Race, Racism and Such

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@John_Mace

To be clear, Why do you need call anyone anything in a debate?

By the way, look at the HH thread, a debate on the banning of a long-term member. Here’s what one person said:

@Fear_Itself

So he was here for fifteen years, and only recently got around to telling he was a Nazi? Not much of a troll if you can keep a secret like that for fifteen years.

Notice how useful the phrase “a Nazi” is here. A precise description is always useful.

Here’s what another poster said:

I don’t really care that hh was banned. I never engaged with him much, but he was clearly a jerk.

Now, the identifier “a jerk” is a lot more problematic, since it’s a value judgment and not really precise (however accurate it may be). You may wish to ask this poster why he* decided to use this term; first, though, you may wish to ask whether it’s a useful term in the debate. Is labelling helpful?

• I’m pretty sure it’s “he”; the poster’s username is John Mace.