3 ms·

He sounds angry and a bit OTT to me. Inferring that someone is a racist (as you're doing) is extremely serious. Your remark comes across as a bit creepy actuall

by barking 14y ago

He sounds angry and a bit OTT to me. Inferring that someone is a racist (as you're doing) is extremely serious. Your remark comes across as a bit creepy actually

indy 14y ago
I'm well aware of how serious the accusation is. Mynameishere sounds like a racist, if you find that 'creepy' then so be it
roguecoder 14y ago
First, no one inferred that he was racist, they said what he had said sounded racist. Second, why do you think it's "extremely serious" to consider something someone said racist? I consider racism itself extremely serious, but there's no consequence for expressing racism in a quasi-anonymous comment environment. There's not even any consequence for being called a racist. I am utterly confused as to how saying that racist statements sound racist could be "extremely serious", in that we should refrain from doing so. What consequences do you expect to follow? Actually being a racist? Bad. Pointing out that something sounded racist? An opportunity for the person who said that to apologize and reframe or withdraw, perhaps leading to a less racist environment.
- snogglethorpe 14y ago
  > there's no consequence for expressing racism in a quasi-anonymous comment environment Welllll, you never really know though. It seems prudent to not underestimate the googling skills of future (potential) employers...
- Torgo 14y ago
  You're missing the point. It's unavoidable that if you say "you sound racist" that that attributes a trait to the person rather than their behavior, and is not much different than saying "you are a racist." The rule of thumb is address the behavior rather than the person, which is why the corrective response is supposed to be something like "wow, what you said sounded racist" It's a subtle but important difference. Then you are inviting the person to ask themself internally "did I mean what I said?" or "do I want to sound racist to other people?" instead of going on the defensive because they as a person are being labelled a cultural undesirable. If you make a statement about the person themself there's no avenue forward for discussion or correction, you just made an enemy. But if you make it about the speech, even if they get defensive about it you can clarify that you are addressing the behavior. There are consequences here because there is username, user identities are often shared across sites, and there is a karma system here. They may be mild, but obviously karma is consequential or it wouldn't exist as a concept on the site. Your score is your aggregate reputation among other users. People fear saying things that will lower their karma.
axlelonghorn 14y ago
He said, "you sound racist", not "you are racist". http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b0Ti-gkJiXc http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b...
- barking 14y ago
  There aren't any biological tests for racism that I know of. What got the guys fired were remarks they made that 'sounded racist'. If I said to you that you 'sound German', it's likely that I'm inferring that I think you're a German. If I say to you that you 'sound racist', it's likely that I'm inferring that I think you're a racist.
mnjoltr 14y ago
There's nothing creepy about it, comrade. Just be sure not to express any unpopular opinions, even if they have nothing to do with race. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you or your career, you see.

by barking 14y ago

He sounds angry and a bit OTT to me. Inferring that someone is a racist (as you're doing) is extremely serious. Your remark comes across as a bit creepy actually

indy 14y ago

I'm well aware of how serious the accusation is. Mynameishere sounds like a racist, if you find that 'creepy' then so be it

roguecoder 14y ago

First, no one inferred that he was racist, they said what he had said sounded racist. Second, why do you think it's "extremely serious" to consider something someone said racist? I consider racism itself extremely serious, but there's no consequence for expressing racism in a quasi-anonymous comment environment. There's not even any consequence for being called a racist. I am utterly confused as to how saying that racist statements sound racist could be "extremely serious", in that we should refrain from doing so. What consequences do you expect to follow? Actually being a racist? Bad. Pointing out that something sounded racist? An opportunity for the person who said that to apologize and reframe or withdraw, perhaps leading to a less racist environment.

snogglethorpe 14y ago
> there's no consequence for expressing racism in a quasi-anonymous comment environment Welllll, you never really know though. It seems prudent to not underestimate the googling skills of future (potential) employers...
Torgo 14y ago
You're missing the point. It's unavoidable that if you say "you sound racist" that that attributes a trait to the person rather than their behavior, and is not much different than saying "you are a racist." The rule of thumb is address the behavior rather than the person, which is why the corrective response is supposed to be something like "wow, what you said sounded racist" It's a subtle but important difference. Then you are inviting the person to ask themself internally "did I mean what I said?" or "do I want to sound racist to other people?" instead of going on the defensive because they as a person are being labelled a cultural undesirable. If you make a statement about the person themself there's no avenue forward for discussion or correction, you just made an enemy. But if you make it about the speech, even if they get defensive about it you can clarify that you are addressing the behavior. There are consequences here because there is username, user identities are often shared across sites, and there is a karma system here. They may be mild, but obviously karma is consequential or it wouldn't exist as a concept on the site. Your score is your aggregate reputation among other users. People fear saying things that will lower their karma.

axlelonghorn 14y ago

He said, "you sound racist", not "you are racist". http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b0Ti-gkJiXc http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b...

barking 14y ago
There aren't any biological tests for racism that I know of. What got the guys fired were remarks they made that 'sounded racist'. If I said to you that you 'sound German', it's likely that I'm inferring that I think you're a German. If I say to you that you 'sound racist', it's likely that I'm inferring that I think you're a racist.

mnjoltr 14y ago

There's nothing creepy about it, comrade. Just be sure not to express any unpopular opinions, even if they have nothing to do with race. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you or your career, you see.