# Does every single thread about Africa need to get hijacked by racists? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279 "2010-05-30T11:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/1 "2010-05-30T11:20:12Z")
Please excuse the lack of vitriol. I’m too sick and tired of this particular pattern to muster anything but disappointment. I love Africa. I love talking about Africa. I’m about to go to school to study International Development with a focus on Africa. And I would really, really, like to have some informed discussions on the Dope about Africa. But every. single. fucking. thread. gets hijacked by the same old “Africans are teh dumz” racists. Every single time. Thread after thread starts out interesting and informative. Then **Chief Pedant** and **Chen019** show up and, using the word “cohort” as often as possible, state that Africans are all mentally retarded. The crap they say is so blatantly ridiculous that you can’t help but respond. I’m guilty, too. And then suddenly, our nice thread about development or history and the like is suddenly Pen and Chen’s big racist party. I’m really sick of it. I hate that the entire topic of Africa is basically off limits. Within ten posts it will be hijacked. Someone in an earlier thread proposed a rule- for every response to a racist, you should also post something relevant to the OP. Then we can have actual discussion instead of giving these assholes a platform for their racist ideology. Can we try that out? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/2 "2010-05-30T11:24:10Z")
Your post has been blacklisted. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/3 "2010-05-30T11:37:54Z")
Africa. That’s in the Middle East, right? ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/4 "2010-05-30T11:48:30Z")
Well, sven, I don’t agree with you often, but yes, I agree here. It’s a particularly pernicious phenomena that colours every Africa discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/5 "2010-05-30T12:34:11Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Please excuse the lack of vitriol. I’m too sick and tired of this particular pattern to muster anything but disappointment. > > I love Africa. I love talking about Africa. I’m about to go to school to study International Development with a focus on Africa. And I would really, really, like to have some informed discussions on the Dope about Africa. > > But every. single. fucking. thread. gets hijacked by the same old “Africans are teh dumz” racists. Every single time. > > Thread after thread starts out interesting and informative. Then **Chief Pedant** and **Chen019** show up and, using the word “cohort” as often as possible, state that Africans are all mentally retarded. > > The crap they say is so blatantly ridiculous that you can’t help but respond. I’m guilty, too. And then suddenly, our nice thread about development or history and the like is suddenly Pen and Chen’s big racist party. > > I’m really sick of it. I hate that the entire topic of Africa is basically off limits. Within ten posts it will be hijacked. All true, > [@](#): > > Someone in an earlier thread proposed a rule- for every response to a racist, you should also post something relevant to the OP. Then we can have actual discussion instead of giving these assholes a platform for their racist ideology. Can we try that out? It won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/6 "2010-05-30T13:02:11Z")
I think you just have to ignore them, like you would any other troll. But everyone else has to as well or they take over the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/7 "2010-05-30T13:05:19Z")
Why do you think it’s racist to think that black folks may on average have a lower IQ than some folks of other races on average? Just thinking that is not necessarily racist under my definition of the term. Here’s a thread I started that discussed this subject: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=560986&highlight=racism](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=560986&highlight=racism) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/8 "2010-05-30T13:35:20Z")
It isn’t racist, but it’s not supported by evidence - the thing is “black” is a really diverse genetic set. There’s more genetic diversity in Africa than there is in the rest of the world combined. Everyone knows that certain genetic groups are stupider than other genetic groups. That’s not even vaguely controversial, and no one is saying it is. Once you start talking about “blacks” you start getting closer to racism, for there is no such group… ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/9 "2010-05-30T13:50:17Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Africa. That’s in the Middle East, right? It’s a really big country…filled with simple people. 😃 I’m sorry your discussions are hijacked. Have you tried not feeding the trolls? Or reporting them for threadshitting? Or just carrying on? ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/10 "2010-05-30T13:51:56Z")
That’s fine and all but as soon as someone even mentions anything about intelligence, cries of Racist! come flooding out. That also gets really tiresome. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/11 "2010-05-30T13:56:38Z")
I have noticed this and it’s obnoxious. I don’t really post in those threads but I like reading them and usually I read a lot of cool things until the “But maybe Africans ARE incredibly stupid,” issues pop up. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/12 "2010-05-30T14:00:04Z")
An illustrative link or two would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/13 "2010-05-30T14:12:31Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > An illustrative link or two would be nice. [Turning a developing country into a developed one. - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=563787) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/14 "2010-05-30T14:22:07Z")
