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.
I don’t know why so many freepers live to point the racist finger often where none exists
some of these “you people” act like we are eat up with it
i noticed them too..later..lol
You have NO idea how much I understand what you mean.
There of those of us who got beyond the racist thing many decades ago.
We’re waiting for the rest to catch up, I guess.
“them”
Okie dokie!
You being a man, and all.
lol
Handiwork of 13-14 year olds in Berkeley, CA. Parents’ influence and its effects starts very early.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275863/posts
That depends on what's being said.
If they're talking about how the children of one candidate are being treated like props, but the children of another candidate are a loving family on the campaign trail together, then yes we can talk about it as adults.
If they're talking about the children in derogatory terms, or projecting the sins of the parents onto the children, or in any way creating inappropriate fodder for the Lefties to use against us, then no, I'll hit the abuse button.
-PJ
bump
tl;dr
lot of parody trolling going on here for a while.
Clean it up Bro/
FR has been my adopted home for a few years.
Just look around.
Anyway..
Bingo, we have fallen for this whole hearted.
We have been singled out, brought up on their culture charges, and we happily self proclaimed ourselves guilty.
Rule #3: “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
One of the criteria for picking the target is the target’s vulnerability ... the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract.”
“The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.”
Independent writer developing a book and this is posted on the DailyKos? I went back a reread even the opening here. This is a very well crafted attack.
Let's talk about the anti-American anti-white sewage being spewed in black churches every Sunday as evidenced by the dear semi-missing Rev. Wright. Might as well be the Finsbury Park mosque. The Obamas were faithful attendees. They are racists and anti-American. They're intention is to promote their own people in an alliance with the left and anti-American Third World. I don't have to call them any goofy names. The evidence is in Zeros books. He's getting to play his smile at whitey act all over the world.
The young children of Presidents on overseas missions do not dress "by accident".
Her parents probably "knew better" and put her in that shirt to reinforce BO's message of complete surrender.
The parents, in this sense, are child abusers for turning an 11 year old into a political message.
If the president wanted a low-profile for his children then why does he stick them in high-profile situations?
What the hell is happening? This is supposed to be a forum to exchange thoughts on politics and current events, not eat ourselves from the inside out.
I am not talking about "playing nice" with the people responsible. I am talking about leaving the kids out of it because IT ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING.
btw, we didn't lose by being nice, we lost because our Republican representatives were weak. One can be well-behaved and classy and strong at the same time.
So go ahead and be a nasty guy behind your safe little keyboard and feel like it's doing something if you want to waste your time.
In the mean time, those of us who are too "nice" for you are going to be fighting the real battles and playing the real hardball while you sit at your keyboard and call children names.
I had never read Harlan's dissent of Plessy v. Ferguson.
How applicable to today.........only in reverse!
Let's just say that I "driving while black" really does happen and I've personally been surrounded by 5 police cars because there happened to be a black person in my car at the time (the black friend was the only person in the car taken aside and frisked). Further, it's difficult to interpret some of the examples in the original complaint letter as anything but racist but plenty of Freepers are ignoring or dismissing those complaints.
The best illustration of the problem I've ever seen was a nice car pulled over by the state police. Standing on the side of the road was a nicely dressed black couple and the police officer was inside the car searching it thoroughly. What one sees there will likely depend on one's race. Did the police officer have cause to search the car? I don't know for sure but I do know that white people tend to automatically assume the police officer has a legitimate reason for stopping the couple and searching their car while black people tend to assume it's a fishing expedition by the police officer to get something on an otherwise innocent black couple. And in making that assumption, each side has a bias that's inevitably wrong at least some of the time.
And telling me your non-white ethnicity is "Hispanic" is meaningless because "Hispanic" isn't a race.
When they're accompanying their father who is unfortunately the POTUS, is on official business and we're footing the bill, damn right they're representing the USA and should be dressed accordingly.
Showing respect by dressing appropriately used to be called class, decorum and dignity but this family has stripped us of all that and is flaunting it for the whole world to see.
And to think the libs said Bush destroyed our standing in this world, puke
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