Condemnation for effigy of Obama at CF High School

This weekend I was watching the news and a report about this article came on. After looking up some more information about the issue I was shocked about the, in my opinion, ridiculousness of it. A teacher at Central Falls high school hung an Obama doll by its feet with a sign that said "Fire CF Teachers"(see article for a picture of the doll in the classroom). He said it was just there as a joke and in response to Obama's support of Supt. Gallo's plan to fire all faculty and staff at the high school at the end of the school year. Supt. Gallo called the State Police and with the Attorney General they decided that this was not a hate crime. It was shocking to me that it could have even been considered a hate crime and not as a political statement that to me it so obviously was. The local members of the NAACP are saying that this effigy represents the lynching of a black man and that this teacher was demeaning the president and he should be charged with a hate crime.

The thing that bothered me most about this article is that the sole reason people are up in arms about this effigy is solely because President Obama is African American and are making this into something bigger than it actually was. I am not saying that the teacher should have done this in his classroom and it was tasteless but if he had done this two years ago with a doll of President Bush I feel it wouldn't even have made the news. At the same time I'm not sure if I agree with the teacher pushing his feelings on his students, yes they are older and less impressionable but the teacher should have maybe gone about it in a different way. I feel this article is really important to all of our discussions in class because it revolves around education, a school where over 50% of the students are minorities, and what some may consider a race issue. But maybe I'm just biased on this issue since it took place in my hometown, what are your opinions? Do you think this was a hate crime? Was it wrong for the teacher to show his students his political feelings? Or do you think this was an acceptable display for high school students?

Click here for information about the firings of all the faculty and staff of Central Falls high school.