It’s hard to believe that this sweet photo of a little girl and her therapy horse could draw any hateful comments at all.

There’s just no excuse.

And yet Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses had to remove multiple comments from trolls attacking the girls for her race as well as the fact that she was wearing a protective face mask to protect herself and others from deadly COVID-19.

“We had to delete more unkind comments directed at this child than we have ever had to deal with in over a decade on Facebook,” said the charity in a later post.

Gentle Carousel is one of the biggest equine therapy programs in the world. They bring horses to over 25,000 children and adults in medical care facilities around the country.

If you’re wondering why anyone would have anything negative to say about the photo, you’re not alone. And yet hatred against a Black child along with conspiracy-laden political rhetoric designed to get people to stop wearing masks abounded.

It was revolting, to say the least – and, of course, it said far more about the people making the comments than it did about anyone in the photo. In fact, it only proved that racism in our country is open and rampant and that there are more people willing to risk lives than wear a mask to protect them.

We don’t see any reason to share the ugly comments since they don’t deserve more attention and we can all pretty much guess what they say.

The charity’s director, Debbie Garcia-Bengochea told Bored Panda:

“When our horses make a hospital visit they do not care about a patient’s race, politics, finances or religion. They love unconditionally. Some humans could learn a lot from little horses.”

Ain’t that the truth!

The charity took the wise step of deleting every last negative comment from the little girl’s photo. They didn’t want to have to remove the post.

After all, why should a little girl be removed instead of a group of adults showing the ugliest side of humanity?

We’re learning more every day about the importance of masks – and those set to learn the hardest lessons and sadly going to take others with them. It’s a tragedy, but people have let political rhetoric and conspiracy theories get the best of them.

No one at Gentle Carousel will be going without a mask any time soon.

“There were also comments demanding that the face mask on the child be removed…the face mask was given to her by medical professionals. Since those who posted were NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, WE deleted their posts as well. Seeing an adult or child wearing a mask does not mean they are making a liberal or conservative, left or right, Republican or Democrat statement. It often means that the person is sick, cares for someone who is sick or elderly or just wants to protect others. Demanding that a mask be removed is unacceptable on social media or in-person” Garcia-Bengochea said.

It’s remarkable that someone would even need to point this out right now

“Our social media has always been a positive and safe place for people of all ages. Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses work with vulnerable populations. Our volunteers wear face masks to protect those they serve. It is not a political statement. It is a compassionate one.”

You can scroll down below to see the response the charity was forced to post after the negativity spread. It’s a sad commentary on our current state of affairs.

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Source: Bored Panda, Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses via Facebook