Racial and sexist Wikipedia comments anger Mia Love supporters

Updated: 8/29/2012 8:46 pm | Published: 8/29/2012 3:56 pm

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (ABC 4 News) - At Tuesday night’s Republican National Convention, supporters say Mia Love stole the show. But not long after her speech, hateful comments have stolen the spotlight.

The comments appeared on Love’s Wikipedia page just hours after the candidate for Utah’s 4th congressional district gave her speech in Tampa.
Wikipedia allows anyone with internet access to contribute to a page. Some of the words written are too vulgar to print, but call her a dirty and worthless blank. Another comment refers to Love as the "n-word".

ABC 4 asked the lunch crowd in Saratoga Springs their thoughts on the language.

"The ‘n word’ I have a big problem with that in America even the Midwest where a strong black woman can represent us," said Crystal Marshall, who lives in Saratoga Springs.

"It's never appropriate to call anyone those names regardless of what the situation is,” said Todd Wilson, a Love supporter.

At least one person tells ABC4 the comments are not only an insult on Mia Love, but on her own family.

"To hear the ‘n word’ used in today's society it upsets me greatly because my children are half black and I think it's a vulgar and disgusting word,” said Rachel Marshall.

It's unclear who wrote the comments on Love’s Wikipedia page, but they were quickly removed.

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The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of ABC4

RHorning - 8/31/2012 3:32 PM

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I don't know why this is even news. It is as if somebody saw a comment in the SL Tribune posted by a reader that was extremely racist and offensive, which was promptly removed by one of the moderators on that site as well. Or for that matter a similar kind of comment made here. We get that there are sick people in the world. The Trolly Square shooting and the idiot who shot people in Aurora, Colorado certainly are evidence that sometimes people can be stupid. Out of the 300 million Americans and a couple billion people or so with internet access and can read & write in English, one of those people bothered to get onto Wikipedia (where anybody really can edit those pages... including racist bigots) to add a sentence that seems offensive. That somebody from Los Angeles and Chicago (based upon the IP addresses of the people making those comments) decided to attack a Utah congressional candidate sort of speaks volumes about how petty people sometimes get. But it was still something out of the blue and a random comment and really didn't deserve news coverage. At least if some commentator like Al Sharpton or somebody else of note had said this of Mia Love, this would have been noteworthy.

airmikee - 8/31/2012 11:26 AM

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Mistreated by the same political party that threw peanuts at a black CNN camerawoman and told her that's how animals are fed? I'm shocked, shocked! In all seriousness, I'm more shocked that people don't expect this kind of behavior from the GOP. It's like the kids that throw rocks at a wasp nest and then act all surprised when they get stung by wasps.

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