There’s a popular Facebook group getting a lot of attention right now called “Christian’s Against the Little Mermaid (Boycott Halle Bailey).” (With the misplaced apostrophe.)

That’s a reference to the fact that a black girl will be playing the main character in a live-action version of the animated Disney film. Some people online are deeply offended by this act of “political correctness,” demanding that Disney stick to “reality” by casting a white girl with red hair… to play the part of a fictional mermaid. (Oh to have so few concerns in the world that you get to make up your own…)

Anyway, this page has more than 33,000 members and claims to be protesting “liberal propaganda.” The rules for joining the group include “No hate speech or bullying” before adding this final line:

Nationwide, African American children represent 32% of children who are arrested, 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are judicially waived to criminal court.

While it’s a closed group, once you’re inside, the posts are as racist as you’d expect. But if the goal is to link those racists with Christianity, this is a lazy way to do it.

A couple of obvious signs give away the game.

Just look at the group’s history.

The group was somehow “created” on July 9, 2017, nearly two years before Disney even made the announcement about Bailey.

In fact, the way the group became as popular as it did was by promoting “love, compassion, & understanding.” Then, a year and a half later, its purpose began to change. It was a Super Bowl protest page, then a Muhammad Ali memorial page (even though Ali died in 2016), and then on Friday, it went full-on racist.

Which means many of the people who joined the group likely have no idea they now belong to a racist page run by a troll. I guess someone’s getting a kick out of that. (The creator of the group, “Wade Wilson,” is also the name of the Marvel character Deadpool.)

Anyway, the page is fake. Don’t believe anyone who says it’s real. And I have no clue why Facebook hasn’t taken it down yet.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

