(PHOTO AND STORY: KHQ.COM)
Jim Valentine is the owner of Dixie Services in Post Falls.
He says he’s a fan of southern culture and when he put pictures on the side of his dump trucks, he thought the wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“Is it the watermelon that's bothering people?” Valentine asked, “it's not the watermelon because that's what... that's what... they live down south and that's what they eat so I think what's really getting people is that smile on her face.”
Nick Lee saw the picture over the weekend after he says a friend showed it to him.
He says he couldn’t believe what he saw.
"I was furious it is a outdated, misappropriated extremely racist depiction of Africans,” Lee said.
Valentine says he doesn’t believe the picture is racist, but rather it represents a time period in our nations history.
“Even though there could've been some bad times down there it was part of history and it was part of their heritage down there and that's just the way it was,” Valentine said.
But Lee isn’t buying that.
“There are portions of history that don't need to be celebrated,” Lee said.