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It’s pretty funny, says the owner of Bennett’s Barbershop. But not everyone’s laughing.
For the last month Leroy Bennett has had a Donald Trump election sign hanging in the window of his Almon Street barber shop.
“I put it in the front window just to piss people off,” says Bennett, a self-described “shit-disturber.”
The campaign sign was noticed this week by blogger Halifax ReTales, who posted a photo of it to Facebook on Wednesday afternoon with a caption stating Bennett’s “has decided they don’t want my business.” ReTales declined to comment further when contacted by The Coast.
The social media criticism prompted Patty Cuttell-Busby, executive director of the North End Business Association, to take to Twitter (since deleted) in defence of Bennett’s right to freedom of expression.
She tells The Coast those objecting to the sign are overreacting. It’s a “conversation piece,” says Cuttell-Busby, designed to promote a much-needed dialogue during these polarized times.
“That’s the intent, behind that sign, is to welcome the dialogue,” she says. “Is isolating [Bennett] and trying to kill his business, is that going to heal us? I don’t think so.”
Bennett says the sign has prompted a handful of middle fingers from passersby, but he laughs off any suggestion it will have a negative impact on his barber shop’s business.
“If people are that goddamn foolish, they can kiss my arse.”
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But Isaac Saney, Transition Year Program director and senior instructor in Black Studies at Dalhousie University, doesn’t think the sign is about healing any divide between the right and left. He says Bennett’s actions are “callous.”
“Obviously he knows what Trump stands for,” Saney says, referring to Trump’s history of comments about women, African Americans and other marginalized communities.
“If he says he’s a fan—whether he says that tongue-in-cheek or not—in a sense he’s giving full license that these ideas are appropriate.”
Saney is one of 10 panelists taking part next week in a discussion at Dal on the recent US election and its implications for the American people and global security.
Intentionally hanging the sign as a provocation to neighbours is not only offensive, he says, but normalizes the “frightening regression” of society displayed in Trump’s fascist actions.
“People get into a discussion of freedom of speech and so on, but what’s interesting is after World War II, certain forms of speech and symbols were prohibited because they were considered actions onto themselves,” says Saney.
Bennett doesn’t seem to agree. The barber says he’s a big fan of both the incoming American president and also Trump’s Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
A new round of debate about the relationship between those two world leaders was ignited Tuesday night after CNN and Buzzfeed published unverified claims that Moscow had compromising materials they were willing to use to blackmail the president-elect—including sex tapes of his involvement in some kind of anti-Obama piss-orgy.
The aforementioned intelligence documents—oddly enough—have a direct connection to Halifax.
After being passed around Washington, D.C. for weeks leading up to the election, a “former senior western diplomat who had seen the documents, knew their source and thought him highly reliable” spoke about the matter with Republican senator John McCain while both were attending November’s Halifax International Security Forum.
The Guardian writes that McCain decided the implications were serious enough “to dispatch a trusted emissary, a former US official, to meet the source and find out more.” Two transatlantic flights and a clandestine meeting later, McCain handed the still unverified documents over to FBI director James Comey.
Trump and his surrogates firmly denounced the accusations at a press conference Wednesday morning. That event was originally scheduled to announce the president-elect’s two oldest sons will be running the Trump Organization during his term in office in an effort to avoid any conflicts of interest.
America’s ethics director quickly responded to that bit of news by calling Trump’s plans “meaningless” and “wholly inadequate.” Trump was also criticized for his comments at the press conference about Russia, hacking, Obamacare and the media.
“I think they pick on Trump too much,” says Bennett. The barbershop owner says he believes Trump has the potential to become the best president in American history.
“I’m just hopeful that he’s going to do good,” says Bennett. “What can you do? He’s going to be in for the next four years.”
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This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2017.
The sign Bennett has posted and the reasons for which he’s posted it are far from as foolish as the over-reactions of his detractors.
I don’t know why everyone assumes nobody likes Trump, when in fact he WON the election! More people would come out and say they support Trump around here, but then SJW would label them racists, bigots, and assholes…. pretty easy to call someone a racist with no evidence these days.
If he had posted a Swastika in his window to promote dialogue what would ya’ll think. Granted, a trump sign ain’t nearly as offensive but man, trump isn’t exactly a bastion of decency…
Once the baby boomers are gone, so will be this way of thinking. Halifax is a retirement community. A bunch of old scared people who have no idea what they’ve done to the world.
Censorship by the left (political correctness) hits new heights (or new low…?)
Anyone offended by this, whether anti Trump or not, is not someone I’d want to chat with in a barber chair for 30 minutes. Seems like a good way to keep the idiots out.
BLM sign would also be offensive
Women are rising up all over the world in solidarity to send one very loud message. I recommend ALL men listen!
WOMEN are no longer willing to TOLERATE oppressive behaviour from MEN!
The word “TRUMP” is now a symbol of OPRESSION.
Our mothers, daughters, sisters…ALL are affected.
Leroy Bennett’s business caters to HRM Police Officers as seen in the pictures on his website. If one police officer shows support or tolerance for Leroy’s behaviour by entering his establishment, that police officer will be perceived as accepting/promoting the OPPRESSION OF WOMEN!
