Boo! White Supremacy at the St. Louis Zoo: Halloween Display of Black Figures Hanging from Trees 'Totally Not Racist'

From [HERE] A ghost display at the St. Louis Zoo has been taken down after community members complained the display was racist. The display, which featured faceless, black-headed ghosts hanging from trees, was part of the St. Louis Zoo's annual Halloween decorations. Chris Burchett lodged a formal complaint with the zoo when he saw the display on Facebook. He told KYUE "it was like a complete outrage to me, it was very hurtful ... The picture appeared to be black people hanging from a rope. It's impossible that you could not see that that's racist you know, there's no way."

The ghost display at the zoo was not created by St. Louis Zoo personnel and was designed by an outside vendor. At night, the display looks different because the ghosts faces light up and produce an eerie glow in the trees. Wyndel Hill, Vice President of Internal Relations at the St. Louis Zoo, said that "we've looked at what we've seen in terms of photographs, we've discussed and we've made the decision that we'll take them down."

The St. Louis Zoo also posted a message in the comments section of its Facebook page:

'Please know that our Halloween decorations were never intended to offend anyone. The faces of our new ghostly beings floating amongst the trees were designed to glow in the dark during our Boo at the Zoo Nights event starting Friday. In daylight, these decorations have a different look, and in order to prevent any misunderstanding or possible offense, we are removing them. We do apologize for any concerns this may have caused.' The white reporter in the following TV report seems to enjoy this story and saying the word "lynching" at the end.