Old Racist Photo Stirs New Facebook Furor

A 4-year-old racist photo on Facebook, ostensibly of a white hunter standing over a dead 3-year-old black boy, has ignited a media frenzy following a report by South Africa's Sunday Times. Although the pic was quickly found to be an fake—the "hunter" paid the boy to pose with him—and was investigated by authorities four years ago, police say they are launching a new investigation to find the Facebook user who re-posted the old pic, "Eugene Terrorblanche." The name plays off that of the murdered leader of white supremacist group Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

"The fact remains that a very sick individual has this picture posted on his Facebook profile in 2011 along with a string of extremely racist remarks," wrote the Times' editor. As of yesterday, 25 people who were on the man's contact list had removed themselves, and 300 others had joined two Facebook groups protesting the account. "Whether or not the picture is genuine, it represents a scene of extreme violence perpetrated against a child by a man. The intention is to evoke racial hatred and polarization," said the South African prosecutor, who called for anti-hate legislation. (More South Africa stories.)