Real MEN of honour put women and children first!
Be real MEN and standby the women in your lives.
DO NOT make oppressive behaviour OKAY, or you may as well let Leroy put up a “Whites Only” sign. NO DIFFERENCE!
Leroy Bennett likes to call himself a shit-disturber. I doubt this is a normalization of the “”frightening regression” of society displayed in Trumps fascist actions”? Anyone want to bet on how soon Mr.Bennett will get pissed off at Trump.
Carla! Relax! One man doesn’t represent the many nor does that man have control over your life. Your vision is reasonable but your approach leaves me unsupportive. I don’t tolerate people screaming at me, as reflected in your use of CAPS. I encourage you to re-examine your reality as a Canadian, put trust into the political machine and reposition yourself and your strategies for change.
@MethinksYHZ…If you support the vision, then support the vision! My approach should have nothing to do with it! You stating you don’t support the vision because of my approach, is condescending to say the least. Oppressive at worse!
Oh, Carla, you are droll.
Open question for all the Social Justice Brigadistas gnashing their teeth over this.
How many of y’all stopped availing yourselves of the walloping and tasty breakfasts served at a certain “place” whose owner exercised his right and freedom to put up a portrait of Bashar al-Assad?
Rhetorical question.
Responses not really required.
carla do you go to this barber?
if not it doesn’t concern you to be hollering at what men do in their personal hair groomers. maybe men should go into the special gyms and spas and start hollering why the women now a days won’t cook or make a sammich. or even know how.
that and the fact that the majority of women voted for trump.
I believe Carla, that you put yourself forth, making yourself a representative. Ergo, YOU (CAPS for emphasis) and your comment were addressed. No backing out.
These dislikes must be being awarded by those who don’t understand the political machine. That, or the fact that the US and Canada are two different countries (meaning they have two different governments, etc…).
@Chief Wiggam…No I don’t go to that barber; however, it very much concerns me and millions of other women. That said, speaking with a group of babyboomers who want to keep the old oppressive ways going is futile.
The old start wars, the young fight and die! The young always win!
i think he should post a Peter Kelly for mayor sign right beside his Trump sign
you and millions of women..maybe but there were MORE millions and millions of women who voted for trump.
Carla, the trouble with “Culture Wars”, “Class Wars” “Gender Wars”, etc. is that you actually have to wage them AND win. No “Declaration of Victory” awarded, just for showing up. You actually have to fight, defeat your “enemy” and be the last man standing in order to declare your “New Jerusalem” and get on to the fun stuff – the purges, the re-education, the elimination of class enemies and the compiling of increasingly longer and longer lists of thought crimes.
It still hasn’t happened.
And frankly, now that the Ritalin generation have turned to “revolution” as the latest mind-fuck for their stultified and addled brains, -it’s not going to.
@Chief Wiggam…Women supported Clinton over Trump by 54% to 42%.
@Negard LeTourlette…If you don’t see the action that is taking place in front of your eyes, you are not watching close enough. Trump inauguration 200 buses, Womens March 1,200 buses and counting! Move over old men, we are taking over!
Regarding our children and grandchildren, you condescending old men are so out of touch you couldn’t possibly understand them. Social justice warriors they are, and rightly so. I will gladly stand with my children and grandchildren and support all their efforts. They are the ones that will make this world a better place. Give them the keys…before they take them!
I’ve hidden the keys.
In a vacuum sealed pickle jar.
Good luck with that.
Your offspring may be able to coerce academics and university administrators into creating ‘safe spaces”, but that hardly qualifies as a victory, and is, in fact, largely meaningless in the larger scheme of things. The only people who whose lives will be changed by the tantrum in D.C. will be Greyhound shareholders, whose otherwise tepid 1st Quarter earnings will be getting a real boost this month.
@Negard LeTourlette…The pickle jar has been smashed open thanks to Trump. Many fights to come!
In the US now; however, Canada is next!
If we all don’t get on the same page, and vote the way our KIDS want us too, we’ll end up just as divided and the fat cats will keep getting fat while we walk off the edge into human extinction!
I’m awaiting the Menxit…
carla… i think thats a little like the tail wagging the dog.
as for the edge i thing, i think the ground is breaking away underneath your feet. step away from the edge carla… just step away.
Wait… how did we go from Trump to climate change? I blinked – I only blinked – and the topic is now climate change…
Discussion is dead…my comments/links removed.
Why is that I wonder?
because i and others were winning. 🙂
Your FB is scary.
Great way to get customers. Apparently he also has scorpions, carbon monoxide and a man with a bad spray tan that screams at you about the immigrants.
Carla, your comments were probably removed because we are discussing Bennett’s vote Trump sign. You went on a diatribe about global warming. That, and others were offensive and generalizing.
what happened to the democrats hollering at Trump to accept the results of the election??
hypocrites!
The little liberal snowflakes are upset to bad so sad!! get a job!! move out !! your 30 now and get a life
Most people I know, find politicians to be greedy, corrupt and dishonest, but the truth can be unpalatable to voters, so dishonest politicians often have an advantage. I don’t want to brag, but I haven’t lost one REAL friend because of my political views.