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.
How much crap do I need to put in a bowl of soup before you won't eat it? Real racism is a lot like crap. It does take much to spoil anything it's put in.
There’s a line.
Mom and Dad had a look at what their 10 year old (!) daughter was going to where in public during a G8 summit.
Who’s to blame here? If I’m her dad, my position is, “Find a dress and where it. You can’t go out in that. Not today, and not during this summit.”
If Obama wants the kids to be off limits, he should refrain from making political statements with them.
What’s next a Che Guevara T-shirt?
Between $6K handbags and ‘No-Nukes’ statments with the kids clothes, you can’t claim that the fashion of the First Family doesn’t mean anything, and that people shouldn’t read anything into it.
I wasn’t criticizing conservatives. I was using the quote from the last paragraph of the Kos writer.
The tactic of ‘moral sanction’ is used in warfare. (Kinda like Alinsky’s rule for radicals....Make them live up to their own ideals. (paraphrased) The method creates disdain for hypocrites. I hate the attempts of ‘moral sanction’ by a ‘progressive’. This is their method of superiority.
Another poster explained to me that this was a quote from the article. My apologies.
Is it a given that only Conservatives post at a Conservative site?
This writer made some generalizations regarding Conservatives and Christians that indicates a mind stuck in liberal group think mode.
Interesting that the writer honed in on that thread. How many posts to that thread? Has the writer read any of the prayer threads here at FR, or lengthy threads demonstrating the very best of Conservative principles? Why not judge the site by posts on those threads rather than a small thread with a concentration of ugly remarks?
I posted on that thread...didn’t read all the posts. I said something to the effect that on a scale of 1-10 I’d give 11 year old Malia a 10 for knowing as much as her daddy about achieving peace.
I don’t consider that an attack on the child. I consider that an attack on her daddy’s actions.
I don’t think the kids should be attacked. But, Mom and Dad had some say in whether or not an 11 yr. old should wear those T-shirts in that particular venue. They know the history of the message being sent, even if the child may not, and only thinks it looks cool.
Commenting on that should be fair game. Attacking any child should be off limits, but try telling that to those who bash the children of Conservatives and Republicans.
And of course, "blatant racism" is whatever the aggrieved victim thinks it is."
Did anyone hear from this 'outraged' person when President Bush was called a monkey and other despicable things that were said about him? Is this permissable because he's white & Michelle is black?
I don't think so.
This is more of the same type of blaming Christians & Conservatives, in hopes of making them bow down to what the left thinks is the proper role for us...which is SHUT UP & let us lefties do the demeaning of you...or we'll be suddenly outraged!
I saw exactly TWO posts pulled by the mods. Take it up with them. Real racism? Really? I see very little of it on FR.
Are you saying that people who could legitimately be referred to as “ghetto trash” do not exist? How do these comments imply racism (i.e., the belief that one ethnic groups is innately superior to another)?
Thanks. I apologize again. :)
Some of those "wonderings"
"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"
And what they WEAR is important because???
Please! There are better reasons to despise lefties than what their children wear/do/say. You’re no better than Letterman IMO.
This was not an instance of "she can't help who her father is", not when she wore the shirt to deliberately make a point and used the press to assist her.
Selective excuse making is as bad as selective criticism. It's OK if we do it because they did it first or do it worse? Is real racism on our side OK just because the other side is dispicable and has it's own racists? Is destroying children OK for us because they do it? Two wrongs don't make a right.
And for better or worse, there is a double standard. So what? Maybe we should try to be better instead of throwing in the towel and climing into the mud with the left. I'm not suggesting we don't criticize or attack, but why bring racist anti-black stereotypes into a dicussion about Obama and his familiy? Is that the real problem? If not, why not talk about the real problem rather than stereotypes?
Nobody complains when people are referred to as trailer trash. Is that because the are supposed to be mostly white people?
Good points.
A display photographed in company of allied heads of state (and an unnamed street thug look alike) and shown world wide; apparently sanctioned by her parents, and at a time when our troops are engaged with an enemy that plants &%*#.. BOMBS on kids younger than she is!
To my possibly over stressed mind: that's worthy of comment and the comment ain't likely to be nice.
The display was stupid, for the parents to allow or encourage it was crass. The overall look WAS ghetto, or maybe trailer trash, or maybe just disrespectful; pick one.
Our fashion icon of a first lady stands out like a barber poll at the Parthenon, the kids get to make political comments that their daddy has to keep bottled up inside, and we look like a laughing stock.
Where I DO take offense in the FR comments under that thread is in the Yo Mama kind of "what she said" sniping that leaks into SOME commentary. These people are socialists, not high school drop outs, they are absolutely capable of saying stupid, insulting, and/or scary, things in public, usually pronounced quite adequately.
Ping!
That's part of the real answer here. Jim and the moderators can't be everywhere but they do respond to the abuse button when appropriate and regular Freepers challenging people making inappropriate comments generally gets them to either stop or show their true colors. As an added benefit, regular Freepers calling such comments inappropriate show there are plenty of Freepers out there who aren't racists or willing to tear apart children to get at their parents.
There was no wondering or conjecture going on at all -- the article said she was making a political statement, we were told she wore that shirt specifically to endorse the stance 0bama is taking. She chose it and chose to allow the press to photograph her and write it up. Eleven years old is not too young to understand the ramifications, consequences of one's actions.
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