In one of the most racially diverse areas of Pennsylvania a new billboard went up a few days ago. It was sponsored by the American Atheists and it pictured a bound slave saying, “Slaves, obey your masters.”.
In less than one day it was torn down.
Now, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating and is meeting with both the atheists who sponsored it as well as leaders of the NAACP who found it offensive and racially charged.
The Atheists are trying to protest what the Pennsylvania legislature says in the “Year of the Bible”. They were trying to point out that the Bible has a lot of statements that are not used today anymore.
“If this had been Detroit, there would have been a riot,” said Aaron Selvey of Harrisburg
Shannon Powers, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission said,
“We don’t want things to escalate into violence or community tension, so we try to address situations like that right away. We would not recommend tearing down because it could lead to escalation. It hasn’t, and we’re tremendously thankful for that. We ask that you turn your anger toward the (state) House of Representatives.
In a prepared statement Nick said, his group does not support or condone slavery while the Bible , which he called “evil,” does.
Stanley Lawson, president of the Greater Harrisburg Branch of the NAACP, said his group didn’t advocate taking the sign down,
“but, boy, was I pleased it was done. It caused a lot of hurt and a lot of pain in the community. I’ve gotten more phone calls about this than I have about any issues in the past three or four years. It wasn’t just elderly people, it was young people, across the board.”
Do you think the Billboard was too much or did it get its point across?