Here are two that are up now. [How do you turn a developing country into a developed one?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=563787). The OP, an interesting hypothetical in which you have huge amounts of cash to transform a country, is hopelessly derailed by “it doesn’t matter what you do, if they are black they can’t be developed because they are all simpering morons barely able to dress themselves in the morning science says so!” [What are the effects of Colonialism and the Cold War on Africa](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=565016). What could be an interesting discussion of history is again turned into “black people are all slightly retarded so whatever who cares about colonialism let’s talk about how stupid black people are, that’s the only thing of importance to Africa.” Lumping everyone in the most genetically diverse area on earth into one broad category based on skin tone and then loudly proposing that everyone with this skin color all share the trait of being so dumb that they are actually incapable of ruling themselves i and that this “fact” explains the entirety of Sub-Saharan African history and cultures and is indeed probably the only thing about Africa that merits discussion is, indeed, racist. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/15 "2010-05-30T14:40:13Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > The crap they say is so blatantly ridiculous that you can’t help but respond. I’m guilty, too. And then suddenly, our nice thread about development or history and the like is suddenly Pen and Chen’s big racist party. One thing you could do is bookmark this thread, and then just post a link as your response whenever one of our resident race experts pops in to hijack the thread. But I do think the mods could do a better job at keeping those threads on topic. Any comments from the mods? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/16 "2010-05-30T14:46:44Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Here are two that are up now. > > [How do you turn a developing country into a developed one?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=563787). The OP, an interesting hypothetical in which you have huge amounts of cash to transform a country, is hopelessly derailed by “it doesn’t matter what you do, if they are black they can’t be developed because they are all simpering morons barely able to dress themselves in the morning science says so!” > > [What are the effects of Colonialism and the Cold War on Africa](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=565016). What could be an interesting discussion of history is again turned into “black people are all slightly retarded so whatever who cares about colonialism let’s talk about how stupid black people are, that’s the only thing of importance to Africa.” > > Lumping everyone in the most genetically diverse area on earth into one broad category based on skin tone and then loudly proposing that everyone with this skin color all share the trait of being so dumb that they are actually incapable of ruling themselves i and that this “fact” explains the entirety of Sub-Saharan African history and cultures and is indeed probably the only thing about Africa that merits discussion is, indeed, racist. I think this is just one of those issues where certain people will never be able to see that they are talking at cross-purposes and aren’t really arguing with anybody. You appear to be one of those people. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/17 "2010-05-30T14:54:46Z")
> [@](#): > > **Rand Rover** : Why do you think it’s racist to think that black folks may on average have a lower IQ than some folks of other races on average? Just thinking that is not necessarily racist under my definition of the term. But your definition of the term, as found in your linked thread, tried to dummy-down the more recent and anthropological scientific information. In fact, you don’t mention this information until Number 5 on your list and you fail to mention that the information comes from scientists: > [@](#): > > **Rand Rover** : Some people like to think that “race” doesn’t exist. So, one part of my definition is that “race” does exist, at least in the mind of the person that we are trying to determine is a racist. So your definition of “racist” is circular and based on ignorance as in this example of mine: Some people like to think that "ghostbusters don’t exist. So, one part of my definition is that “ghostbusters” do exist, at least in the mind of the person that we are trying to determine is a ghostbuster. See how stupid that sounds? (You do, don’t you?) Meanwhile, back in reality, if you test the DNA of 100 people chosen at random and grouped those people by similarities of DNA, the groups would not break down according to what we have traditionally thought of as “race.” I’m trying to put it in words that you can understand. That’s why you keep reading that “race is a social construct,” but you can’t seem to get your mind around it. Maybe you are just in the wrong group for understanding those concepts. Don’t let it bother you. Everyone is of value in her or his own unique way. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/18 "2010-05-30T14:54:53Z")
Ha! _I_ just got warned because I didn’t wait long enough for **Chief Pedant** to drop his steaming pile of shit into the thread. I guess next time I should wait for it to get hopeless hijacked? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/19 "2010-05-30T14:59:31Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But I do think the mods could do a better job at keeping those threads on topic. Any comments from the mods? So do I, but we have to be aware of hijacks before they become the core debate points. The “how to develop a country” thread was going fine when I first reviewed it. The next time I looked at it, it had an additional two pages of IQ squabbling and it was a bit late to say “this is a hijack.” The current thread on colonial Africa will be monitored more closely, (although I would have preferred that an actual hijack had been reported rather than having a speculated potential hijack attacked in the thread). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279/20 "2010-05-30T15:00:57Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Ha! _I_ just got warned because I didn’t wait long enough for **Chief Pedant** to drop his steaming pile of shit into the thread. I guess next time I should wait for it to get hopeless hijacked? You did not get Warned and, Yes, you should wait for a poster to actually say something before you attack something that has not even been posted. Reporting the thread as a potential issue would have been much more appropriate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-single-thread-about-africa-need-to-get-hijacked-by-racists/541279.md?page=2)