Posted on 07/11/2009 12:01:08 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children
By Chris Parry, Vancouver SunJuly 11, 2009 11:01 AM
This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog
"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.
The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."
Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.
Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.
"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?" wrote one commenter.
"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," wrote another.
Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.
A note on the front of the blog reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."
After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.
"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Thompson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."
"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."
"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."
"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."
Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.
In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.
One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Thompson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"
Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"
But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined." © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
The Obamas are the thesis, the Palins the antithesis.
Don't you folks know any Hegel?
God bless you, and please stick around -- we need you here. I have found that there are jerks in every cultural group -- no one is safe and no group is without its embarrassing and disappointing members. I can't know what it is to be you, but I do know that as a woman in business in the 60s, I experienced a level of ugly, raw prejudice from some men and some women, that shocked me to my core and often humiliated me in public, such as being loudly mocked by a male stranger at the next table in my neighborhood restaurant for dining alone while reading the Wall Street Journal.
I definitely think racism must be moderated better on FR, and I hope you understand that FR operates on a shoestring (see post 152), with only volunteer mods.
To my ear, the ebonics posts are usually quite distasteful; and even though I do enjoy the Michelle fashion critiques from the point of view of how her comportment represents our country, I am too often disappointed by gratuitous jibes at her racial characteristics.
I hope the mods are reading this post and your complete posts that we've been exchanging. Also, you can do a service by hitting the abuse button when something crosses the line.
I’d venture a guess that most that would do such a thing were enraged by the attacks on Palin’s. I’ve always thought the left were the hypocrites, and they are. We can do better.
You are dating yourself... you have heard the name of a Dead White Male poet!
Just a side note -- i was trying to find the official Free Republic definitions thread to send to a newbie recently, and couldn't find it, even with multiple searchs. Any clues?
Yes buccaneer. I saw the thread. There was nothing wrong with the way you posted.
Booker Rising: News site for black moderates and black conservatives
<< .... wonder if the “writer doing research” has a sock puppet? >>
We all have.
After all, what, but a sock puppet, is the sinister, Svengali-steered sail-eared simpleton? Surely it is but a mother-in-law-manipulated mister Michelle — a moronic marijuana-mumbling mobbed-up Mussolini-modeled modified-Marxist murtadd-Muslim empty-galabiyah-sock-puppet?
(Permitted to but pose prettily as a Peter Sellers-like Chance-the-gardener pretender to the presidency?)
Brian Richard Allen
Los Angeles Califobambicated 90028
And the Far Abroad
Now THAT's funny!
You said — I was raised in the south in the 60s. I’ve experienced far more hate than the racist jerks at FR can dish out.
—
I grew up in the South, too (I guess if you call Texas the South, which I believe it is... :-) ...). And I know how things were. I’m white and I remember riding the bus, as a kid and having whites in front and blacks in back. I remember thinking to myself how odd it was. And I got a reaction out of blacks if I tried sitting too far back in the bus... they knew I didn’t belong back there and I knew they didn’t belong up front there, but I still thought it was strange.
It’s not easy to dump the culture that is ingrained and part of growing up. It comes second-nature. I mean, what some people have got to realize is that a lot of it wasn’t hate-generated (although there was a lot that was...) but one finds that’s it’s culture-generated. The “hate” isn’t necessarily really there, but part of an old habit that someone is trying to shake.
But, the really odd thing to me, is that I seem to see more of the hate in race relations in the North, than I do in the South. Maybe that’s just my own perception, but I think that whites in the North are more fearful and hateful of blacks than in the South. And I think that blacks get a lot more hateful and aggressively racist themselves in the North than is true in the South, nowadays. Again..., perhaps just some limited perception on my part... don’t know...
At the same time, I’ve got relatives that have “language” that can easily roll off their lips, not in a hateful manner, but just some normal talk that would be considered quite racist these days. That’s the old culture still at work in their old habits, though (as I see it). I even catch myself, too.
I can honestly say that I don’t hold out any personal animosity towards blacks as a race, even though I still see a lot of problems from that cultural group. I would call it a culture that is in the process of imploding and I don’t like to see that, because it’s a downward spiral.
—
However, if one were to see any hateful remarks from me in an area that some may say closely parallels race (although I say it doesn’t) — it’s Islam and the Muslims. And I absolutely hate that evil, oppressive and dictatorial governmental system/idealogy of Muslims, called “Islam”. Any adherent to that idealogy is “in training” in how to become evil, and oppressive and thoroughly despicable and offensive to the human race.
That’s one group (that doesn’t necessarily consist of “race”) whose teachings need to be totally and permanently outlawed and never allowed to see the light of day.
Okay, just had to get that one off my chest... LOL...
That’s the one thing I get hateful about... :-)
But, if I see anyone on the Fashion Police list post these kind of comments, I will remove them from the list.
And, as keeper of the Fashion Police list, I will remove the list from my home page if things get out of hand.
That's how I can help.
Thank you.
Besides that troll definition, there’s only one other idea that posters need to learn... “moderators are gods”... LOL...
—
Nope, I don’t know about a definitions thread..., but if you find it, let me know, too... :-)
That's because you're a member of the pudding race. I, myself, am partly Taff.
OMG -- intellectual discrimination!
My Great Grandmother was Elizabeth Duncan of Edinburgh.
Long may yer lum reek!
I certainly hope not. Only for some people in both groups looking for a convenient excuse for their rage over their childhood or whatever. Mature people will use the opportunity to work on any unfinished business, and do as Star Traveler, South40 and others are saying upthread -- place their attention on the critically important political issues rather than the trivialities of racial appearances.
You have been doing a great job with those threads, and I totally wasn't accusing the Fashion Police threads of anything; just making sure we who participate in them are all aware that our posts will be undergoing increased scrutiny.
As I have noted upthread, I like to participate in the objective critiques of Mrs O's present appearance choices because she still has a ways to go and needs the feedback. The image of the U.S. is expressed by the non-verbal behavior of the First Family. Clothing, posture and overall expression of self all play their part. Not the most important part; but more important than many people recognize. I think we have correctly noticed her recently improved leg positions in photos.
For many non-informed citizens, it's still true that "clothes make the man" -- or woman -- in today's telegenic world. And it's the swing voters who decide every election. Therefore, those who make racist commentary completely defeat any learning that may take place on either side.
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