# Should eBay ban racist collectibles? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005 "2003-02-23T19:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/1 "2003-02-23T19:52:29Z")
Should eBay ban racist collectibles? According to various articles I seen over the past few years on black people recapturing their history I thought it was _black people_ who were buying a lot of this stuff for historical and personal collections of various types. Am I incorrect? [Activists urge Ebay to drop racist collectibles](http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2003/02/22/ebay/index.html?x) > [@](#): > > David Pilgrim estimates he has bought about 1,000 racist collectibles on eBay for the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia located on the Ferris State University campus in Big Rapids, Mich. The museum displays about 4,000 items and has about 3,000 more in storage. > > The market for memorabilia depicting black people has undergone a resurgence in the last few years due to eBay and other Internet auction houses, said Pilgrim, curator of the museum. Black memorabilia items range from black baseball league jerseys to postcards depicting lynchings that can sell for up to a thousand dollars, he said. > > “I hate the fact that people buy” racist items, said Pilgrim, who is black. But “people have the right to sell.” > > Andrew Robinson-Gaither, pastor of the Faith United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, said Friday he wants eBay to immediately cease listing such items. > > “How could eBay do this during black history month?” Robinson-Gaither said at the news conference. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/2 "2003-02-23T20:00:30Z")
Of course not. Thats like saying they should ban bras because they make flat chested women feel bad about themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/3 "2003-02-23T20:04:33Z")
Absolutely not. People have a right to sell and buy things that are offensive. It’s called “freedom”. ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/4 "2003-02-23T20:32:13Z")
Hell no. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/5 "2003-02-23T20:57:07Z")
As you stated, there are a number of Black collectors of such items, including Oprah Winfrey and Spike Lee, either for value, or for reminders of America’s racist past. Visit the aforementioned [Jim Crow Museum](http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/menu.htm) for more information on these items (PRETTY OBVIOUS WARNING: contains African-American stereotypes and the word “nigger.”) ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/6 "2003-02-23T21:09:40Z")
Check ebay’s policies, quoted in part below: > [@](#): > > eBay has always exercised judgment in allowing or disallowing certain listings consistent with the spirit of a worldwide community. Therefore, eBay will judiciously disallow listings or items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, or racial intolerance, or items that promote organizations (such as the KKK, Nazis, neo-Nazis, and Aryan Nation) with such views. For example, eBay will generally remove items that bear the marks of such organizations, such as relics from the KKK or Nazi helmets. > > Under this policy, eBay may in its discretion, remove items and refund listing fees when the item or description graphically portrays violence or victims of violence, and lacks substantial social, artistic or political value. > > For example, eBay may disallow sales of explicit crime scene photographs or morgue photos, while permitting military documentaries or photographs of war victims. eBay may also, in its discretion and out of respect for the families of murder victims, remove listings of items closely associated with individuals notorious for committing murderous acts within the last 100 years, such as personal belongings of such criminals, letters or artwork created by such criminals, or novelty items that bear the name or image of the criminal. > > Further, eBay will remove any listing and suspend the users involved where it appears that a person convicted of a violent felony is attempting to use eBay (directly or through another person) to benefit financially from his or her criminal notoriety. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/7 "2003-02-23T21:50:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > **As you stated, there are a number of Black collectors of such items, including Oprah Winfrey and Spike Lee, either for value, or for reminders of America’s racist past.** I personally don’t care if it’s an NAACP representative buying an 1850s era “Black Sambo” bank for historical value, or if it’s a neo-nazi buying a “I hate niggers” mousepad made last week. Freedom is freedom. People should be able to buy and sell things even if they are offensive. Of course, eBay is a private company and can block whatever they want on their own site. It’d be nice if they went on the side of freedom, but my guess is they will cave and start banning this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/8 "2003-02-23T22:15:14Z")
IMHO, no, people should be free to buy and sell whatever crap they want. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/9 "2003-02-23T22:19:14Z")
