Posted on 07/10/2009 9:53:00 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
Yesterday, theHalfrican posted a link to the Free Republic Website where several of its regular members were bashing Malia Obama for wearing a peace symbol t-shirt. The thread had several derogotary, racist, and sexual remarks about Malia. It also included a picture of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that was accompanied with a racist caption.
I wrote the media contact at Free Republic yesterday, kristinn@bellatlantic.net, questioning the nature of the posters and the site:
Hello. I am an independent writer developing a book about the grassroots conservative movement online, of which your site, Free Republic, is included as a primary online gathering place for conservatives.
Could you please tell me how the owner of the site feels about posts like this one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/...
...in which conservatives who post regularly at the site make several racist statements about the 11-year-old daughter of President Obama for wearing a t-shirt adorned with a peace symbol? Remarks included the following:
"We’re being represented by a family of ghetto trash." "Looks like a bunch of ghetto thugs. A stain on America."
"Looks like a typical street whore."
"What we now are sending the ghetto over to represent us. and if so who the hell is that flea bag who looks to be dragged from the trash dumpster."
"you could go down any ghetto right now and see exactly the same."
"could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there"
"the world must be laughing like mad right now at that we have this kind of street trash in our white house."
"Wonder when she will have her first abortion."
"sad isn’t it that we now have ghetto street trash over there representing us in Europe."
"This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution.
"They make me sick.... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin’ mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin’, and especially ‘lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin’ my peeps."
In addition, the thread includes a picture of Michelle Obama speaking to her daughter with the caption, "To Entertain Her Daughter, Michelle Obama Likes to Make Monkey Sounds."
Before you dismiss this as only a minority of posters at the site, out of 100 posts on that thread I found only 1 that criticized such remarks. This is not the first time I have seen such an exhibition of blatant racism at Free Republic by members who regularly post there.
Here are my questions:
Does Free Republic condone this type of exercise in free speech?
Are these the type of participants Free Republic is happy to have posting at its site?
What is Free Republic's policy about posting racially offensive comments?
What is Free Republic's policy about making sexual insinuations about minors (particularly relevant in light of the David Letterman/Sarah Palin brouhaha)?
Does Free Republic believe its membership accurately represents the conservative movement?
Does the owner of Free Republic believe this kind of discourse is helpful to rebuilding the Republican Party and furthering its goals?
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your responses.
went back to the site today and saw that the offending thread has been pulled "pending review."
http://www.freerepublic.com/...
I do note that Free Republic has a disclaimer on the first page that claims it does not condone this type of post; however, I am not sure when the disclaimer was added. Does anyone know?
From the disclaimer:
Opinions expressed on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Free Republic or its operators.
Please enjoy our forum, but also please remember to use common courtesy when posting and refrain from posting personal attacks, profanity, vulgarity, threats, racial or religious bigotry, or any other materials offensive or otherwise inappropriate for a conservative family audience.
Free Republic is a site dedicated to the concerns of traditional grassroots conservative activists. We're here to discuss and advance our conservative causes in a more or less liberal-free environment. We're not here to debate liberals. We do not want our pages filled with their arrogant, obnoxious, repugnant bile. Liberals, usurpers, and other assorted malcontents are considered unwelcome trolls on FR and their accounts and or posts will be summarily dismissed at the convenience of the site administrators.
Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government.
So, the site will readily delete posts from liberals just because they are liberals and therefore everything they say is automatically considered "arrogant, obnoxious, repugant bile."
But comments calling an 11-year-old black girl "ghetto trash" and a "whore" are pulled "pending review." What is to review? Your site either supports that kind of rhetoric or it does not. Which is it?
If the Free Republic's "conservative family audience" consists of people who say such things as they often do (like yesterday), how conservative are they? And how family-oriented are they? Where were all the posts from other Free Republic regulars or from the owner of the site decrying this kind of racism directed at a child for no apparent reason than the fact that a peace symbol t-shirt inflamed their hatred to disgusting depths, like a red handkerchief in front of a mad bull?
Conservatives continually reinforce the fact that the only families they care about are conservative ones; the only troops they support are ones that do not vote democratic; the only children whose lives they value are the children of conservatives or unborn. How many of those aborted fetuses they claim to hold so dear would they trash had they been born and grown into a pre-teen who wore a t-shirt with a peace symbol or supported a liberal president? Or was gay?
The truth is that conservatives do not know the meaning of Jesus' words despite how much they love to use them when it suits their inner hatred of all those who are different. Worse, they lack basic human decency, as they demonstrate time and again.
The shorts were shorter than I would allow my daughter of the same age to wear.
Calling President Bush a chimp, etc. means nothing because he’s white."
Of course. It depends on WHO is doing the calling!!
Same here. I miss a lot for sure but I rarely see racist posts here.
We disagree on that, of course. It’s your perogative to negate the shorts for your kid and mine to think they’re fine. Just like I recall what was in style back when I was a kid and how parents were fighting it.
