Earlier this morning, my wife and I were talking about the age Martin Luther King was when he died . Well anyways , when I got home from work I decided to check if I was right or not, so I went to martinlutherking.com, there was no such site, so I switched the com to org to see if I would have better luck. To my dismay I found this site not to be about the great fighter who died fighting for equality, but a site filled with racist , ignorant , and hateful lies. They call David Duke a "civil rights activist" . Why the hell are these racist idiots allowed to use Dr. King's name for their website ?
From a 2000 Salon article about the site: The practice of cyber-squatting -- picking an Internet domain that is the name of another person, group or product -- is also nothing new. Some cybersquatters intend to make a profit by selling the domain to the highest bidder. Other groups, such as Stormfront, pick up names to defame. This practice has caused civil rights groups in particular to go on the offensive. The NAACP bought the names to ******.com and various other variations of the word. The Anti-Defamation League has bought the domain name for kike.com and other variations of this and other words offensive to Jews. Unfortunately, the King family let their historic name get away. "We purchased several names related to Dr. King and the King name, but they [Stormfront] beat us to this one," said Roger Vickers, the public affairs officer for the Martin Luther King Center and the King family in Atlanta. Vickers said the King family became aware of the site a few months ago and tried to take action, but he admits there is nothing they can do. Since King is a public figure, the copyright laws that sometimes wrestle domain names from cybersquatters don't apply in this case. And it's unlikely that Black would sit down with the King family to negotiate.
Vincent Breeding runs that site. It's a shame people such as him have to be alive. I could give you another site the guy runs, but why give him advertisement, I suppose.
I understand that they have "right" to use his name , but come on ! there has to be limitations. they are defaming a national and global icon .
Limitations on free speech? Are you serious? How about we stop talking about Martin Luther's anti-semitism or Thomas Jefferson's slave mistresses? Sure hate to ruin the image of a national or global icon! C'mon! I don't agree with it. It think they are a bunch of racist dip****s, but telling them they can't say it is EXTREMELY dangerous. I'm sure there is plenty said at DemocracyNow.org and WhatReallyHappened.com that conservatives don't like and would love to see removed from sight, but they have a right to say it as much as the freaks do at this site.
As nasty and offensive as it is to see/hear this kind of filth, they have just as much right to their opinion as you or I. Don't get me wrong, the filth that they spew at this site turns my stomach....but if we stop them from stating their opinion in the manner they see fit, what's next? Maybe you might have an opinion that someone doesn't agree with...would you want them to take you off the net/airwaves/soapbox? Part of what makes this country great is that everyone, no matter who they are or what they are saying...has the right to their opinion..You or I may not agree with it...but we can't( and shouldn't) be able to force them to shut up.
there's a big difference between politics and racism . Dont even compare the two. I dont have a problem with a conservative blaming Clinton for the econmy , and posting it on a website or anything like that. But there are boundaries that shouldnt be crossed.
dc...I said nothing about politics I'm talking about *everyone's* constitutionally-given right to free speech. Whether it's racist or not....everyone has the right to say what they want. It aint pretty...but we can't and shouldn't take it away. Period!
ok...but still...I re-read Jeff's post...and I don;t see how he was talking about politics either...He basically said what I said...but better (as usual)
"I'm sure there is plenty said at DemocracyNow.org and WhatReallyHappened.com that conservatives don't like and would love to see removed from sight, but they have a right to say it as much as the freaks do at this site"
dc: Can you not see the danger inherent in your postulation that some speech should be banned? Who decides what is ok and what isn't? What if the person choosing today is ok, but the person making the choice 10 years from now is a nutcase? This is the same problem you have when you ask for fixes based on a temporary situation. Politicians often ask for things like the line item veto but then freak out when the other party takes over the White House. Sure, it was great when our guy was in there, but we don't want THEIR guy having access to this. You are trying to circumvent the first amendment and it may seem like a good cause NOW, but you have no idea where the banning of one idea or speech will lead. That is one cat you don't want let out of the bag. Just as they have a right to say things you don't like, you have a right to disagree and say the opposite. That is what makes us free in the first place - dissent and the right to choose to disagree.
What the hell is this??? Bad Taste and Ignorance on display, but Jeff hit the nail on the head. You can't put limits on Free Speech.
If stopping groups, that hate other people because of their race, from speaking in public forums about their racist views is "circumventing the first amendment" **** it, circumvent it. It's not like I went to a klu klux klan site to start trouble, I went to a site that I thought would be about Martin Luther King and was appalled by what i saw. I dont care if you (in general) want to be a racist in your own house or hold meetings with a bunch of your racist friends in a barn in the woods somewhere, do that , it doesnt bother me. I just dont want to see this crap in public. If you want to talk about racism, make a site about racism, and call it what it is . dont name a site after one of the greatest leaders this countries has known, and spew your bogus bull**** .
dc: With all due respect, I am having a hard time believing you can't see this one for what it is. Let me change the words to your sentence... <i>I don't care if you want to be homosexual in your own house or hold meetings with a bunch of gay friends in a barn in the woods somwhere, do that, it doesn't bother me. I just don't want to see this crap in public.</i> <i>I don't care if you want to be Wiccan in your own house or hold meetings with a bunch of witches in a barn in the woods somwhere, do that, it doesn't bother me. I just don't want to see this crap in public.</i> <i>I don't care if you want to be an environmentalist in your own house or hold meetings with a bunch of tree hugging friends in a barn in the woods somwhere, do that, it doesn't bother me. I just don't want to see this crap in public.</i> Do you see how ridiculous this sounds? Corporate America misleads us all the time. Political candidates and parties (yes, even your beloved Democrats) mislead and lie to us constantly. Ad agencies, churches, even everyday people mislead the rest of us to further their own ideas and agendas. It isn't something that should shock you or anyone else. It is part of living in a free society. As disgusting as some of these beliefs and ideas may be, they are part of the fabric of who WE are as a society. Destroy one person's free speech and you open the door for free speech to be destroyed for all of us. If you disagree, expose them for what they are. Do something about it. Shutting it down will not solve the problem. Ask the Soviet Union. They burned Bibles and closed churches but there were millions of Christians in communist Russia living underneath the radar of the government. What you are trying to do - silence those whose speech is offensive to you - is impossible and only leads to trouble.
Man,I feel ya (so to speak) but... I'm quite sure we are all appalled at what they think and do...but with the great things of this country (the net in this case) come the really f*cked up things..If you end up at a site that makes you sick(Stile project anyone?)...don't go back...It is just plain ole unacceptable to curcumvent the constitution imo.....
Again comparing racism with things that have nothing to do with it. Racism is different from sexuality,religion, politics, or anything else of that nature. Racism should not be tolerated. Substituting gay people, environmentalist , and wicca in for racist groups is what is ridiculous brother. I'll say this again, if you want to have a website about racism , call it what it is. Dont try and trick people.
Hmmm, makes you wonder about reading this AFTER you had a thread locked by the orator of this comment. DaDakota
