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I agree with you completely, and I think you would not be getting downvoted if the demographic of Hacker News readers was different. Being mentally ill doesn't

I agree with you completely, and I think you would not be getting downvoted if the demographic of Hacker News readers was different. Being mentally ill doesn't mean that racist things you say aren't racist.

arionhardison 8y ago
Thanks man, it really sucks that this is what HN has become. IMO its a sign of the times w/ Trump etc... You literally get down voted and flagged for refusing to ignore racism and praise a racist. The worst part is that they don't even see it.
- tokai 8y ago
  This is not the place to discuss this. But it is baffling to me that you think your disparage for the mentally ill is standing up to racism. You are no better than racists that refuses to understand socio-economic causes, and link behaviour to ethnicity no matter what. Try empathy instead of hate.
  - arionhardison 8y ago
    Stop it w/ the straw man BS. No where did I "disparage" the mentally Ill. BTW: My mother has been committed since I was 2 and is still going in and out of institutions. ( Im 35 )
    - dang 8y ago
      First, I'm really sorry about your mother. That is a heavy fate, for both of you. And I see that you have deep reasons for having strong feelings on both sides of this question. In case it helps, the flags and moderation are not because you're outnumbered or because HN is full of racists or racist sympathizers. It's because this is a flamewar topic that rages in the same way every time it comes up and for some reason leads people into behaving extremely badly. This site has rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, and they are the way they are for good reason. And it's because no matter how one feels or how right one is, it's impossible to have a principled discussion about racism in the context of a comic book feud about a schizophrenic homeless man whom people on the internet have been treating as their personal mascot for many years. The only sensible reaction to that is nausea and—if you're responsible for this site, as I am—shame.
dang 8y ago
There are several reasons why HN users would correctly downvote and flag this subthread. First, it's a flamewar topic that has burned itself out on HN countless times in the past, that amounts to nothing more than people calling names at each other and worse. Second, none of the people who do this kind of flamewar have any substantial notion of the relationship between schizophrenia and socially taboo language. Nor is that a topic that can be discussed on an internet forum at all, since any knowledgeable comment would immediately be buried by angry ignorant ones. It's mindless, and those of you abusing each other should be ashamed of yourselves.
- tombert 8y ago
  I agree; I apologize for fanning the flames here.

arionhardison 8y ago

Thanks man, it really sucks that this is what HN has become. IMO its a sign of the times w/ Trump etc... You literally get down voted and flagged for refusing to ignore racism and praise a racist. The worst part is that they don't even see it.

tokai 8y ago
This is not the place to discuss this. But it is baffling to me that you think your disparage for the mentally ill is standing up to racism. You are no better than racists that refuses to understand socio-economic causes, and link behaviour to ethnicity no matter what. Try empathy instead of hate.
- arionhardison 8y ago
  Stop it w/ the straw man BS. No where did I "disparage" the mentally Ill. BTW: My mother has been committed since I was 2 and is still going in and out of institutions. ( Im 35 )
  - dang 8y ago
    First, I'm really sorry about your mother. That is a heavy fate, for both of you. And I see that you have deep reasons for having strong feelings on both sides of this question. In case it helps, the flags and moderation are not because you're outnumbered or because HN is full of racists or racist sympathizers. It's because this is a flamewar topic that rages in the same way every time it comes up and for some reason leads people into behaving extremely badly. This site has rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, and they are the way they are for good reason. And it's because no matter how one feels or how right one is, it's impossible to have a principled discussion about racism in the context of a comic book feud about a schizophrenic homeless man whom people on the internet have been treating as their personal mascot for many years. The only sensible reaction to that is nausea and—if you're responsible for this site, as I am—shame.

dang 8y ago

There are several reasons why HN users would correctly downvote and flag this subthread. First, it's a flamewar topic that has burned itself out on HN countless times in the past, that amounts to nothing more than people calling names at each other and worse. Second, none of the people who do this kind of flamewar have any substantial notion of the relationship between schizophrenia and socially taboo language. Nor is that a topic that can be discussed on an internet forum at all, since any knowledgeable comment would immediately be buried by angry ignorant ones. It's mindless, and those of you abusing each other should be ashamed of yourselves.

tombert 8y ago
I agree; I apologize for fanning the flames here.