This came up due to a recent post...I'm sure those involved know who you are...
I think that charges of racism against people who post on the forum need to be looked at the same way any other name calling is...but with some exceptions...what do you guys think?
Recently, a post, that wasn't in the study, embedded a news article that mentioned the race of the perpetrators of a crime. Someone accused the poster of "race baiting," when it was obvious he simply reprinted the article and it never occurred to him that there was a problem, which in reality there wasn't since the race of the perpetrators was a fact and not something made up.
Charges of racism are as bad as any other name calling when the person isn't a racist. The mere accusation is damaging when it isn't immediately addressed and corrected. The original poster took on the accuser and those reading and participating in the thread were warned about thread drift in a non-study thread. I agree that thread drift should be dealt with if it is against the wishes of the thread starter, but the accusation needed to be addressed and couldn't be ignored.
Online like we are, an accusation of "race baiting," if simply ignored can take hold and get spread around about the poster. Someone can see the accusation, see that it wasn't responded to or condemned, and then later the accused poster is just accepted to be a racist when he posts elsewhere in the site.
Should accusations of racism be dealt with as harshly as any other name calling? Should the person accused be granted some leeway in addressing the accusation before the thread is locked for thread drift? I leave this to you guys...
I think that charges of racism against people who post on the forum need to be looked at the same way any other name calling is...but with some exceptions...what do you guys think?
Recently, a post, that wasn't in the study, embedded a news article that mentioned the race of the perpetrators of a crime. Someone accused the poster of "race baiting," when it was obvious he simply reprinted the article and it never occurred to him that there was a problem, which in reality there wasn't since the race of the perpetrators was a fact and not something made up.
Charges of racism are as bad as any other name calling when the person isn't a racist. The mere accusation is damaging when it isn't immediately addressed and corrected. The original poster took on the accuser and those reading and participating in the thread were warned about thread drift in a non-study thread. I agree that thread drift should be dealt with if it is against the wishes of the thread starter, but the accusation needed to be addressed and couldn't be ignored.
Online like we are, an accusation of "race baiting," if simply ignored can take hold and get spread around about the poster. Someone can see the accusation, see that it wasn't responded to or condemned, and then later the accused poster is just accepted to be a racist when he posts elsewhere in the site.
Should accusations of racism be dealt with as harshly as any other name calling? Should the person accused be granted some leeway in addressing the accusation before the thread is locked for thread drift? I leave this to you guys...