Raw video of confrontation -- Warning: May be offensive

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas -- Neighbors say a sign posted by a Houston-area man is causing tension and fear.

They say the sign is offensive.  It makes a derogatory and profane reference to Sen. Barack Obama’s bid to become president.

“Whoever did this is a racist,” neighbor Laz Socarras said.

“They hatin’ on Obama,” neighbor Jarmaine Calvin said.

The painted plywood sign, which Calvin said he drives past every day, has the “n-word” and another profanity prominently displayed on it.

11 News photo

Residents say this sign is causing tension and fear in a Harris County neighborhood.

It’s posted on an empty corner lot full of junk and overgrown weeds.

“When I first seen it, I wanted to tear it down. I still want to tear it down,” Calvin said.

The neighborhood where the sign is posted is populated mostly with Hispanics and whites – only a few blacks.

Brenda Carr is one of them.

“My daughter seen it first. And when I backed up and I first seen, I backed up and said ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe they put that on there like that,’” Carr said.

The man who claims to own the sign stopped and talked to 11 News while we were working on this story.

He focused on the other side of the sign, which criticizes the lack of law enforcement in the area.

“We don’t have good law enforcement out here. The whores run up and down the street out here where white people try to live – good people,” he said.

The sign is located in Harris County, and officials said it does not violate any ordinances.

“The First Amendment gives you the right to say what you want to say. Exclude people from the property if you wish. The First Amendment is a pretty healthy animal,” 11 News legal expert Gerald Treece said.

Since the sign doesn’t make any kind of threat, the Secret Service said there’s really nothing that can be done.

Meanwhile, neighbors said all they can do is look the other way.