'Lying African' Obama float driver: 'I'm a patriot'

Don Christy doesn't care what you think about his parade float. To him, the words "Lying African" in front of a depiction of President Barack Obama was funny.

Many, however, are questioning the town officials, police and organizers who allowed the 73-year-old Christy to drive the display in Monday's Fourth of July parade in Sheridan, a rural community of 2,900 in northern Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis.

"I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican," Christy told IndyStar. "I'm a patriot."

Christy wore a prison jumpsuit and a blond wig while driving a golf cart in the parade. The cart's roof displayed signs in support of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. On the front was the head of a stuffed animal with a sign reading "African Lion." On the back, a doll with an Obama mask was propped in a toilet with a sign reading "Lying African."

Tony Samuel, vice chairman of Trump's Indiana campaign, said the display went too far.

“While we realize that the majority of Hoosiers are extremely unhappy with Hillary Clinton and President Obama and don’t trust either of them for good reasons, in my opinion, this is not the right way to express that displeasure and distrust," Samuel said in a statement.

"As described by media accounts, the depiction on the float was in poor taste and crossed a line. It may not even have been allowed in the parade had it gone through the proper channels.

“Independence Day is a time to celebrate the strength, diversity and prosperity of our nation, not the time to disparage an elected official in front of impressionable children that were surely watching along the parade route.”

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Christy said he tries to do something funny and outrageous in the parade every year. Last year, he dressed as a gay person, he said.

"Me and a guy got married (during the parade)," he said. "It was funny."

Others aren't laughing. Many who spoke to IndyStar or commented on social media found Christy's actions offensive.

"The parade, it's for kids. This is Independence Day," said Darryl Brownie, 31. "It was just wrong."

Brownie attended the parade with his wife and four children, ages 2 through 9. He snapped photos when he saw Christy's golf cart, then posted the pictures to Facebook because he wanted to let the public know "how disrespectful it was."

Rebekah Sanders, who attended the parade with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, Eleanor, said she was "absolutely appalled by the float."

"Too many people die fighting for our freedom," said Sanders, 24. "I don't think that display is the type of freedom they are out there fighting for."

Sanders said she has attended the Sheridan parade for years, but her family won't be back next year.

"I do not want my child to think that racism is OK," Sanders said.

Christy said he didn't fill out an entry form. He said he lined up with other floats at the high school parking lot and was waved along when the parade started.

Sheridan Police Chief Robert Shock said no one complained about the golf cart during the parade.

"The only thing we do is lead the parade and direct traffic," Shock told IndyStar. "I saw it for the first time when it came by me at the parade."

Tully: Blame one idiot for racist display, not all of Indiana

Rick Cox, a member of the Sheridan Lions Club, confirmed that the club runs the parade in reply to a post on Facebook. He did not respond to IndyStar's request for an interview.

An official with Lions Club International told IndyStar that the organization planned to release a statement later Tuesday.

Hamilton County leaders did not hold back.

Sheridan Town Council President David Kinkead said in a statement he was "deeply appalled by the blatantly disrespectful and racist display."

"Our town, community, and county have always striven to be open and inclusive to all regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation," he said.

Kinkead said registration for the parade is not required and in the past, anyone has been to allowed to participate as long as the safety of the public was not at risk.

"It is unfortunate that an event that has always provided so much joy for the community may have to be regulated in the future to require advance registration of participants," he said.

County Commissioners Steve Dillinger and Mark Heirbrandt called the golf cart imagery racist and embarrassing.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions,” Heirbrandt said, “but in this particular case, I was very disappointed to see this happen.”

Dillinger said you have to respect the presidency, even if you disagree with the president.

“There is just a common decency of dealing with people and being an American," Dillinger said. "I would never say anything about the president’s race, because I don’t think it has any place in government, politics or life.”

Dillinger said he missed the parade and attended a reunion of the Roberts Settlement, a pioneer homestead founded by free blacks east of Sheridan in 1835. About 150 descendants attended the reunion, which is held every July 4, Dillinger said.

“That really made me proud to live in Hamilton County,” Dillinger said. “Now that this has happened (at the parade), I am not so proud.”

In 2012, Hamilton County gave 66 percent of its votes to Republican Mitt Romney and 32 percent to Obama.

These kinds of inflammatory depictions of the president have made headlines in Indiana and across the country.

In 2012, Iraq War veteran Eric Smith faced criticism for a Halloween display in which he hung an effigy of Obama from a gallows near his home in Lebanon.

In 2014, a float in the Norfolk, Neb., Independence Day parade sparked controversy because it depicted the Obama Presidential Library as an outhouse.

But Christy told IndyStar that his float was not intended to be racist. He's tired of political correctness, he said.

"It's time to start changing our country back a little bit," Christy said.

Still, he agreed that others have a right to be offended, just as he has the right to express his views.

"I have my right to say things," Christy said. "Isn't that what the Fourth of July's about? Freedom.

"I apologize to anyone I offended, which would be a total liberal."

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich and at Facebook/chris.sikich.

Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter:@vicryc.