Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal protesters took to the street this month in front of a Twin Cities taxi business, they raised awareness that stereotype-based humor, especially in public, is a form of bigotry.
"The message was heard," NIOT:B/N leader Willie Holton Halbert maintained after the hour long protest
A sign outside of Checker Cab, 1513 S. Main St., Bloomington, read "Things I trust more than Obama, a Palestinian on a motorcycle."
"Checker Cab's sign is a passive-aggressive use of a racial and ethnic stereotype to promote a political agenda," said Marc Miller, one of those protesting. "We do not care about political views. We do care about stopping the promotion of hate."
Miller said Aaron Halliday's sign is a form of bullying. After receiving complaints, Halliday posted an explanation on Facebook that stated he had no intention of offending anyone. He said the idea for the sign came from a friend who sent a list of slogans from Facebook.
"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," Halliday said.
A local woman with connections to Palestine is among those upset by the sign.
"I am very grateful that people feel this is wrong," said Adrianna Ponce, a professor at Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Music. "We are against bigotry and I think that it's a pity that this sign is up."
Ponce is originally from Venezuela but is now married to a Palestinian and her son was born in Palestine. She also spent five years teaching music to Palestinian youth. Her son told her about the sign.
"I have seen a number of comments on Facebook and have talked to a few people and am glad that there are a lot of people taking a stand against this sign," she said.
NIOT:BN's Darlene Miller noted support in the form of passers-by honking their horns.
"We also spoke to Mr. Halliday about our very diverse populace in B/N due especially to three universities and State Farm," she related. "People from all over the world come in and out of Bloomington continuously. His signage would rightfully cause fear in some of these visitors. He seemed interested in that thought. We’ll see."