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.
Remember, Michelle has opened herself up to scorn and ridicule with statements like “this is the first time I’ve been proud of America.” ...so I can’t get worked up about the occasional personal blast directed her way.
But as I mentioned, the children are another matter. Off limits.
We’re better than they are Jim.
I agree we should stay away from the kids...I think the pic of the daughter with the peace sign was fair game, but it spiraled bad from there.
We know that the same person that emailed you probably laughed over chardonnay about Letterman’s “knocked up by Arod” joke.
But that is fine. Most of the reaction to the article is frustration spilled out due to the way Palin and her family have been savaged. That doesn’t make it right, but it is what it is.
Kids should be off limits.
Unfortunately in our world, only 1 or 2 incidences will be blown out of proportion to hell and high water. Libs seem to get away with stuff like this a lot more and don’t tend to get vilified for it.
The comments were terrible. They were racist and directed at Obama’s daughter. Maybe they were made by trolls who wanted to make this site look bad, but I doubt it. More likely they were made by idiots—”useful idiots” for the leftists who want to diminish the effectiveness of this site. I’m sorry more of us did not post a negative responses to the racist filth.
We cannot be effective in winning converts to our conservative positions if we do not ridicule the racist nonsense that sometimes appears on this site.
Obama’s Marxism and anti-Americanism has nothing to do with his being black. Marx was not black, Mao was not black, Stalin was not black, Ayers is not black, Ward Churchill is not black, Noam Chomsky is not black, Nancy Pelosi is not black, and most Marxist professors I have encountered are not black.
Yeah, but do you ever pretend to be an independent writer researching moonbat behavior and their frequent web postings?
Didn’t think so...;)
If they make political statements they are open to political criticism. An anti-war symbol tee-shirt is no exception.
A handful, out of 163 posts.
“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.”
That’s because those of us with experience and maturity stay away from threads like that.
Why popularize a thread by making more posts? Usually we just let the bad ones die of starvation.
But our ‘critics’ don’t seem to get that.
So, What’s up with Daily KOS worrying about Ghetto comments about a Politicians Kids ? Did Letterman complain to KOS ?
Notice the Prefix of “Free” precedes “Republic” .....Put them together, add the constitution and you have “Freespeech”.......
Honestly, the article in question didn’t interest me, so I didn’t bother reading the post.
I didn’t see the original thread, and I don’t think we ought to be going after kids, but none of the quoted statements appear to exhibit racism except maybe the referenced “monkey noises” picture (and even that would have to be seen to be judged — people made the same claim about that stimulus bill political cartoon with the cops and the dead ape, which wasn’t even the tiniest bit racist).
“Libs seem to get away with stuff like this a lot more and don’t tend to get vilified for it.”
That is because we don’t defend ourselves. If we did, much of this would go away.
And of course, "blatant racism" is whatever the aggrieved victim thinks it is.
Thank you.
I wonder if theHalfrican pays as much attention to sites like Media Matters and the HuffPO and is as diligent and cogent in voicing concerns.
FR, racist?
makes ya wonder about some folk who would define conservatives by their beliefs as they refuse to question their own as rigidly.
Oh, the kids? let ‘em wear Che t-shirts, Mom and Dad don’t have a problem with that, so why should the American citizen. theHalfrican knows best. bible thumper that he or she is..
I don’t remember reading any of those comments directed at Malia. Maybe Michelle but not Malia. But then I wasn’t on every thread yesterday.
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