The postal service and a Long Island homeowner are in a standoff over a Halloween decoration.
Richard Beatty decorated his home for Halloween and one of the items includes a skeleton hanging from a gallows.
“It’s not meant to be racist, it’s not meant to offend anyone,” Beatty told a local news outlet.
Beatty says his African American male carrier told him two days ago that he finds it offensive because it includes a noose. He says the postmaster then came by and told him that his mail service would be suspended until he takes it down.
“I said, ‘Do what you have to do because I’m not taking it down,’” Beatty said. “It’s not meant to offend anybody. It’s here to be scary, spooky. It’s a graveyard. It’s spooky. It’s Halloween. That’s what it’s all about.”
Some of Beatty’s African-American neighbors agreed with the postmaster and said Beatty should remove the decorations.
But this incident goes deeper than Halloween decorations. Beatty’s mail has been suspended by the postmaster and he went at least one day with no mail.
As a result, he filed a complaint with the inspector general.
“I don’t think the post office of all people should be the ones telling me what I can and can’t do on my own property,” Beatty said.
Indeed. In fact, no one should be able to tell you what you can and can’t have on your property.
“It is, from what I understand, a violation of your civil rights and it goes back to the mail must go through,” Stephen Ondrusek, Beatty’s neighbor, said. “There’s only two reasons, basically that they can stop the mail and that’s if it’s unsafe conditions for the carrier or if his life is threatened by a dog or icy conditions, not a Halloween decoration.”
We understand the historical meaning of the noose and why some would be upset at the mere sight of one, however, we can’t agree with the fact that the postmaster stepped in and decided to suspend Beatty’s mail.
A postal service spokesperson says “the carrier will monitor conditions on a day-to-day basis. They have the prerogative to deny home delivery ‘based on personal or physical safety.’”
It sounds like Beatty’s been doing this type of decorating for a while, so why the sudden fear from the mail carrier? Perhaps it’s a new carrier that hadn’t seen it before? And if it was offensive to the neighbors, why didn’t they speak out about it before this incident?
There are many questions left unanswered, but the biggest issue is his mail service. It sounds like it’s been restored and a temporary mail carrier is now on his route.
Watch the video report below for more details:
Sources: OpposingViews, CBS New York