There is the belief that racism has become passe and we're all too hip to waste time hating someone based on something as silly as their skin color.
Then America messed around and elected a Black guy as President, not once but twice.
That is when young White kids went to Twitter and Facebook to show how proud they were of their red necks.
This has created a tug-of-war between two core principles. The right of citizens to express themselves even in the most hateful terms against their expectation of privacy. A girl in Methuen, Massachusetts might not really gob in President Obama's face if she should meet him in the White House, but as bigoted and ignorant as she may be, she is not a public figure.
Does it make anyone less racist if they are outed on the Internet for tweeting something racist?
Racism isn't cool. Most of us already reached that conclusion without having our noses rubbed in vulgar descriptors of Black people. Your mama's assertion of the threat level posed by sticks and stones compared to stupid words is still correct. Maybe if left to their own devices some of these dumb kids will eventually smarten up.
From the perspective of someone who has no patience for racism, causing a little embarrassment to these kids at a point in their intellectual development they might still understand how wrong they are, isn't entirely all bad.
As someone who neither believes in censorship or heavy-handed political correctness, the black and white response by the Hello there, Racists creator is in its own way just as brash and misguided as the crude bigotry of those he holds up to ridicule.
Then America messed around and elected a Black guy as President, not once but twice.
That is when young White kids went to Twitter and Facebook to show how proud they were of their red necks.
These tweets and posts were compiled on a Tumbir page called Hellothereracists. The creator of the page went further than simply reproducing the racist messages. He also included their names, pictures, towns and even the high schools and occupations as well."Since when did we allow monkeys to be President?"
"If Obama wins, I'm gonna buy a coon hound and hunt the nigger down"
"All you blackies only want Obama bec he is black. Bet you know nothing about him. Learn some shit. Then decide who you want. Not by color."
#MyPresidentIsBlack..#FuckMyLife
"Obama's a nigger. That's why he shouldn't live in the WHITE house."
'Romney's campaign filed a lawsuit today claiming the election was "nigger rigged" '
"If I were invited to the White House I'd go to spit in the presdent's face. NIGGER."
"We were doin just fine with white presidents...leave it to a nigger to mess stuff up"
"Good news niggers. Four more years of living. Off the white man"
"I hope the White House burns down and Obama and his family are in there...and the whole democratic party for that matter"
This has created a tug-of-war between two core principles. The right of citizens to express themselves even in the most hateful terms against their expectation of privacy. A girl in Methuen, Massachusetts might not really gob in President Obama's face if she should meet him in the White House, but as bigoted and ignorant as she may be, she is not a public figure.
Does it make anyone less racist if they are outed on the Internet for tweeting something racist?
I'm not a big believer in the purifying effect of public shaming, but I'm even less so when you're throwing the dumb things kids say back in their faces. Many adults have learned to their sorrow how that post bitching about the boss and his stank breath ended up on their next performance review. Prospective employers and college admission boards might not look favorably on selecting someone who has publicly called the president a nigger or they hope he and his family die in a fire.In this week’s bout of Internet shaming, a Tumblr called Hello There, Racists! is collecting the sentiments of bigoted Obama haters. Many are teenagers, and their tweets and Facebook posts appear with their pictures and the names of the cities they live in and the schools they go to. Scrolling through this collection, I’m so grossed out by the tweets that it’s hard to remember why I think this Tumblr is such a bad idea. OK, right: As my colleague Laura Anderson reminded me in an email thread, “I don’t think strangers should be posting minors’ contact information on the Internet, period.” Internet vigilante-ism at the expense of kids is just a terrible idea, given their youth and the evidence that their brains aren’t fully developed, especially in the impulse-control regions.
I also doubt the public shaming will push these kids to reconsider their views—more like give them more reason for indignation. If you come under attack for something you thought you said privately, however wrong you were about that, wouldn’t you feel anger more than remorse?
Racism isn't cool. Most of us already reached that conclusion without having our noses rubbed in vulgar descriptors of Black people. Your mama's assertion of the threat level posed by sticks and stones compared to stupid words is still correct. Maybe if left to their own devices some of these dumb kids will eventually smarten up.
From the perspective of someone who has no patience for racism, causing a little embarrassment to these kids at a point in their intellectual development they might still understand how wrong they are, isn't entirely all bad.
As someone who neither believes in censorship or heavy-handed political correctness, the black and white response by the Hello there, Racists creator is in its own way just as brash and misguided as the crude bigotry of those he holds up to ridicule.