To wonder why casual or even overt racism is acceptable on MN?

[RedHareWithBlondeHair]

Just this - there's a thread in Site Stuff asking the same but I'd like to ask the wider MN audience why is this fine. Just in the recent past we've had a poster questioning an 'apparent' adam's apple on one of the greatest female athletes and another poster hellbent on telling us that Police violence on black men isn't a 'thing'. In these threads HQ HAS left the thread to stand and in their words " we felt that the discussion that followed was interesting and informative and educational for the OP." Why is that? If I started a thread about Taylor Swift being an attention seeking whore or a thread about ADHD children just needing a telling off I'd be deleted within the hour. Why the fuck do other MNetters think ethnic minorities are up for grabs? Why does HQ think the same? In the thread on Site Stuff there's only an apology. This sort of shit happens repeatedly. Why?

John i hope this image i have attached is visible -

To be honest Duchess it was dead in the water when Peaches posted this:

"There is police violence on white people as well, and violence on the police, why should anyone break crime down into skin colour?"

😐

Diluting is the perfect term!

I just thought your question (which I answered) could then serve as a springboard for a discussion about how bigotry is best addressed in the internet age when there are lots of opinions flying about and it's very difficult for moderators to abjudicate unnaceptable comments from offensive ones that are best challenged by debate. I have a restless mind and thought that might be interesting and enriching - and still relate back to the original question. I wasn't diluting anything. Obviously you're not supposed to do that on here. I didn't realise. I'm used to commenting on forums where threads are more elastic. Sorry. Next time I'll just say yes I agree and not in any way attempt to widen the conversation to address any surrounding questions.

Eminado: genuinely sorry if I've offended anyone. All I can do is answer the OP's question with: Yes I agree. That'all there is to say.

But rather than leave it there I thought a wider discussion about the implications of the question might be welcome. That's what normally happens in the Guardian Comment section and the other discursive forums I'm used to writing in. I have only recently joined Mumsnet and do not understand the rules yet.

Duchess: that is a wholly disgraceful comment and should have been removed immediately.

John - I said on numerous occasions I wanted to stick with the OP, not a broader discussion, you pushed and pushed, ignoring what I was saying.

I absolutely am not in the correct frame of mind from a reasoned discussion when feeling incredibly raw... and arguing with you has made this so much more painful than need be.

At no point did I indicte I wanted to expand the conversation into anything deeper.

As I said you should go ahead and have a conversation elsewhere - this thread was to deal with MNHQ.

Okay, my sincere apologies.

Duchess: that is a wholly disgraceful comment and should have been removed immediately.

Well it wasn't and left for entertainment education

It must have been very hurtful. Sorry if I didn't think about that more sympathetically.

I'm on the autistic spectrum and have to think about everything very logically - like everything suggests all these questions that have to be answered.

Thank you John.

And I am sorry you got the brunt of my bad temper - it really was reserved for MNHQ.

RedHare, I've noticed it too.

I didn't see the thread about the alleged adam's apples at all. I did see that there was a thread about police violence against black men, which I didn't open because I was afraid of becoming enraged (which leads to nothing good).

I don't have an answer to your question about why. But I want it to be different. Maybe next time I'll open the potentially enraging threads and resolve just to report.

JohnJ80 Thou doth protest too much, methinks.

CrazyDuchess Am 100% with you

I was horrified when I read the Serena Williams thread. I posted to point out how racist it was. I've read what you've written on both your threads about this and I want to thank you for the insight I feel your descriptions of your experiences have been able to bestow.

Well, Mumsnet is "quite white" isn't it?

MNHQ - how diverse is it? Not....

As a single mum of a biracial child, I would love to see more diversity.

You did well not to open the police violence thread Adjustable, I was raging for most of the evening about the ibigotry and disingenuity of the OP.

Lots of casual 'isms' are allowed and are almost acceptable on MN.

It's often hard to see an 'ism' and to see the issues with the 'ism' if you don't belong to that group.

Debate can be important - but there is a line between debate and everyday 'ism' which can have a negative effect on that group.

I'm glad I didn't see this Thread - the one the other day which descended into racism and anti Islam comments made my blood boil. But what annoyed me the most was that many of these nasty views along with words like 'indigenous' were left to stand for hours.

And now it has become popular for racist people to say that if you object to it you're trying to shut down debate.

There should be a zero tolerance policy on hate speech and MNHQ need to sort it out and certainly not leave it up for hours on end.

I think MN attracts a certain amount of people who seek drama in their lives, that little dose of excitement in an ordinarily dull day.
the internet and online forums allow a certain level of anonymity that gives people the impression they can say what ever is on their minds which builds up the drama.
MN takes away that face to face filter.
Sadly the more I read MN the less topics I find enjoyable, my particular hate is MIL topics.

Also, John I'm on the spectrum too and hate speech is bloody obvious - it's should not be allowed to stand for the sake of an interesting fucking debate. For some people they have to put up with this shit day in day out. They should not have to read it on here as well. And by leaving it to stand the bigots feel their disgusting views are justified.

For some people they have to put up with this shit day in day out. They should not have to read it on here as well. And by leaving it to stand the bigots feel their disgusting views are justified

This.

Thank you

I think we need to deal with Whitesplaining in the same way the feminism topic deals with Mansplaining.

There is lots of 'plaining' that goes on on MN. Lots of othering, stereotyping etc. Sometimes the very people who complain of 'plaining' and 'isms' are more than happy to be the ones doing it to other groups.

Kind of ironic.

umbongo what is Whitesplaining?