The Issue
A group of black Philadelphia police officers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against their department, alleging an online forum geared toward city police is "infested with racist, white supremacist and anti-African-American content."
The suit alleges white officers post on and moderate the privately operated site, Domelights.com, both on and off the job.
Domelights' users "often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site ... or will mention them in front of black police officers," thus creating "a racially hostile work environment," according to lawyers for the all-black Guardian Civic League, the lead plaintiff in the suit.
A look at the site's forums Friday for racist comments found several possibilities.
Reads one: "In urban areas, it seems [African-Americans] living on welfare in paid for housing is ingrained in their culture as well as fighting. ... Kids, along with adults can't speak proper English or spell at a 3rd grade level, but they can sing among "theyselves" the lyrics to a rap song."
Said another Domelights user of an African-American woman: "She is a classic example of that exact non tax paying, no car insurance driving, bad weave wearing, all the whitey's are racist black women."
The site's tagline is "the voice of the good guys." -CNN
For the entire story click here.
My Issue
Whatever happened to the days when we had differences and were able to settled them one on one privately? Today if someone has a beef or an extreme dislike towards another they no longer settle their differences one on one. Instead, the new forum used to settle differences is the internet where individuals can post whatever they wish for thousands or millions to read and form an opinion. And by time the posting is discovered the damage is long lasting, if not eternal.
A while back an individual posted on their organization’s website a derogatory statement about me and the work I was doing for them. Though the statement wasn’t post very long, by time I discovered it one hundred persons, including a potential client, had read the statement. What really took me into a state of dismay was that the individual who posted the statement never had any direct dealings with me. Naturally, I profusely complained to the organization’s president and demanded an apology which was generically provided … the individual never directly addressed or explained as to why such a statement was deemed necessary. Later, it came to light that when confronted about the posting, they lied. Though the shallow apology was accepted simply because it is better to forgive than not, this individuals credibility and character, though highly regarded by those in the organization, was in my eyes, greatly diminished. And because of the posting a new contract was lost.
My point is this. Before we find it necessary to destroy someone’s reputation I believe it’s important to step back, take a deep breath and think before taking whatever negative issue we might have to a public forum such as the internet. Once you post your thoughts, specially if it's a lie, I think it behooves us to think of the damage and harm it can do, cause once you post on the internet it can never be withdrawn, and often those comments will follow you for the rest of your life. And no matter how you may try and explain its reason, the lasting effect will always be a cloud that is difficult to dispel.
We live in a very different world. Thanks to the internet, we interact and resolve our differences, not one on one, but in a very public way … nothing is sacred anymore. If we don’t like something or someone for whatever reason we can draw up and official looking document and email it to thousands in order to persuade an opinion. If we hate someone we can establish a phony website through which we can tear down another individual, even commit murder. The internet has provided us a tool to do evil. This is not say that the internet itself is the evil one … it is us who use the internet to cause great harm that is evil.
Yes, we can post either openly or anonymously whatever we wish. We can interact negatively without repercussion. Our world has become increasingly a hostile place and unfortunately how we interact with one another has followed suite. Can we change this? Honestly, I don’t know. With how society is bending towards a less caring one I see little hope that how we treat one another will ever get better. It will truly be interesting how history will remember us as a society … hopefully it will not be a painful object lesson.
In regards to the story above and the postings by some of the Philadelphia police officers, first and foremost, the site should have been better monitored. Secondly, the officers who posted those negative and disgusting comments should be fired. It's ok to privately have your opinion, but sometimes those private opinions should be kept to yourself and out of the public arena. Obviously, those officers didn't care as to what they were saying and to whom they were saying it. In my opinion, it was totally uncalled for as well as unnecessary.
A group of black Philadelphia police officers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against their department, alleging an online forum geared toward city police is "infested with racist, white supremacist and anti-African-American content."
The suit alleges white officers post on and moderate the privately operated site, Domelights.com, both on and off the job.
Domelights' users "often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site ... or will mention them in front of black police officers," thus creating "a racially hostile work environment," according to lawyers for the all-black Guardian Civic League, the lead plaintiff in the suit.
A look at the site's forums Friday for racist comments found several possibilities.
Reads one: "In urban areas, it seems [African-Americans] living on welfare in paid for housing is ingrained in their culture as well as fighting. ... Kids, along with adults can't speak proper English or spell at a 3rd grade level, but they can sing among "theyselves" the lyrics to a rap song."
Said another Domelights user of an African-American woman: "She is a classic example of that exact non tax paying, no car insurance driving, bad weave wearing, all the whitey's are racist black women."
The site's tagline is "the voice of the good guys." -CNN
For the entire story click here.
My Issue
Whatever happened to the days when we had differences and were able to settled them one on one privately? Today if someone has a beef or an extreme dislike towards another they no longer settle their differences one on one. Instead, the new forum used to settle differences is the internet where individuals can post whatever they wish for thousands or millions to read and form an opinion. And by time the posting is discovered the damage is long lasting, if not eternal.
A while back an individual posted on their organization’s website a derogatory statement about me and the work I was doing for them. Though the statement wasn’t post very long, by time I discovered it one hundred persons, including a potential client, had read the statement. What really took me into a state of dismay was that the individual who posted the statement never had any direct dealings with me. Naturally, I profusely complained to the organization’s president and demanded an apology which was generically provided … the individual never directly addressed or explained as to why such a statement was deemed necessary. Later, it came to light that when confronted about the posting, they lied. Though the shallow apology was accepted simply because it is better to forgive than not, this individuals credibility and character, though highly regarded by those in the organization, was in my eyes, greatly diminished. And because of the posting a new contract was lost.
My point is this. Before we find it necessary to destroy someone’s reputation I believe it’s important to step back, take a deep breath and think before taking whatever negative issue we might have to a public forum such as the internet. Once you post your thoughts, specially if it's a lie, I think it behooves us to think of the damage and harm it can do, cause once you post on the internet it can never be withdrawn, and often those comments will follow you for the rest of your life. And no matter how you may try and explain its reason, the lasting effect will always be a cloud that is difficult to dispel.
We live in a very different world. Thanks to the internet, we interact and resolve our differences, not one on one, but in a very public way … nothing is sacred anymore. If we don’t like something or someone for whatever reason we can draw up and official looking document and email it to thousands in order to persuade an opinion. If we hate someone we can establish a phony website through which we can tear down another individual, even commit murder. The internet has provided us a tool to do evil. This is not say that the internet itself is the evil one … it is us who use the internet to cause great harm that is evil.
Yes, we can post either openly or anonymously whatever we wish. We can interact negatively without repercussion. Our world has become increasingly a hostile place and unfortunately how we interact with one another has followed suite. Can we change this? Honestly, I don’t know. With how society is bending towards a less caring one I see little hope that how we treat one another will ever get better. It will truly be interesting how history will remember us as a society … hopefully it will not be a painful object lesson.
In regards to the story above and the postings by some of the Philadelphia police officers, first and foremost, the site should have been better monitored. Secondly, the officers who posted those negative and disgusting comments should be fired. It's ok to privately have your opinion, but sometimes those private opinions should be kept to yourself and out of the public arena. Obviously, those officers didn't care as to what they were saying and to whom they were saying it. In my opinion, it was totally uncalled for as well as unnecessary.
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