4 ms·
> It is impossible to respectfully argue for a racist or homophobic position. My point is that in 2019 this statement has no meaning because there are wide swa
by malvosenior 8y ago
> It is impossible to respectfully argue for a racist or homophobic position.
My point is that in 2019 this statement has no meaning because there are wide swaths of the audience (not just fringe elements) that will label nearly everything "racist". The main point of contention in this thread is whether you should ban unpopular opinions or let them stand on their own. Racist comments are and should be unpopular but when the definition racism is widened to include half the population then censoring "racists" and hitting a bunch of false positives becomes much more damaging that not censoring "racists" and letting actual racists expose their own ignorant thinking.
- mikeash 8y agoI think that statement only has no meaning if you are contending that I am one of those people who labels nearly everything “racist.”
- krapp 8y ago>. Racist comments are and should be unpopular but when the definition racism is widened to include half the population then censoring "racists" Half the population didn't vote for Trump. I think that's what we're supposed to be reading between the lines here, that half the population voted for Trump and have now been unfairly demonized as racists and homophobes and that, because of this, the terms "racist" and "homophobic" have no meaning... but no. Those terms still have a definite meaning, and half the population didn't vote for Trump. Also, the demonization isn't entirely unfair. At least, it's not entirely arbitrary and without merit. There was a definite and overt narrative of racial identity and struggle behind the populism of Trump's campaign, and its appeal to white supremacists was well documented by mainstream media, and the narrative of Trump's success as a revolution of white cultural identity was even defended here on Hacker News a few times. Trump supporters can't have their anti-establishment cake and eat it too. They can't support a campaign which galvanized right-wing extremists and xenophobes and then complain that people think they might be racist.