself is kind of in homage to those who died never knowing freedom. For the Gay Pride thing it's more because homosexuality was (and still is) looked down upon, but things are starting to change slowly and many gays are able to be who they are without the persecution of the past, and yes, gays used to be tortured and even killed for being gay.

I noticed that they sold a button that said "Proud to be Irish." And I could never understand that

A right many people exercise to the fullest.

I'm offended wanna fight about it !