Concerns about racism

[PandoraSocks]

Hi there Mumsnet HQ

Many of us are concerned about the uptick of hatred, xenophobia and racism on the site over the past couple of weeks. Most of the bigotry is focused on asylum seekers. MNHQ will of course delete racism etc. if reported, but this has gone way beyond a few hateful posts.

Links below to three examples of threads which have descended into real nastiness.

Cheers.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/in_the_news/5385273-civil-unrest-whats-really-going-on?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5385914-do-you-believe-there-will-be-a-civil-war?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5386073-to-be-so-fed-up-amd-disheartened-with-all-the-xenophobia?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Adults with mild autism may have a clear sense of right and wrong, but may struggle with ambiguity or unclear rules. If a word offends or bring out negative emotions they think there should a rule to stop people using it.

It’s not a new or controversial theory.

I don’t wish to prove your point but ‘mild’ autism isn’t really how it should be spoken of. And yes, I am going through the diagnosis process not that it matters.

I’ve certainly seen posters smugly claim ‘I’ve never seen antisemitism on MN, criticism of Israel isn’t antisemitic, you know?’ while I’ve been reporting posts including Holocaust denial and blaming 9/11 on the Jews. So I’m always a tad wary of people saying ‘I’ve never seen any racism, just genuine concerns about blah’. Perhaps you haven’t read all the posts, perhaps they were deleted before you got to them. Or also possibly you don’t recognise racism when you do see it.

Very much agree. Post like that have become more common too. People used to be ashamed to deny the Holocaust and as it’s more distant in time it seems to get worse. Very concerning.

Oh @BIossomtoes was deleted but other posts are allowed to stand?

Well every day is a school day.
Reporting a post for racism automatically makes me autistic.

Councils could save a fortune using this as means to assess.

Exactly, nobody's said that at all on this thread. Why are people so threatened /feel personally attacked when people are discussing racism being a problem?
If you're not being racist, have a sit down and listen for once

I report racism when I see it. That doesn't equate to an autism diagnosis.

I for one think a separate section for this is a bad idea, it'll just create echo chambers and possibly radicalise people further into extreme views as there'll be less people challenging views like say out on AIBU.

Yeah this is really bad. The whole Israel/Palestine topic on here is heaving with some of the worst, hateful conspiracist shit, and the fact that it’s coming from both sides means that ‘garden variety’ bigotry, again on both sides, starts seeming tame in comparison

I know. I’m mystified. Particularly on a thread where MN recommends reporting offensive posts. What’s the rationale @BeckyAMumsnet?

This actually makes my point, better than I ever could.

It’s intent.

obviously beyond the racist language.

As a brown woman I’ve had both. And intent is easy to spot.

This really has been an eye-opening, very useful and informative thread.

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far. I am off to ruminate on it for a while.

Yes, on reflection I think you're right.

Reporting people for persistently using inaccurate and offensive language when more courteous and accurate options are available is nothing to do with autism and everything to do with having standards for civil discourse.

Absolutely.

It's so bad right now. And if you challenge people on the civil war thread about equating British nessie with being white (when they're spouting Great Replacement bollocks), you get attacked. Personally I think that is you believe being not white means you're not or less British, that absolutely makes you racist. People should just own it.

Well said.

It’s not coming from both sides in any sense of six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.

The racism against Jews is stark and overwhelming and comes from the anti-Israel (aka anti-Jew) protest industry. It’s loathsome.

I don’t doubt there will have been some unpleasant posts by posters backing Israel - though I don’t recall any - but those are nothing compared to the onslaught against Jews and Jewish interests.

There was some truly awful rhetoric from posters backing Israel, and it absolutely has been honours even overall. You would have to be partisan to think otherwise.

Agree. The number of people calling for the destruction of the only country Jewish people can firmly call their own, versus the 50+ Islamic countries, is a shocker. Zionism has become a dirty word despite it simply meaning you believe the Jews are entitled to a homeland in the way every other mainstream religion already do.

No, that’s patently wrong. You’d have to be wilfully blind to facts to think that.

But let’s just disagree.

Did you read the Gazan children thread?