Civil Rights activists denounce ‘Monsters against Madonna’ web campaign

Civil rights activists as well as students all over the city gathered at Chicago’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library to talk about Martin Luther King Junior’s legacy. The group also talked about how racism is still prevalent in today’s society and pointed to a web and twitter campaign by Lady Gaga fans hoping to destroy the success of Madonna’s new album and tour.

The site features a gorilla with a caption that reads, “Here is the next child Madonna is planning to adopt.” Another post insults body parts of Muslims and several other posts are ageist in nature. “I’m not a Madonna fan, but when did something like this become acceptable just because people have free access to the Internet?” asked Albert Winston, a retired teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. College.” Several others noted that the “Monsters against Madonna” campaign was also trending on Twitter, with no repercussions

Alan Goldberg, a teacher at a private Jewish school in Skokie, talked about websites ran by conservatives such as Andrew Breitbart and Michelle Malkin where nasty comments about homosexuals, Latinos, and African Americans have become the norm. “I’m not saying that we should ban free speech. But it becomes a point where free speech is being abused. Kids look at these websites and think it’s okay to bully others because – why not, adults do it!”

All of the participants of the discussion plan to participate in several parades during the weekend and this coming Monday. Do you think they are correct in saying that Internet hate speech has gone too far?

From examiner.com. Thanks to Dan.