President Obama Witch Doctor Display 'Personal,' Not Racist, NJ Store Owner Says
N.J. store owner vows to keep anti-Obama Halloween window display.
Oct. 13, 2012 — -- The calendar is flipping toward two big late-fall events: Halloween and the presidential election.
A business owner has married the two in his New Jersey storefront. His anti-Obama, Halloween-themed window displays the president as a witch doctor.
Expression of free speech? Maybe. But also a bad business decision, apparently.
The voodoo storefront has evoked outrage in the beachfront community of Spring Lake, N.J. But Bill Skuby, 66, owner of the local men's store, Skuby & Co. Lifestyle Clothing, insists that the display is not political. ... "It's personal."
The store's window display depicts an image of Obama's head superimposed in the body of a witch doctor that rests atop the word "Obamacare." The witch doctor image is placed under a tombstone epithet that reads, "I Told You I Was Sick," accompanied by a photo of the president in a doctor's coat and stethoscope.
Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com.
On the tombstone stands an Obama bobble-head doll sporting a long-sleeved tee that reads, "Hoax," and underneath that is a zombie mannequin rising from the dead wearing a hat that says "F.Y.B.O.," an acronym apparently for an expletive phrase denouncing the president.
"This whole thing started as a statement from an individual voicing his opinion," Skuby told ABC News during a phone conversation that was briefly interrupted when someone from the street came in to give him a piece of their mind. "Now it has brought total negativity to Spring Lake."
The display has generated both outrage and support, ABC News' New York City station WABC reported.
"Our children and grandchildren can walk by, and I think this represents the worst that America can display in campaigning," said Spring Lake resident Suzanne Herrmann.
But Ray Miller told WABC's Jen Maxfield, "Good for [Skuby]. Someone has to stand up for our country."
The Halloween-themed display debuted Oct. 4. Skuby said that he did a similar one last year "and no one said a word. But this is an election year and now, suddenly, everyone wants to be involved."
The store owner said he has received a wave of threats from all over the country aimed at him and his six children, including death threats that he has reported to the police.
"This is America, isn't it?" Skuby asked. "Aren't we able to say and do pretty much what we want to do?"
Skuby, who admitted that his business has suffered because of his visual expression, said the community is trying to run him out of town. He said people have made him out to be a racist because of his anti-Obama display.
"If you want to call me a racist then go ahead. I can assure you I am not a racist; I just really want to see Obama go." Skuby said. "This is a good example of where race relations are under this guy's administration. ... This has absolutely nothing to do with race."
Skuby said that if Mitt Romney had the same plan as the president; his picture would be in the window.
Skuby said he isn't taking the display down until after the holiday.
"My window is my voice and I get one shot to have my voice be heard." he said. "I don't regret putting up the display. At some point, you have to take a stand and that is what I am doing. I want Obama out."
