>> Given how he and Musk are OK with "normalizing Indian hate," it sure seems like it:
What, an 18 year old kid loses his job over a post made no-telling-when?
That isn't hate speech, even though it contains the word hate. That is just a kid slinging words.
When I was growing up in the Deep South, there was a family who lived over on 2nd street, and the only people I ever met who I thought were racists lived there. Mom, Dad, 4 boys, of who I knew 2 -- who were around my age. I totally wanted nothing to do with them, even though we all went to the same schools. This was just after integration of schools began, so, in 7th grade, for the first time, we were in same schools at black kids (our graduating class was only about 70 kids, so schools were small there). It was a little weird for a day or two but everyone adopted readily. By the time we got our first report cards, no one gave it any thought at all.
Except for those two kids. The language was way beyond the pale, and referred to terms I'd never really been around, like "lynching", "cutting nuts off", etc. These guys were the only true racists I ever met. I just avoided the situation throughout my school years but I did look down on the rednecks who hung out with them.
Fast Forward to about 2016, when both of them found me & sent friend requests. Now, what?
I sort of ignored it, but saw other friends were interacting normally with them. Eventually, after a few ignored requests, I accepted both of their friend requests. What a surprise.
Their Facebook friends lists were full of black guys. Damn. What's going on here? How did THAT happen?
They both had been in the Navy, both had become some kind of officers or something (I don't really know).
I don't know what happened but these were not the same people. Like me, they were married with grandkids, the language was obviously gone, and here they were interacting with the same "black kids" I knew from High School.
The points being --
1) You don't want to expect too much from childhood (or nearly adult) behaviors, and
2) And it is worth remembering some kids are exposed to behavior as kids that isn't inherently part of their true selves.
3) Some reasonable level of forgiveness is warranted.
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