COLORADO SPRINGS — The removal of a picture of Barack Obama from a Presidents’ Day sign at a Colorado Air Force Base wasn’t done out of “political or racial animosity,” the military said Tuesday.
The Peterson Air Force Base commissary was responding to complaints from customers who said the holiday is meant to honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, not current presidents, said Ron Kelly, a spokesman for the Defense Commissary Agency, which oversees the military’s commissary system.
Thirteen commissary employees filed a grievance over the removal through the American Federation of Government Employees. One, Lavonda Bacon, said she suspects racism was behind the incident.
Kelly said he can’t comment on the grievance until the agency files a formal response. It wasn’t clear when it would be filed.
Obama’s picture was on a letter-size sign announcing store hours for Presidents’ Day, Feb. 16. Kelly said the picture of Obama was a small image in a corner of the sign, not a large portrait.
Bacon said one customer complained about Obama’s picture. Kelly said several customers did, but he didn’t know the exact number. It was replaced Feb. 10 by a sign with no picture.
“Each of these actions were motivated by customer service and not by political or racial animosity,” Kelly said. “The commissary staff at Peterson listens and responds to its customers.” Bacon, who orders store merchandise from suppliers, did not immediately return a call Tuesday.
She said earlier that she and 22 other commissary workers and customers signed a petition demanding that Obama’s picture be posted at the commissary and other public places at Peterson.
The petition also asks for an investigation into whether there is a “pattern of hostility” toward racial minorities at the base.
Its allegations include contractors or their employees using a derogatory term to describe blacks, a white worker dressing in blackface on Halloween and a lack of action on a formal civil rights complaint.
Bacon said the petition was submitted to base commanders. A base spokesman declined to comment.
Peterson is in Colorado Springs. Its commissary sells food and household items to service members.
