A lot less ever since Shodan was banned
Hmmm. Well, I sense that @Alessan wasn’t exactly thinking of people who proudly shout out the N word.
Defining racism down like that does not do what you think it does. What it does is give a pass to real racists, who are now ‘just like everybody’.
This notion of calling everyone a racist who isn’t actively anti-racist is one of the worst thjngs academia has done to race relations in decades. Polling on the decline of race relations shows this. You are setting America back to worse times. It’s a bloody shame.
What’s hillarious is that this attitude is exactly why pointing out that we all contribute to racism of a societal level is necessary.
Maybe? Unquestioned, and therefore unintentional bigotry is still bigotry. @IvoryTowerDenizen is right: we all have inherent biases. It behooves all of us to actively try and learn to do better.
Absolutely!
But that’s not what we’re discussing here. We’re talking about name calling and a generally divisive demeanor towards people. If you call me a misogynist I’m gonna tell you to piss off and the conversation is over. Nobody learns anything.
The woman who’s worked her whole adult life on women’s issues and has put her heart and soul into securing safe spaces for women is not gonna listen to you when you call her a transphobe for being wary of letting new people into these spaces. Is it transphobic to want to keep these spaces for cis women only? Probably. But you’re not even gonna get a conversation to learn why this woman has these concerns, and how best to address them, if you start it off by labelling her as a transphobe. She knows she’s not.
She believes she’s not.
If I tell someone that their statement is transphobic, and they yell “I’m not transphobic. I just don’t want (insert transphobic thing here)” over and over again, then, yeah, I’m going to call transphobic on the person and not the statement.
I understand why we don’t have thumbs up here, but I’m awarding you one anyway.
And what’s the goal here? A self satisfied “yep, spotted another one! I’m good at this!”?
Because no ignorance has been fought.
A person who has worked all his life to build a nice safe town for his family and community and now you want to let THOSE people move in. He keeps insisting that THOSE people will bring crime and immorality to the town because that’s their nature?
If you finally call him a racist to protect the safety of the NICE women and children, are you fighting his ignorance?
Hell yes.
That sounds like a personal failing of yours. You should learn to be better at taking criticism.
You may be right.
Still stops the conversation.
Aww, thank you 
People can’t grow beyond their failings if they don’t have them pointed out. I used to have all kinds of transphobic ideas, and it took people calling me out to make me pull my head out of my ass. They weren’t always nice about it, either, and they very well shouldn’t have been.
Not in my experience. Pointing out racism, sexism, or transphobia is just the start of the conversation.
Some people aren’t open to having those kinds of conversations. But if those people aren’t open to even hearing the word “racist” directed at them, they certainly aren’t going to be open to honestly examining their own racism. Admitting you have a problem is the first step.
I agree
I disagree.
If someone feels attacked, they’re not gonna want to talk at all, even if they might be open to the fact that what they’ve said or done could have bigotted implications.
No one wants to be scolded by someone on a message board.
I must be a nobody. I’ve changed my own opinions after being scolded on message boards for several things over the last 30 years.
But then maybe I’m not as steadfast as some people.
I must be a nobody too.
I’m willing to take criticism from people I respect. People I don’t respect can go piss in the wind.
It depends upon your definition of “Conservative.” If you subscribe to the modern Trumpist view that “Conservative” means a person who would:
- gladly let people starve to death on the street rather than ask the wealthy to pay their fair share of tax
- openly prevent minorities from voting
- put women in prison for having a miscarriage
- allow human beings to die of treatable diseases rather than provide healthcare
then yes, all conservatives are assholes.