Last week, the Young Republicans got into a dustup over yet another Facebook flap. This spring, we discussed how Facebook derailed an NDP candidate to provincial office in British Columbia, when the BC-Liberal opposition got wind of “racy” photos posted. In this incident, there’s differing opinions which are arguably representations of fragmentation in the Republican Party. According to the DailyBeast, it started with Audra Shay, vice chairman of the Young Republicans hosting a discussion on Wal*Mart endorsing Barack Obama’s health care plan. Things unravelled when an “Eric S. Piker” made racially charged comments using the word “coon,” another ThickCulture topic from the spring {See above}. Audra agreed with the statements, adding a LOL.
Subsequently, there were others criticizing these remarks, Cassie Wallender {a national committeewoman from the Washington Young Republican Federation} and Sean Connor {chairman of the D.C. Young Republicans}. While these critics were “de-friended” by Audra, “Piker,” for the time being, remained a “friend.” On Thursday, a black Republican activist, Lenny McAllister condemned these remarks and prior statements by Shay::
McAllister references a culture war going on in the Republican Party and regarding the racially charged remarks going around, he stated “You can cover cyanide with chocolate, but you still can’t call it candy.”
Her own recounting of the events, possible unaware of the screencap, paint a different picture of the events. In her statement on 3 July, Shay went on to denounce the remarks and attributed the dustup to her political enemies capitalizing on an opportunity. Irreparable damage may have already been done, as her upcoming bid to be Young Republican chairman may have been derailed.
I’m not going to engage in any admonishing finger-waving on the dangers of social media, a bete-noire of mine. I think this is beyond a matter of “political correctness” or freedom of speech issues and do reflect a growing divide between moderates and a more divisive fringe. Indicative of this is how moderates are often criticized as being RINOs, Republicans-in-name-only, who are not sufficiently conservative. The RINO label was thrown at Wallender by Shay supporters after her criticism of the racial remarks. In order for Republicans to move forward, they will have to deal with these issues head-on. Will they use social media to do this?
Twitterversion:: #YoungRepublican schism over racially-charged #Facebook flap. Indicative of a larger #CultureWar within the party? @Prof_K
Comments 3
ellemac — July 7, 2009
Republicans need to figure out a lot of stuff. Firstly, there's the whole equality thing, regardless of race, creed, colour, sexual orientation, etc. A close second is how not to show themselves in the worst possible light on Facebook.
E.g., Michelle Obama, gorilla progeny = Bad Idea Jeans
Here's a good article that sums up the Republicans and race issue, including a screencap from the penultimate Facebook blunder (pre-Coongate)
Kenneth M. Kambara — July 10, 2009
I learned when I lived in Oregon how diverse Republican viewpoints could be, with differences between the rural hinterlands and the urban/suburban areas of the Willamette Valley {the I-5 corridor between Eugene and Portland}. The social conservatives {I'm generalizing here} tended to be more rural and tended not to edit themselves. It's like a form of social reproduction, but taking views/perceptions of real life to the non-geographic Internet creates a culture clash to say the least.
I guess the question I have is whether one's "real" views should be out there and whether they should stand by them. The alternative is everyone acting more "civilized," but muttering under their breaths how speech needs to be PC. This can cut both ways, ideologically, with 9/11 being an example of how "terrorism" altered the rhetorical environment. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Are we moving towards a culture of optics, where we manage the impressions we make? On the surface, there is an air of "civility" and inappropriate speech becomes less tolerated, but does this create repression?
Kenneth M. Kambara — July 10, 2009
Ah, good to see a reference to Bad Idea Jeans. Just in time, as I was thinking of redoing the floors on my rental.