Earlier this evening I had all instances of Melin’s post “Fired for being politically incorrect” pulled. On reflection, I should have left it up in the Pit, so I’m reposting.
Concerning the substance of Melin’s post, I’ll just say that the issue is not political correctness, but rather getting into a public dispute with another board moderator. I have had a talk with the other moderator and do not expect this to happen again.
Here’s Melin’s post:
I am posting this here as well as in other forums because I know not everyone reads every forum, and I’d like for as many of the Teeming Millions to see this as possible.
Political "in"correctness has led to me being fired as moderator for MPSIMS at the Straight Dope. I will be posting this message in all of the related boards (the old board, the SDMB2, and the newsgroup), since I am sure that it will be deleted from this board as soon as anyone with the power to delete sees it, just as the thread which gave rise to it has been deleted without comment.
Those who have known me for the last year or so, on the old board and on this board, know that I have strong feelings that race and ethnicity are matters which should not govern our daily affairs or our government’s interaction with us, or much else. Individuals should be evaluated as individuals on their own merits, regardless of race or ancestry. I have argued against and will continue to argue against those who make generalizations about groups based upon the color of skin, rather than evaluating people based on their own merits.
Over the last few days a debate developed on the General Questions Board, on a thread called “minorities.” Don’t look for it – it’s been deleted. Fortunately, before it was deleted, I saved all of the relevant postings. On that thread I made the comment – as I have made elsewhere – that it is my belief (and my practice, and my instructions to my children) that in filling out forms that ask for nationality and race, the only answers that should be given are “American” (or whatever one’s citizenship happens to be) and “Human.” It is my belief, stated many times, that we would do better to focus on our commonalities rather than our differences.
Another board moderator is employed in public health. She and I have disagreed about this issue of forms for a long time, and in our discussion this time she pointed out that identification of race can be relevant for public health purposes, for disease tracking, etc. This was a point I hadn’t considered, and I acknowledged that this was a legitimate use for the information, and that I would modify my practices accordingly when filling out forms that were to be used for such a purpose. When other posters agreed with my basic philosophy about forms, however, this moderator told them that they just “didn’t get it.” Anyone who disagreed with her position was told that “white people” (her words) have the “luxury” to ignore or not “to worry about racial/cultural issues” (her words), because they are white and can disappear into the mainstream. That comment was repeated at least three times.
I ignored this comment the first or second time it was made, but I finally responded to it, asserting that such a negative comment about a group of people based solely upon their skin color was racist, arrogant garbage. Racial issues affect every person in this country, regardless of race, and one’s skin color does not give one the “luxury” not to worry about those issues. I ran the post by the moderator of General Questions before I posted it, and got no objection to it.
Based on my response I was subjected to personal attacks as being hostile, defensive, throwing a hissy fit, etc. In an off-board conversation I offered to apologize for my remarks if she would apologize for hers, and she refused. She further took the matter to Ed Zotti, who has fired me as moderator because I would not back down from my assertion that as both a moral person and a moderator I should not let comments which slur a group of people based on their skin color – whatever color that skin might be – go unchallenged. I was told that this was not “moderator temperment,” particularly because there was another moderator involved. It is now my perception that it is apparently okay to publicly make statements based on skin color if one is a moderator, but it is not okay to publicly challenge those statements if one is a moderator.
I note that was not the only poster who was offended by the remarks made by the moderator. Other posters challenged her on that statement, from stating that it “ruffled their feathers” to that it made them “VERY ANGRY.” One of those posters cited a history of working against bigotry and for civil rights. My own extended family is multiracial; I have worked for minority causes and marched in more a few protests, and my ex-Jesuit husband has been shot at at least once by an unhappy grower for daring to stand up for the rights of migrant farmworkers in North Carolina. Nevertheless, this moderator felt that she could summarily dismiss my opinions and the opinions of other posters – without knowing anything about us except her assumptions regarding our skin color – with the comment that “white people” have the luxury to ignore racial issues.
In today’s politically correct world it is not fashionable to bash gays, and so on the “Gay Pride - WTF” thread in the Pit another moderator can call a member poster a homophobe, a “jerkbag,” and a “bigot” and, a month later, still be moderating. Indeed, when a member suggested to that moderator that he should stay out of the discussion, a board administrator came in to defend him. It is very fashionable, and politically correct, however, to bash whites – or to minimize their sincerity or their understanding – when whites make statements on racial issues that those who believe their own racial “credentials” are more sympathetic do not agree with.
And so the person who made the sweeping generalization about a group of people based upon the color of their skin will remain here to moderate among you, and the person who challenged that sweeping generalization as being an arrogant and racist comment will not.
I want to thank the Teeming Millions – and especially my beloved MPSIMSers – for all the fun and support, for the EMs and the IMs that have come with being a Board Moderator, as you have asked questions or sought assistance or shared ideas. Your new MPSIMS moderator, Eutychus (Pat) is a great guy who was a moderator on the old AOL board too (we could never figure what to call him – the lone male in the midst of all those Board Goddesses! ) My thanks to to the other Board Moderators – except perhaps one – for the fun and support in the past.
-Melin
Former Board Goddess