KATY, TEXAS -- By Tony Coombes
Pronews 7 Assignments Editor
Imagine a poster that shows a man being hanged and a couple dozen armed cowboys posing under him, with a caption that reads "Lets Play Cowboy's And IRANIANS!"
Then imagine that poster hanging in your local restaurant. Do you find this offensive? or funny?
Nonmacher's Barbecue in Katy, Texas, is fighting with that very scenario.
One customer told KTRK in Houston, "You know it's 2011, looking at it now, I see nothing really more than a display of racism and bigotry." He continues to say, "I don't think something like this should really be accepted by any community."
The owner of the restaurant, John Nonmacher, tells Desmond that the poster has been there on the wall for 30 years and he has never had a complaint. Now that the word is being spread, his phone has been ringing off the hook.
He says the poster was made by some Houstonians in 1979 as a reenactment of the Iran Hostage crisis. Iranians held more than 50 Americans for 444 days.
Nonmacher says "I laughed and I'm still laughing. I mean, they don't understand what it is. They don't care to understand, and somebody's taking it upon themselves to campaign and crusade."
If you're ever in Katy, Texas, and stop by Nonmacher's Barbeque, take a minute to find the poster. Despite requests to remove the poster, Nonmacher says, "It's my choice to have it up. It's your choice to go where you want to go. But I'm not going to take it down."
