General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. Rep. Greg Pence (R Ind.) criticized for racist items sold at his mall
EDINBURGH, Ind. (AP) U.S. Rep. Greg Pence is coming under criticism for allowing the sale of objects with racist depictions of African Americans at a sprawling antiques mall he co-owns and the issue has taken on particular significance as the Republican defends his congressional seat in Indiana amid a national reckoning on race.
The Exit 76 Antique Mall in Edinburgh, Indiana, has more than 4 million items for sale by the merchants who rent booths from Pence, the vice president's older brother, and his wife including porcelain dinner sets and vintage clothing, Civil War relics, first edition classic rock records and thousands of old baseball cards.
But sprinkled throughout the mall's 72,000 square feet (6,700 square meters) are also dozens of objects that trade in Jim Crow-era caricatures and stereotypes, like a coin bank featuring an exaggerated, straw-hatted Black figure biting down on a watermelon or Mammy biscuit jars depicting smiling Black enslaved women. Some are hard to find, while others are clearly on display.
Jeannine Lee Lake, Pence's Democratic challenger, drew attention to the objects recently on social media, but customers say they have complained to management at the mall about the items as far back as 2008.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/rep-greg-pence-criticized-for-racist-items-sold-at-his-mall/ar-BB17pSmX?li=BBnb7Kz
On edit: I see further down in the article he's Mike Pence's brother
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Place sounds more like a flea market type of scenario, he co-owns a space and rents the space out to various independent contractors.
I know it's not politically advantageous, but the people who should be held accountable are the individual vendors selling this stuff.
As distasteful as some of these items are, they are not illegal to sell, and vendors probably signed contracts saying they can sell whatever they want as long as it's not illegal and/or dangerous.
Just sayin'.
Faux pas
(14,714 posts)'godly' family.
maxsolomon
(33,473 posts)I get the sentiment. Kind of a tenuous connection for a political attack, though.
Collecting them isn't a settled issue, though; famous African Americas do it, to subvert the racist content of the objects:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-19-ls-52043-story.html
indyblue
(29 posts)He'll have all that leftover Vice presidentin' stuff he won't need anymore .