Georgia bar owner Patrick Lanzo of Paulding County has made habit of claiming he's not racist, an argument that becomes harder to make each time he decides to display the n-word on a large roadside sign outside his establishment, the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar.
Lanzo's latest message reads, "I do not support the n***** in the White House." He recently told a local reporter that the offensive wording was not meant to be racist.
"I say just because you're offended by it doesn't mean you don't have the right to say something just the opposite,” Lanzo said, according to a report from Atlanta's Fox 5. “I don't feel bad about anything whatsoever. Therefore, they can go out and put their own sign in their own yard and I will not be offended.”
Controversy is nothing new to Lanzo, who seems to bask in the negative attention each time he posts a new inflammatory message.
In 2009, Lanzo drew outrage with a sign that read, "Obama's plan for health-care: n***** rig it." Again Lanzo maintained it was just a simple health care protest and not racist, a strange claim considering he advertises his establishment as a "Klan Bar" and has a rich history of catering to some of the nation's most notorious racist groups.
Asked why he had chosen those words to express his feelings on the matter, Lanzo replied, "Well, I've used it most of my life. There are different ways to put your opinion up, but that's just the words I choose."
Fox 5 reports that Paulding County officials know about the sign, but can't do much about it. Unsuccessful protests have also been mounted by the NAACP, a group that Lanzo once told CBS Atlanta he was a member of. From previous coverage of his actions, his sign has been a longstanding issue in the area, as have the strange displays of prominent black leaders alongside racist imagery inside his bar.
Lanzo isn't the first "not-racist" to protest against Obama with language that many would consider patently racist. Paula Smith, distributor of a much-maligned "Don't re-nig in 2012" anti-Obama bumper sticker, argued that neither she nor her product were actually racist.
Also on HuffPost:
Race, religion collide in presidential campaign
Atlanta bar owner post signs calling President Obama the n-word
Atlanta Bar Owner Posts Sign Calling President Obama a N*gger
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Posted: 05/ 3/2012 4:39 pm Updated: 05/ 3/2012 5:15 pm