# Race, Racism and Such

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-racism-and-such/753346>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [April 28, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-racism-and-such/753346 "2016-04-28T15:58:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 41

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**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:** [May 1, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-racism-and-such/753346/41 "2016-05-01T13:27:39Z")

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> [@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:

> [@handsomeharry has been banned](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handsomeharry-has-been-banned/753236/14):
>
> 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.

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