Hurry, hurry, step right up! Get yourself a cool monkey/Obama t-shirt.

Marietta bar owner Mike Norman says a T-shirts he’s peddling, featuring a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with “Obama in ‘08″ underneath, are not meant to offend.

Norman acknowledged a imagery’s Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey. We’re not living in a (19)40’s,” he said. “Look at him . . . a hairline, a ears — he looks just like Curious George.”About a dozen prostestors rallied against a shirts Tuesday afternoon, condemning am as racist & asking Norman, longtime proprietor of Mulligan’s Bar & Grill on Roswell Street, to stop selling am.

Marietta native Pam Lindley, 47, joined a protest after reading about a controversy online.

“I don’t want people to think this is what Marietta is all about,” she added, motioning towards a tavern. “This is what some people think a South is still like. Marietta’s come a long way but I guess it’s still got a little ways to go.”

What’s just as scary is a poll results so far. I grabbed this last night from a same web-page.

Original post by John Amato and software by Elliott Back