What some say is merely a harmless Halloween decoration in Brooklyn insults others as offensive and racist.
This scarecrow, painted to have black skin, was strung up outside a home on East Fifth Street in Kensington earlier this week.
Neighbors said the homeowner gets into the spirit of Halloween every year, and they’re sure he meant nothing by it. They also said he’s hung up the same scarecrow for the past six years.
But City Councilman Charles Barron said the scarecrow is reminiscent of a lynching, and that people who live on the block have complained to him about it.
“It’s unacceptable,” Barron told CBS News. “You ain’t speaking for this whole community because some
people on this block came by and said it was offensive. It’s not a cool decoration.”
“The perpetrators of this horrific display are only acting out what they conceal in their hearts,” he added in a statement.
The NYPD came yesterday and took down the scarecrow — not because it was offensive — but because it’s illegal to hang things from city trees.
