3 ms·

Relax, he was clearly talking about the Chinese government, not Chinese people in general.

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
I think we need to be really clear when we talk about these things. When we write “the Chinese” there is bound to be at least some subset of readers who see that and assume the write meant all Chinese. I don’t believe we can be certain of the writers intent until the writer makes it clear.
- thrwy_01 7y ago
  Even if the writers clearly make this distinction, Chinese people, driven by Chinese propaganda, will often conflate the two. Indeed, Chinese people, even in a non political context will sometimes treat a comment about a single Chinese individual as a statement about all Chinese people.
  - dang 7y ago
    That's a separate issue. It's enough to clearly make this distinction oneself. What you're saying about "Chinese people" seems to me true of all people.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
dang 7y ago
Your bias predisposes you to read it that way. Were you responsible for a community with a wide spectrum of backgrounds and views, you'd quickly learn how unreliable that sense of "clearly" can be. HN users who are Chinese or of Chinese background have a right to come here and not see comments like that one, just the same as all HN users do. Edit: actually, once I read the context of the thread, I see your point. The parent comments were talking about the Chinese government, so it's reasonable to see that as having been in scope.
- Teever 7y ago
  I'm a little confused by this exchange here dang so I'd like some clarification if possible. If the user above had said "the Chinese government", "The Communist Party of China" or simply "the party" then their comment would have been acceptable to you?
  - dang 7y ago
    It would still have been flamebait and against the site guidelines, but it wouldn't have been a slur.
- tasogare 7y ago
  So, HN is officially a safe space? Strange, because I see all the time comments targeting (all) men or some particular ethnicities that aren’t moderated.
  - dang 7y ago
    No. It isn't possible for any large open internet forum to be a 'safe space', not that I know what that means.

I think we need to be really clear when we talk about these things. When we write “the Chinese” there is bound to be at least some subset of readers who see that and assume the write meant all Chinese. I don’t believe we can be certain of the writers intent until the writer makes it clear.

thrwy_01 7y ago
Even if the writers clearly make this distinction, Chinese people, driven by Chinese propaganda, will often conflate the two. Indeed, Chinese people, even in a non political context will sometimes treat a comment about a single Chinese individual as a statement about all Chinese people.
- dang 7y ago
  That's a separate issue. It's enough to clearly make this distinction oneself. What you're saying about "Chinese people" seems to me true of all people.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

dang 7y ago

Your bias predisposes you to read it that way. Were you responsible for a community with a wide spectrum of backgrounds and views, you'd quickly learn how unreliable that sense of "clearly" can be. HN users who are Chinese or of Chinese background have a right to come here and not see comments like that one, just the same as all HN users do. Edit: actually, once I read the context of the thread, I see your point. The parent comments were talking about the Chinese government, so it's reasonable to see that as having been in scope.

Teever 7y ago
I'm a little confused by this exchange here dang so I'd like some clarification if possible. If the user above had said "the Chinese government", "The Communist Party of China" or simply "the party" then their comment would have been acceptable to you?
- dang 7y ago
  It would still have been flamebait and against the site guidelines, but it wouldn't have been a slur.
tasogare 7y ago
So, HN is officially a safe space? Strange, because I see all the time comments targeting (all) men or some particular ethnicities that aren’t moderated.
- dang 7y ago
  No. It isn't possible for any large open internet forum to be a 'safe space', not that I know what that means.