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> “ The point is that what is "one step away" is often subjective and relies on a web of inferences that the original speaker may not share.” This is just not
by mlthoughts2018 6y ago
> “ The point is that what is "one step away" is often subjective and relies on a web of inferences that the original speaker may not share.”
This is just not true. Many many things in the sphere of alt-right hate speech, attacks on so-called “snowflake SJWs,” dismissal of the metoo movement, tacit endorsement of misogyny, dehumanization of immigrants and more are very widely understood now. Being “one step away” from MRA or Proud Boys hate speech or “one step away” from transphobic or homophobic hate speech is really not a widely debated subjective matter. These kinds of attempts to slowly legitimize hate speech are directly recognizable and ought to be called out and rejected.
It is wrong to hide behind vague claims that because “it’s subjective” we should allow the Overton window to be dragged toward endorsement of hate speech.
> “ So do you see how you have identified discourse that you associate with a community as the same as that community? What if your association is the part that's incorrect?”
No, I do not think you’ve succeeded in making a case for this point. I am not substituting my association of speech in as an unfair characteristic of a group. That group is doing the association all on their own.
This is exactly the kind of extenuating excuse-making that should not be treated as reasonable or civil inquiry.
To me, your comment would be like saying, “Can’t you see how you are defining the KKK as a cross-burning anti-black group? You are letting your association of cross-burning as ‘bad’ lead you to ‘subjective’ judgment that the group is bad. Maybe it’s just an unusual social group and we should all be more open-minded.”
To me, that is identical to what you are saying in your comment.
Sometimes the answer is just no. The group defines itself with horrific practices or words, nobody else applies that association for them.
When hate speech is slightly watered down and dressed up as legit inquiry it is even worse. It attempts to legitimize it like a Trojan Horse to establish unequivocally unacceptable beliefs as if they deserve equal footing in some “let’s all be above the fray and act like more evolved rational agents” disingenuous claptrap.
- chordalkeyboard 6y ago> Many many things in the sphere of alt-right hate speech, attacks on so-called “snowflake SJWs,” dismissal of the metoo movement, tacit endorsement of misogyny, dehumanization of immigrants and more are very widely understood now. those things are bad in themselves, they are not "one step away." > It is wrong to hide behind vague claims that because “it’s subjective” we should allow the Overton window to be dragged toward endorsement of hate speech. If something is in fact hate speech, then it shouldn't be normalized and can be identified as hate speech and condemned for that. We were discussing things that are not hate speech but are associated with it according to certain persons. There are only three cases: something is hate speech, or it is not, or it is debatable whether it is hate speech or not. If it is hate speech, then it can be condemned as such. If it is not hate speech, it doesn't move the Overton window towards hate speech. If it is debatable then it is necessarily a proper object of discourse. None of this involves banning innocuous statements because someone heard a bad person say it somewhere. > No, I do not think you’ve succeeded in making a case for this point. I am not substituting my association of speech in as an unfair characteristic of a group. That group is doing the association all on their own. You are responsible for your interpretation, not some other people somewhere else. If your interpretation is correct then you can make that case. Good ideas don't become bad merely because they exist in the thoughts and speech of people who also have bad ideas in their thoughts and speech. > To me, your comment would be like saying, “Can’t you see how you are defining the KKK as a cross-burning anti-black group? You are letting your association of cross-burning as ‘bad’ lead you to ‘subjective’ judgment that the group is bad. Maybe it’s just an unusual social group and we should all be more open-minded.” This is a bizarre misreading of what I said. The kkk are racist by their own admission. I don't need to associate anything. This is more like you saying that being a fan of the Atlanta Falcons is a dog whistle for racism because everyone knows Georgia is full of racists. > When hate speech is slightly watered down and dressed up as legit inquiry it is even worse. It attempts to legitimize it like a Trojan Horse to establish unequivocally unacceptable beliefs as if they deserve equal footing in some “let’s all be above the fray and act like more evolved rational agents” disingenuous claptrap. unequivocally unacceptable beliefs are not the issue here. We are discussing statements that are unacceptable only because they associated with a bad group, not because they are bad themselves.