Of course :)
We also have to be suspicious of people who, on their profile pages, claim to be “20-year veterans of the U.S. military,” which would make them either very senior NCOs or senior officers...but every one of their posts reads like something a teenager would write. It’s pretty damn obvious that they’re phonies, liberals, and up past their bedtime.
Yes. Let’s talk about the Black Culture today, the one that is promoted by the media. The culture that was once one of the strongest, most family oriented. The one that doesn’t exist today anymore because of all the entitlement. Or would that be racist?
Who exactly is being Anti-black? Stereotypes? LMAO!
That’s allowed/permitted. Same with Redneck.
Ya know, I was born and raised in the city, as diverse as one can be or as diverse a neighborhood can be and I’m so sick of all this PC crap. Personally, I think it’s from people that have no clue what it’s like to live in a freakin’ ghetto, yeah a ghetto. Fortunately, the area in the city I grew up in wasn’t what it’s like today. It was getting there, which is the reason I got out 20 years ago. But it was a ghetto of sorts. And today it’s much worse. And many people got out which is why the city is what it is today. WTH chooses to live like that?
I don’t give a damn if I’m called a racist or anything else...some of us not only lived in the so called ghetto, we were able to WORK our way out of it. And I’m damn tired of paying for those who don’t get up off their asses and work. I don’t give a damn what color/race one is but I know the so called minorities in this Country get a free pass on some things.
I disagree. An 11 yr old is just that, a child. The kid probably has no idea really what it means. Other than what her parents told her and as a parent, I don’t allow anything in this house, on their body, with the peace symbol because of what it meant when I was a kid.
My 11 yr old would like to wear stuff with that on it. She doesn’t understand what it means or what it meant 30-40 yrs ago. We, as her parents, do. And the Obama’s also know. All the blame should be on their shoulders, not this 11 yr old kid who thought her clothes were cool.
An 11 yr old can “choose” to wear anything she wants but it’s up to the parents to allow it.
So we should NEVER joke about race. K. Can we joke about ethnicity? Is that still ok? How about gender? Or ooooh, sexual orientation as it’s now called. Can we joke about those things?
Maybe I should be offended and DEMAND no one ever joke about Italians or Irish again. That means no more mob or food jokes about Italians and no more booze jokes about the Irish.
BS. Free Speech is just that, Free Speech. It applies to all.
Or maybe rather than hit the abuse button, just deal with it? Discuss it like adults?
Well said.
We can’t talk about that stuff. It makes us racists.
RME.
I’m incredibly tired of this BS. When my kids don’t get free money to attend college and C students do because of their race...yeah, we talk about it. When my 11 yr old questions why it’s ok to make jokes about white people, or white girls but not ok to do the same about blacks or black girls....cos that’s considered racist, we talk about it. When it’s ok for a tv show or movie to slam white, straight people, and kids notice this stuff, we talk about this stuff.
When my 11 yr old asks me why it’s ok for blacks to say “white girl” but not ok for whites to say “black girl” or stereotype the black girl...in movies or television...they’re undestanding what’s going on.
So tell me again how difficult it is for blacks in this country, how difficult it is for any minority in this country. At least my kids have the female thing going for them. A white male is basically screwed unless he comes from major money and connections.
and it’s hilarious that Obama is half white, since we don’t hear anything about that.
As for American Jews, I find myself the opposite. Aside from a few Jewish conservatives i know here and in the real world most I know or see in action do not believe in my value system and don't share my world view and are my culture war foes.
But I love Israel and support Israelis and contrary to all that Evangelical gobbledegook and messianic envy, my Christianity has nothing to do with supporting Israel. I was there on business a lot and developed an affinity for them. They are rather reasonable and more like us than their neighbors. Same way I like Leb Christians more than Leb Muzzies.
Funny isn't it?
that makes me a bigot sort of...
that Jewish girl ____ Geller they put on here a lot is cute unless she’s an IMPOSTER!
“without even looking way downthread I am going to guess that we will have by now certain self righteous freepers calling other freepers racist and preening about how much better they are morally now that they have smeared them with the race card.”
Well, now...aren’t you the sage? ;o)
Check out Doe Eyes posts.
“Obama has her out there as a prop...she wore two different peace shirts in several days.”
Yes...that they did.
There is a double standard, ya’ know.
The Obama kids can’t be touched, even if they are props with a political message.
Sarah Palin’s kids are to be trashed throughout the state run media, and the blogosphere, even though there are lies involved.
I agree with part of your post. We have to get past the bs, and that means the silly fights within our own party.
However, you’ve never seen anything as ugly about the Palin kids (or Bush kids) as you’ve seen about Malia? Really?
I’m far more concerned about the divide between conservatives when it comes to religion (have you seen the religion threads?) than I am about half the stuff I see in the political threads. Conservatives eat their own. As nasty as the libs/dems get, they still stick together. Have you seen the so called science threads on here? talk about nasty and so much misinformation.
Pamela Geller is one great patriot, lover of Israel, and a real hottie.
Though, I prefer her brains. ;o)
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