"Albert, let's see the posts. Accusing someone of racism should never be a trivial thing."
There's way too much concern here on this SI thing about "racism" and "insults," with way too many demands that somebody be expelled or censored or told to apologize.
We've seen claims that someone is "racist" for talking about Russians, Germans, and Italians. We've even seen people who think beggars ought to starve if they won't work called racist. And, of course, those of us who criticize the welfare state and the affirmative action Thought Police are automatically declared to be Nazis. (BTW, I oppose affirmative action, hiring quotas, and any interference in a company's choice of whom to hire and whom not to hire, including on the basis of race. Not because I think blacks are inferior, for example, but because their property is their property. Same rationale that allows me to choose whom to invite to a party a my house. Freedom, in other words.)
More so than in nearly any other forum I've been in, including mailing lists, the Usenet (since 1988), and chat rooms, this SI forum is preoccupied with demands that someone be punished for their "racist" and/or "insulting" comments.
I suggest that people ease up on calling other people "racists" as some kind of universal insult. And if they do, ignore them. Calling on them to "produce proof" is giving credence to the notion that denouncing someone as a racist is a useful thing to do.
--Tim May |
