# Is hate speech really not banned on the boards? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 31, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283 "2015-10-31T20:20:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/262 "2015-11-07T00:15:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I believe that this fits the definition: What slur or offer of violence is in that??? ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/263 "2015-11-07T02:34:27Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > What didn’t I understand? That there aren’t enough black people or Muslims on this board for it to be considered racist by the mods. ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/264 "2015-11-07T06:18:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > He respects your opinions as much as he does American posters(which is more or less zero, unless there are a bunch of people). Lumping me in with Americans isn’t a way to make me feel _better_ 😛 > [@](#): > > And, stop saying “_our_”- you’re not a editor or a King And you’re not a mod, so you can… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/265 "2015-11-07T06:21:46Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > You are welcome to raise the issue as often as you feel necessary I’m going to hold you to that - no backsies. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/266 "2015-11-07T06:26:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Actually, I have lost track In 53 posts? Not great memory retention you have going on there - maybe get that checked out by a pro? > [@](#): > > - exactly what _are_ your demands? Check 53 posts before yours. Ask if you need help with the maths. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/267 "2015-11-07T11:42:22Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > Racism racism racism. You tower above us all with your moral reckoning. > > I now realize I no longer need to read threads here. Just (literally) say the word and my mind is made up for me. That’s great for you, dude, like really, mazel tov and all. That’s not how it works for anyone else, though: racism is a word like pacifism or communism, which can describe a person’s point of view with more or less accuracy. An assertion that a particular statement, or person, is racist is not the end of the conversation, nor should it be; it’s an assertion about the correct characterization of views, an assertion which may be rebutted just like any other assertion. But yeah, if you want to stop reading threads and have your mind made up by a single word, party down Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/268 "2015-11-07T13:43:45Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > That’s not how it works for anyone else, though: racism is a word like pacifism or communism, which can describe a person’s point of view with more or less accuracy. An assertion that a particular statement, or person, is racist is not the end of the conversation, nor should it be; it’s an assertion about the correct characterization of views, an assertion which may be rebutted just like any other assertion. Wow, all those words describe things that society detests and we all think would be better if it was no longer present. Who knew? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/269 "2015-11-07T14:28:15Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > But yeah, if you want to stop reading threads and have your mind made up by a single word, party down Wayne. It’s “party ON, Wayne.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/270 "2015-11-07T15:32:21Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > nm. My thoughts, exactly. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/271 "2015-11-07T18:40:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > In 53 posts? Not great memory retention you have going on there - maybe get that checked out by a pro? > Check 53 posts before yours. Ask if you need help with the maths. Ah, so you want the SDMB and everyone on it, to go by your own personal definition of what is “hate speech”. Got it. That’s what I thought, but then i didn’t think that could possible be it… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/272 "2015-11-07T18:58:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Ah, so you want the SDMB and everyone on it, to go by your own personal definition of what is “hate speech”. Got it. > That’s what I thought, but then i didn’t think that could possible be it… So “I’ve lost track”, so much bullshit? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/273 "2015-11-07T21:55:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > That’s great for you, dude, like really, mazel tov and all. That’s not how it works for anyone else, though: racism is a word like pacifism or communism, which can describe a person’s point of view with more or less accuracy. An assertion that a particular statement, or person, is racist is not the end of the conversation, nor should it be; it’s an assertion about the correct characterization of views, an assertion which may be rebutted just like any other assertion. Respectfully, I’d say that your characterization is a minority position in US society. No pun intended, though (alas) the pun works - the word may have different connotations across races in the US. I think the majority position is that when applied to an individual racism implies racial animus, KKK or [Bull Connor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_Connor). **Ibn** assured me that’s white guy bullshit though, as it doesn’t cover somebody’s racist grandma, only the paint peeling stuff. And not all racism is paint peeling. > [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > No, I get it. Vulgar racism bad. Polite racism not bad. Huh. That’s not too far off. Vulgar racism unacceptable in GD and potentially instaban material in the Pit. Polite racism acceptable in the Pit (even pseudo-polite paint peeling racism) and also in GD, provided it has substance. Bad either way of course among decent folk. Bad people aren’t prevented from posting here. