# The SDMB & a zero tolerance policy (or: Lynn? A word, please?)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 26, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581 "2004-03-26T15:17:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/1 "2004-03-26T15:17:52Z")
[link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247125&page=2)
I highly doubt **Airman** would have used the slur had he not been arguing against **ccw** ’s stereotype of warmongering Jews. Unless “no hate speech or racial slurs” has gone zero tolerance, why come down on him? And if it _has_ gone zero tolerance, that’s not good. Such policies have a nasty tendency of removing common sense from the equation. I thought the administration of the SDMB was better than that.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/2 "2004-03-26T15:21:47Z")
I was thinking the same thing: I read his comment to be sarcastic, as in, “Oh, gee, this is what Jews think, huh?” It was rather vicious sarcasm, but it was in no way advocating racial stereotypes. According to my reading, anyway.
Daniel
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### Author:  [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/3 "2004-03-26T15:23:15Z")
Uh, if **Airman** isn’t banned, then it’s not “zero-tolerance”, is it?
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/4 "2004-03-26T15:36:15Z")
I’m confused– **Airman** use of “raghead” in a sarcastic manner is far from the first time that that epithet was used in that way. Ditto for “nigger,” “kike,” “fag,” and “wetback.” It’s a tactic that I depsise because it is putting words in someone else’s mouth, but even the most casual reader should be able to discern that **Airman** was being facetious.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/5 "2004-03-26T15:42:05Z")
It is possible for something to be zero-tolerance without the worst possible penalty involved.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/6 "2004-03-26T15:44:58Z")
> [@gobear](#):
>
> even the most casual reader should be able to discern that **Airman** was being facetious.
Which is why this thread is here. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/7 "2004-03-26T15:50:17Z")
Seemed to me that The Illustrious Lynn was perfectly aware of the sarcastic tone of **Airman’s** use of the term “raghead.” She rarely misses a nuance. The “hate speech” remark, and subsequent threadsnipping was directed toward **ccw’s** running headlong toward the flaming abyss with a can of gasoline. You got two kids\* bickering, it doesn’t matter who did what–you gotta shut 'em both down. You know who’s at fault, you officially warn them…you see the other party going along with it, you gently remind them what behaviour is inappropriate, even if it’s been overlooked at another time (as **gobear** and **Lefty** have pointed out). That’s what _I_ saw happening.
\*[sub]That’s not to call **Airman** a kid or malign his maturity level in any way.[/sub]
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### Author:  [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/8 "2004-03-26T15:52:36Z")
Holy shit on a stick, I go away for twenty minutes and comeback and a longtime poster like AD got punished? Can someone please tell me the thread involved? I promise I will only read, I will not post a single word. Please?
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### Author:  [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/9 "2004-03-26T15:53:31Z")
**Airman** should have composed his post a little better. A reasonable person _could_ read his post as hateful, and cooling down for five minutes would have been a good idea. I don’t seen **Lynn** ’s mild admonishment as zero tolerance.
I don’t think **ccwaterback** ’s last post is even slightly ambiguous.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/10 "2004-03-26T15:54:21Z")
The **Airman** shouldn’t have used that term. He lost his temper a little and I can hardly blame him. A mild warning was reasonable.
**ccwaterback** on the other had posted some of the vilest stuff that I’ve seen on these boards, not in the OP but later as the thread moved on. Maybe he lost his temper too. We had SF guys who were banned left and right for saying things not nearly as bad. **ccwaterback** owes us an apology.
Haj
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/11 "2004-03-26T15:56:29Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#):
>
> Which is why this thread is here. 🙂
And why I’m supporting you. My comments were addressed to **Lynn**.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/12 "2004-03-26T15:57:42Z")
> [@askeptic](#):
>
> Holy shit on a stick, I go away for twenty minutes and comeback and a longtime poster like AD got punished? Can someone please tell me the thread involved? I promise I will only read, I will not post a single word. Please?
Look at the very first word of the very first post in this thread.
Haj
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/13 "2004-03-26T16:03:46Z")
> [@hawthorne](#):
>
> I don’t seen **Lynn** ’s mild admonishment as zero tolerance.
It wouldn’t have seemed so mild if it had been by itself. My main problem is with the “Don’t do it again.” Lynn is threatening to ban him if he does?
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### Author:  [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/14 "2004-03-26T16:03:46Z")
I really don’t see how a _reasonable_ person could’ve considered **Airman’s** post to be hateful or racist, considering the blindlingly obvious sarcasm.
I do see how someone who thrives on being offended would see his post as hateful, but that to me seems more like a problem with the reader than the poster.
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### Author:  [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/15 "2004-03-26T16:13:49Z")
Thanks Haj, I missed the link the first time I read it.
Haveing read it I am amazed that AD’s comment could have been worthy of a warning, I do not often agree with AD but LB’s warning seemed premature. But it is her call, which is one of the reasons I am trying so hard to tone down my posts.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/16 "2004-03-26T16:20:56Z")
Both posters have emailed apologies to me, which I have copied into the Warnings thread in Moderation.
And even in jest, we don’t allow slurs like raghead, nigger, or slope.
Lynn
For the Straight Dope
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### Author:  [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/17 "2004-03-26T16:21:27Z")
**AD** sarcastically uses an epithet
**CCWaterback** stops just short of wishing for a new Holocaust.
They both get equal warnings.
Yeah, that makes sense. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/18 "2004-03-26T16:24:10Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#):
>
> It wouldn’t have seemed so mild if it had been by itself. My main problem is with the “Don’t do it again.” Lynn is threatening to ban him if he does?
Note that she didn’t use the word “banned” in her reprimand to **Airman** , but did in her reprimand to **ccwaterback**. That seems significant, for some reason.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/19 "2004-03-26T16:29:14Z")
> [@furt](#):
>
> **AD** sarcastically uses an epithet
> **CCWaterback** stops just short of wishing for a new Holocaust.
>
> They both get equal warnings.
>
> Yeah, that makes sense. :rolleyes:
Nope, **ccwaterback** got a MUCH stronger warning. Read it again.
Lynn
For the Straight Dope
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-a-zero-tolerance-policy-or-lynn-a-word-please/236581/20 "2004-03-26T16:34:37Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#):
>
> Both posters have emailed apologies to me, which I have copied into the Warnings thread in Moderation.
>
> And even in jest, we don’t allow slurs like raghead, nigger, or slope.
The Warnings thread? Cool – I didn’t even realize there WAS such a thing. It must be like twenty bajillion pages long by now.
Fair enough re: no slurs even in jest. I apologize if I seem nitpicky on this, but I’m assuming such words can still be used in discussion of the words themselves, right? We may still discuss the fact that “niggardly” isn’t derived from “nigger,” right? It’s just that we can’t use the word to make an anti-racist sarcastic point?
I had no idea the rule existed, but I don’t have any particular problem with it.
Daniel
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