I’m a little stunned that the good people of Free Republic have as their first response (I’ve only read one page of comments) to slap back at this criticism or to say that other people do it too. How utterly childish.
No one here should engage in racist slurs just because a political opponent happens to be black. I have shame when I read this because as a FReeper I have been personally APPALLED at some of the racially tinged insults on this site. Some of these comments have to come from people who must think like racists, if they are not actual racists.
And, as a FReeper, I have never been happy with the occasional slams here against political opponents’ underaged children. I know I am not alone.
I don’t personally happen to be a Christian but I know this site was born to uphold a traditional Christian kindness and morality and I support it wholeheartedly. This criticism of us has truth in it. If we are who we say we are, we need to hang our heads here. Little racist jokes and little putdowns of young children do not belong here.
We can do better than this.
I’ve been on humor threads that have made me delirious with laughter, scrolling down, enjoying the spoofs and hilarity, and lately (since Obama’s arrival on the scene) there is usually one post somewhere in there that is racist and it brings me up short and stops my laughter. I am certainly not alone. Sadly I try to just forget about it, so I am complicit by not speaking up. I deserve criticism for that as well.
Please let us try to be better than this.
Excellent post, in its entirety.