Racist Anti-Obama Fliers Distributed In New Jersey

TRENTON, N.J. — Some residents of a northwestern New Jersey town received fliers last weekend that criticized the prospect of Democrat Barack Obama becoming the first black president. One national watchdog group said it may be the first distribution of racist fliers during the campaign.

Roxbury Mayor Tim Smith said the fliers were left at about 25 to 50 of the township's 8,000 homes. They show unflattering photos of Obama, including one that makes him look like Osama bin Laden above text that says: "Black Ruled Nations most unstable and violent in the world."

The black-and-white flier cites poverty, HIV and unemployment rates in Haiti and South Africa and says: "The United States of America will be next! Why should we seal our fate by allowing a black ruler to destroy us?"

Smith said he was sickened by what had occurred.

"It's not at all representative of our community," he said "This is a place where people take care of each other and nobody cares where you're from or what you look like."

Police Chief Mark Noll said the fliers were left in plastic bags, weighted with rocks, on lawns, driveways and in mailboxes. They are signed by the League of American Patriots, a white supremacist group with an address in Butler, N.J., about 45 minutes from Roxbury.

Telephone and e-mail messages left Tuesday for the League of American Patriots were not returned.

News of the fliers was first reported Monday by The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Noll said the incident was being investigated as a possible littering violation and not a hate crime because the group did not target certain homes.

Heidi Beirich, a director of the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks white supremacist movements nationwide, said the organization has seen Internet, e-mailed threats and negative talk about Obama in the white supremacist world. The Roxbury incident was thought to be the first distribution of racist fliers during the campaign.

Obama's New Jersey campaign office also did not return a telephone call for comment Tuesday.

Comments

[SunFresh]

Next thing you know I'll get fliers to scare me, a black American, showing that he's 50% white. Oh the fear! *sarcasm*

[SantaFeStars]

You're right, lookoutitsben, there are a lot of good, decent people in NJ, and, as disqusting as this is, the majority of New Jerseans, will not go for this vile garbage!

[rigveda]

"One national watchdog group said it may be the first distribution of racist fliers during the campaign"

Their joking, right? Racist anti-Obama fliers and merchandise have been distributed by right wingers the entire campaign.

[gladys46]

Hopefully those same "watchdog" groups will be out in force on election day ... watching and preventing another "theft" of an american national election !

[gintheb]

Hell. This started during the primaries.

[gintheb]

H#ll. This started during the primaries.

[NickSoCal]

I bet the person who did this is one of the blatant TR0//S you see here everyday. Mental Midgets

[reggie1298]

I agree that the people who produced the fliers are "mental midgets." Seems to me, though, the recent AP-Yahoo study found 25% of DEMOCRATS are racists - that's why the race is virtually tied.

It's just as likely the fliers were distributed by some HRC supporters joining Bill in hoping for an Obama loss.

[mervr1]

Just like the KKK who do most of their terrorizing in the middle of the night so do these punks. All racist are nothing but cowards who hide behind their insecurities because they can't control their own pitiful existence. They run in pacts because they aren't man or woman enough to do think for themselves so they allow the most ignorant of them all to lead them. These people want to blame everyone, but themselves for why they didn't or can't do better in life, when the main person holding them back is their own ignorance and most times illiteracy.

[ggirl00]

You know what ... who cares? We should be focused on voter registration and getting EVERYONE to the polls in November. Racists exist and anyone that is susceptible to this kind of thinking is a racist too. The only thing that we can do is if we have family and/or friends that believe in this kind of rhetoric we should try to educate them, as much as possible. But at the end of the day, people are gonna believe what they WANT to believe.

Moving on ...

Obama/Biden 08

[NoToGOP08]

I canvass in the Middlesex area......trust me anti-Obama fliers won't work here for sure

[Steelrod]

White People, all blacks aren't the same ok.

[RepublicanForObama]

And neither are all white people. It is not a matter of ones skin color.

[gladys46]

Content of character ... when will that prevail in america!?

[bpowell1]

@Steelrod: We know this. What scares us is that you don't know that about us. I never understand the fear most of you seem to have about us. We have never had any power and still scratching to try and get a piece of what you have but yet in a poll it states that most white people fear black people. Considering the history of this country shouldn't that be the other way around. I think it is time that we all stop having this 200 year old argument and just get to know one another. You will find that we all want the same things. A decent job to take care of our families, a safe community to live in, and not to be lied to by our politicians. And just a piece of mind.

[PuppaX]

Lol...you do recognize the irony, right?

[Opt1musPr1me]

Why should we seal our fate by allowing a black ruler to destroy us?

Wait a minute, as apposed to the current white leader who destroyed us?

Not only are these racist scum idiots, they still try to spread their outdated views to people who could care less. What will they do when our Caucasian fellow Americans are no longer the majority in a few years? No matter what, America will have a black president. it may not be Obama but America will have a black president, a Latino president etc in the future. Sure we may not be around to see it, but it will happen. America is still stained by its disgusting past. LET GO PEOPLE, LET GO! you are out numbered. You are the only ones stewing in your outdated hate stew.

[robXdion]

Hate to state this, but as whites decline in numbers and societal influence, the much feared race riots will come from them. You will see a growing backlash and outright hatred as what they perceive to be the normal order of things crumble. They deny the country's white supremacist mentality because they never really had to think about it. Since they benefited, it was a great "all-American" setup. But when minorities become more visible on TV and in managerial positions it'll disrupt the "normalcy" everyone grew up with, which was top heavy with whites. The cries of "take back OUR country" were already started with Pat Buchanan back in 1992. Lou Dobbs and Fox News are picking up that discussion now.

[scorpioleidy]

I'm not surprised ... but the good news is there are more BO supporters than racists, and we must get our message out on November 4th - by VOTING!!!

[barackobama4prez]

VOTE EARLY!

[CrzyRussell]

We get the same thing here but from Hispanic organizations.

[karenigma]

Obama is.........AMERICAN !!!!!!!!!!!!

[transparent]

More American than these guys!

[Enid]

people of Canada, Mexico are Americans and don't forget south Americas. The United States is only one of the America bombing and killing in the name of all Americans. Knock it off.

[reggie1298]

Are you stupid or just having a bad day?

An inhabitant of Canada is a Canadian, of Mexico, a Mexican, of Chile, a Chilean. I know I'm taking a risk here, but I think you can do the rest.

"American" refers to an inhabitant of the United States - as non-PC as that may sound to you.

[lookoutitsben]

This is a sad turn of events, but I will say it is certainly not indicative of the population of New Jersey. My girlfriend is from right around Roxbury, and there are a lot of nice, small-town people there. Oh well, I suppose there are always going to be bigots. Obama is still going to win our state handily...

[jhw22]

I hate that we still have some of this thinking and behavior in the 21st Century. I know it's a reality but I still feel shocked and saddened.

I am going to keep this handy and the next time I hear anyone say they don't think they can vote for a black man, I will make sure they know that they are steps away from being this ugly. We need to start making people face and discuss their feelings about racism. I will throw the ugliness back in someone's face with this reality. I will ask them if they wantto be THESE people?

Jennifer

[Zhonni]

99.9% of Whites, Blacks, Hispanics who are voting for Obama know he is Black/Bi-racial. So touting the fact that he is Black changes nothing except for those who were looking to vote for McCain resort to vote for Obama because of their disgust for the McCain campaign.

This is sure to backfire, and you can take that to the bank.