Embarrassing dad

[Canadawet]

My dad, 76, has just retired due to ill health, is bored to death, and is also and old bore, racist, sexist and just inappropriate and embarrassing basically. He has now discovered Facebook and cannot contain himself to just "like", he HAS to post stupid and annoying comments on everything and everyone's posts, and seems to love bringing controversial topics (Trump, BREXIT, etc) when the OP had nothing to do with those. How can I tell him to shut up? He has now asked a few of my FB friends to be friends and it is annoying. Grin and bear it?

All this said, I do feel you are a bit brutal about your old dad!!

You are within your rights to not want him on your FB though.

How can I tell him to shut up?

This really stood out. Doesn't reflect well on you, not one bit. It's sad that your first instinct is to shut people up when they say things you don't like

You have a number of options which you should be considering long, long before you entertain the idea of trying to censor somebody. Ideally you should never entertain that idea at all. The easiest option is to not engage at all. Just unfollow him and you won't see any of it. If you don't like the idea of other people seeing it, if you really can't tolerate that and find it embarrassing as your thread title suggests, you should be able to reason him out of any unsavoury opinions. It really isn't hard to dismantle an argument if it is rooted solely in bigotry so you can have the discussion in private and then challenge him publicly if he keeps writing the same stuff. You should be able to get that done easily enough without having to "get him to shut up".

All the best.

Hide his posts but.... my dad died this week and I wish I could be embarrassed by him now. ...

I am really sorry to hear that Maddy, and I am sorry for your loss. But saying that is a bit unfair.

Not really my dad was of a generation , and did say embarrassing things at times....
Be careful what you wish for

So sorry for your loss Maddy . The OP didn't say she hated her Dad though -I too would be ashamed if my Dad was openly racist, bigoted and rude on social media. My Gran used to use the N word, but stopped when I told her is was absolutely unacceptable and racist. Age isn't an excuse. Difference in political views and opinions I can accept, but I would never gloss over racism and bigotry even if it was from my beloved Dad. My BIL was once left a horrid note on his car stating he wasn't welcome in the neighbourhood when he visited my parents with my sister. He is English born Pakistani and my parents live in a seemingly lovely area of mostly older people and families. That sort of shit is just dreadful and should be wiped out, it isn't a difference of opinion.

You can mute someone's posts so you just don't see them, and I am pretty sure you can do this without unfriending them so they don't know you've done it. I can't remember how, but I know I did something like that a while ago to someone who was oversharing all the time.

Yes you can unfollow people's posts on Facebook. But your dad can still comment and like (or whatever reaction) to whatever you post, and he can tag you in his. If his posts are racist, you won't want to be associated with them. I would seriously consider deleting him as a friend if he won't stop posting bigotry on his page.