Halloween Prank Or Hate Crime?

Have a thing for dolls? So does a man in Iowa. He likes them so much, he hung a "child-sized black mannequin wearing a diaper and a blindfold strung up by a noose" on his property, ostensibly an idea originating with Halloween, but one he thought so ingenious he's continued to let the ebony body swing in the fall breeze.

The property owner told the Hardin County Sheriff's Office that the figure is a
1930s storefront dummy and that he put it up as a Halloween prank. He said it
was left up to deter trespassers, NewsChannel 8 reported.

Well, it's caused quite a furor.

Rev. Toussaint Cheatom says:

"Without knowing all the details, I could not say, but it looks very close to
hate crime. I would pray that my children would never see this so close to a
trail."

Chief Deputy Don Orel, of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office says:

"I can see how it would be shocking to some people who come upon it, but
after I saw it I believe it was just a prank."

I woke up this on the news this morning. Around 9 this morning I regaled an acquaintance with the grisly details. Here's a transcript:

Her:

I had another bad dream. I was in some park or something and as what I can only
think was a joke people hung a whole bunch of dummies all around the trees like
they had hung themselves. Thinking it was in poor taste i started to cut them
down and drag them into a pile, then I pulled on one and it was a person a live
person, she was trying to kill herself and got mad at me for cutting her down
and started rolling herself towards water, mad at me yelling for ruining her
plans.

Me:

This morning I watched (listened face-first into a pillow) to the news.
Apparently there is some situation where some guy hung a black skeleton in the
woods, and it seems to have been at least...racially questionable. so, perhaps
you were psychically orchestrating it.

Her:

I wouldn't orchestrate such a thing! it was a disturbing sight to see. I don't
even see anywhere on the news about this that you're talking about. I think
you're making it up. I do see bed bugs are on the rise though.

Really Iowa isn't all bad, though. Home of the Caucus!

I'm pretty sure the 1930's were not the best place for equal rights. At least judging by the Scottsboro Boys rape case when nine young African Americans were charged with raping two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama and found guilty based on false testimony.

So --- how many people keep a "child-sized black mannequin wearing a diaper and a blindfold and hanging from a noose" on hand as a Halloween prank? Not surprisingly, very few. And I'd guess the majority of those who do own one of these, also enjoy comedies in black-face.

At present no charges have been filed against the property owner and black child mannequin-enthusiast.

Figure Hanging Near Trail Causes Stir (KCCI)