Racist, anti-Catholic items, sacred relics common on massive e-commerce site

Contact: Tom Serafin, Apostolate for Holy Relics, 818-416-9279

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- Just days after the inauguration of America's first African American president, Barack Obama, and first Catholic vice-president, Joseph Biden, eBay is hosting items offensive to both groups, and most of the nation.

Items for sale include "coon" songs, a piece of piano music entitled "n-----" blues, anti-Catholic post cards and tracts from the Ku Klux Klan, and even the bones of Catholic saints.

"As America moves into a new era of race relations, we find eBay catering to those stuck in the worst part of our country's past," said Thomas J. Serafin, president of the International Crusade for Holy Relics (ICHR) and the Apostolate for Holy Relics (AHR). Serafin has been fighting eBay's offensive sales for nearly a decade. Most recently the AHR sent a representative to address an international meeting of diplomats in Washington, DC. There members of the International Catholic Diplomatic Society of St. Gabriel from around the world were briefed on some of the abuses commonly found on eBay.

"African Americans and Catholics now have members in the two highest profile positions in the United States," said Serafin, "and if eBay won't respect us, perhaps they will respect us when we take our dollars elsewhere. It is beyond belief to think that a high tech company like this can't run a software program to police its own site. That couldn't eat into the profit margin that much, so we are left to wonder if it's just a matter of a lack of respect."

Among the most offensive items for sale today are item numbers:

170298113528 - a KKK statue - with hood and robes.

180323423536 - An anti-Catholic post-card published by the Klan

18032342367 - A second anti-Catholic post-care featuring the pope as a pig

350158062162 - A piece of music entitled "Here's to the Klan, the 100% American Song"

270336116202 - A piece of music entitled "A Little Coon's Prayer"

200297337939 - A piece of music entitled "Coon Town's Vacation"

290292378206 - A piano roll entitled "(N-word) Blues"

160311722350 - A piece of the bones of St. John Bosco, a 19th century Italian saint

Visit www.ichrusa.com for more information.