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/274 "2015-11-08T00:21:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Lumping me in with Americans isn’t a way to make me feel _better_ 😛 I know right. Americans are the shittiest pieces of shit that ever shit a shit. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/275 "2015-11-08T02:02:53Z")
> [@simster](#): > > How else will you ever debate and ultimately defeat racism if its not discussed and/or debated? > > You cannot simply ‘silence’ a subject and pretend that it makes it ‘all better’. > > You can;'t simply ‘abuse’ or ‘shame’ people that hold ‘wrong’ beliefs and pretend that will make it ‘go away’. > > You have to be willing to debate, discuss and have open conversations - both to understand why the person might think a certain way and to (hopefully) show them the error in their thinking (if that be the case). Shame is literally the main weapon against racism today. We as a society have made it shameful to be a racist. Hell, it’s why there’s even an argument that the word “racist” is an insult. If racism wasn’t shameful, the term couldn’t be offensive. I wouldn’t care if this board didn’t have a “Don’t be a jerk” policy. But it does. And saying racist things is inherently being a jerk. Polite racism is an oxymoron. When used, it carries implied scare quotes on “polite.” But the mods here have long allowed some jerkishness. The problem is, the balance is now out of whack. And the result is that I’m seeing more and more racism being treated like politics–something about which people can disagree. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/276 "2015-11-08T02:15:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Shame is literally the main weapon against racism today. We as a society have made it shameful to be a racist. Hell, it’s why there’s even an argument that the word “racist” is an insult. If racism wasn’t shameful, the term couldn’t be offensive. > > I wouldn’t care if this board didn’t have a “Don’t be a jerk” policy. But it does. And saying racist things is inherently being a jerk. Polite racism is an oxymoron. When used, it carries implied scare quotes on “polite.” > > But the mods here have long allowed some jerkishness. The problem is, the balance is now out of whack. And the result is that I’m seeing more and more racism being treated like politics–something about which people can disagree. Or mare accurately, people disagree on what constitutes racism. You can’t really believe that where that line is or should be is not the subject of honest debate. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/277 "2015-11-08T08:18:39Z")
_Wherever_ that line is , “Africans are functionally retarded” is way, way over it. That shouldn’t even be debatable. And _even if it were_, a debate where one side uses fraudulent pseudoscience as a foundation in no way can be characterized as “honest” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/278 "2015-11-08T19:29:00Z")
Yet some people do consider it debatable. Not the people who post such statements, as they usually state it categorically, but the Teeming Millions who heard someone say it and are curious if it is true. That is why we need to debate it every damned time it comes up. Don’t think of it as beating a dead horse that should be automatically sent to the glue factory. Think of it as the the show yesterday is over and there is a brand new audience in the Peanut Gallery for today’s show. Same thing goes for vaccines, 9/11, UFOs, ghosts . . . . It seems pretentious to suggest that you are performing a public service every time you slap down one of those morons, but you are. Remember that most–nearly all–people are less informed than you and you can help mold their understanding of the world. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/279 "2015-11-08T21:18:49Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Wherever_ that line is , “Africans are functionally retarded” is way, way over it. Link? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/280 "2015-11-08T23:30:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Shame is literally the main weapon against racism today. We as a society have made it shameful to be a racist. Hell, it’s why there’s even an argument that the word “racist” is an insult. If racism wasn’t shameful, the term couldn’t be offensive. > > I wouldn’t care if this board didn’t have a “Don’t be a jerk” policy. But it does. And saying racist things is inherently being a jerk. Polite racism is an oxymoron. When used, it carries implied scare quotes on “polite.” > > But the mods here have long allowed some jerkishness. The problem is, the balance is now out of whack. And the result is that I’m seeing more and more racism being treated like politics–something about which people can disagree. Right. :rolleyes: When debate on entitlements, speech, press, religion, education, economics, logic, are poisoned with veiled or direct ad-hominems by throwing the word “racist” around then throwing the word “racist” around is nothing more than an intellectually dishonest debate tactic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283/281 "2015-11-09T05:28:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Link? Why, you’d only forget it in 50 posts or so… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hate-speech-really-not-banned-on-the-boards/736283.md?page=15)