It is up to them, of course. Personally I don’t think it reflects poorly on ebay to allow the sale of such goods, it is obvious from the increadible amount of crap that gets sold on ebay that they are not endorsing any of the items, ie if a Nazi helmet is for sale I don’t think of Ebay as being pro-nazi. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/10 "2003-02-23T22:22:17Z")
I can buy and sell world wide but I can’t say what the item is in the office??? Yepper, everyone agrees on what freedom is… ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/11 "2003-02-23T22:53:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Freedom is freedom. People should be able to buy and sell things even if they are offensive. So eBay should allow sellers to sell child porn? Controlled substances? Nuclear weapons? Body parts? I don’t agree that racist memorabilia should be banned, but to trump out the ole “freedom” card here–like it’s written somewhere that we are entitled to do whatever the hell we want-is crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/12 "2003-02-23T23:31:39Z")
**monstro** , the stuff you mention isn’t just offensive, they are also illegal, dangerous or the result of a crime. Racist material is not. The analogy doesn’t hold. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/13 "2003-02-23T23:45:43Z")
Well it depends- will eBay make more money from selling these items than they lose from the bad publicity? They should do whatever is more profitable. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/14 "2003-02-24T00:07:33Z")
You may as well ban history books that deal with this topic. I do think that articles of this nature, while being made lawful for trade via EBay, should be carefully monitored for their historical value and reflections of popular attitudes of times past. Under the “freedom” definition, anything with the KKK logo (if there is one) could be allowed, as well as other hate-ridden merchandise that is endorsed by only a minority, and worse. This is what I think makes “Jim Crow” articles different; they were widely accepted at one time. To seek correction against racist matters, it is important to look at the past. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/15 "2003-02-24T00:12:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The analogy doesn’t hold. So if selling those things weren’t illegal, you would have a problem if eBay had a policy against them? My point is that an inalienable right isn’t being trampled here. Freedom is only what the guy with the power allows you to do. And no one is stopping anyone from selling racist memorabilia. A private entity–like a business or an individual–has every right NOT to be associated with whatever items they deem offensive. This freedom thing is a two-way street. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/16 "2003-02-24T00:27:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > \*\*So if selling those things weren’t illegal, you would have a problem if eBay had a policy against them? \*\* If it’s legal, they should be able to sell anything they want. And not sell anything they don’t want. My opinion is that they should continue selling racist collectibles in the spirit of freedom. > [@](#): > > \*\*My point is that an inalienable right isn’t being trampled here. Freedom is only what the guy with the power allows you to do. And no one is stopping anyone from selling racist memorabilia. A private entity–like a business or an individual–has every right NOT to be associated with whatever items they deem offensive. This freedom thing is a two-way street. \*\* I did in fact previously write in this very thread “Of course, eBay is a private company and can block whatever they want on their own site.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/17 "2003-02-24T00:32:19Z")
Sometimes people buy such things for research. The museum I interned at had two antique KKK uniforms from the 1920s. (I didn’t see them, but a fellow intern did). Or students reading _Mein Kampf_ for a research paper. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/18 "2003-02-24T00:40:07Z")
So why are you complaining, **Revtim**? They are expressing freedom by making this decision. If they caved into the whims of people who have a hard-on for some vague concept called"freedom" (who wouldn’t be buying this stuff anyway, most likely), they WOULDN’T be erring on the side of freedom. It would be no different than forcing a Christian bookstore to sell pornography just because pornography isn’t against the law. This isn’t an issue of freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/19 "2003-02-24T00:49:51Z")
But it doesn’t sound like anyone is forcing eBay to carry these auctions-just the opposite! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005/20 "2003-02-24T01:32:22Z")
I disagree with most people here. If eBay considers these kinds of things objectionable, they should not allow them to be listed on their own server in the interest of freedom. What amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom to list stuff on eBay? Refusing access for certain products in no way impinges on freedom of speech or anything like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-ebay-ban-racist-collectibles/157005.md?page=2)