Racism in AH

Doctor Strange

Hi guys,

This is the first time in the 2 years that I've been on the site that I've had a real problem with member's views.

I'm making it clear now I'm not looking for censorship. That's important.

Now, I don't know if it's just become more pronounced lately, but there is a big racist element developing in After Hours, in my opinion. People are entitled to their view, but I think if this persists, it could damage the name of the forum, and maybe the site as a whole. In the Stockholm Riots thread alone, there has been broad statements about all members of a religion and race. I won't even go into the London Beheading thread.

It's just plain uncomfortable to read. Like I said, I don't want people told X isn't allowed, but I think an instruction to dial it back or such would be useful. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has a problem with this, and like I said, I believe it to be recent.

I'll get round to using the report post function too, but I think this deserves a thread to bring it to the attention of Cmods and Admins. Nothing against the AH mods at all, and I know there's a feedback thread there, but I think this warrants it's own thread. I know the mods in AH are doing their bit, but it's getting a bit OTT.

Gatling

So not been on boards.ie for two years and demanding threads be shut down by cmods ,

On a side note the thread in question was posted due to the lack of news coverage for apparent race riots in Sweden rioting mainly involving immigrants over abuse towards them by the police service after an armed immigrant was shot who threatened to kill somebody
And you expect race not to be discussed

Prof Nincom Poop Ph.D

The place has been locked down enough with PC and whingers, theirs forums for hobbyist/make believe, take that stuff there.

Doctor Strange

Gatling wrote: »

So not been on boards.ie for two years and demanding threads be shut down by cmods ,

On a side note the thread in question was posted due to the lack of news coverage for apparent race riots in Sweden rioting mainly involving immigrants over abuse towards them by the police service after an armed immigrant was shot who threatened to kill somebody
And you expect race not to be discussed

Prof Nincom Poop Ph.D wrote: »

The place has been locked down enough with PC and whingers, theirs forums for hobbyist/make believe, take that stuff there.

Want to miss the point more?

Not looking for the place to be "locked down" and I didn't "demand a thread be shut down by Cmods".

I gave feedback, i.e. what this forum is for.

southsiderosie

I said this in the other Feedback thread related to racism in AH and I will say it again here:

southsiderosie wrote: »

K-9, what is the point of rebutting these kinds of posts? Really? It is not like anyone with an axe to grind against foreigners is going to pay attention anyway. I can't even count the number of threads I have seen started on this website whose only purpose was to incite a Simpsons-esque pitchfork brigade to rant and rave about immigrants. It does no good to try and have a debate around facts, because facts don't matter to these people.

What is even more disheartening is when you have situations like the current Nigerian remittance thread with obvious re-reg posters, people playing the man not the ball continually, and a whole lot of nonsense bollix passing as commentary, and the mods don't seem to care.

Racism as sanctioned - or perhaps more accurately, xenophobia - seems to be defined as someone who flat-out says something to the effect of "kill them all". This is an impossibly high threshold. What is more insidious is the constant low-level stuff, which is usually introduced via an 'innocent' question about why [Group X] does [bad thing] Y.

I understand that the 'someone is wrong on the internet' impulse is what drives a lot of site traffic, and it is certainly responsible for a fair amount of my posting. And I also understand the moderator impulse to let people hang themselves. But the low-level xenophobia on this website is beyond tiresome at this point. If people want to post anti-immigrant screeds, then they have an obligation to actually engage with posters who challenge their views rather than resorting to belittling them or sticking their fingers in their ears. If they aren't willing to engage in discussion on a discussion board, then I don't see why they have the privilege of posting here.

K-9

Hey, I'm just posting to say I do appreciate your feedback and opinion, and it's a very reasoned and valuable one. Don't want you to think it's being ignored. I'd just prefer to let other posters put in their opinion and see can we get some middle ground.

Doctor Strange

K-9 wrote: »

Hey, I'm just posting to say I do appreciate your feedback and opinion, and it's a very reasoned and valuable one. Don't want you to think it's being ignored. I'd just prefer to let other posters put in their opinion and see can we get some middle ground.

Thanks for the response

pablomakaveli

I think bigoted might be a more appropriate word. People have a tendency to shout racist when it's not really the right term.

Doctor Strange

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I think bigoted might be a more appropriate word. People have a tendency to shout racist when it's not really the right term.

I don't know in this particular case. There's been out-and-out generalisations that all immigrants are trouble makers. IMO, that's racism, xenophobia at the very least.

Nodin

....if somebody says something thats a sweeping generalisation, implies some racist notion etc, they should be expected to explain themselves and defend their position. If somebody comes out with clear nonsense, it should be knocked on the head.

Annasopra

In general I think that racism is actually a very serious problem on AH. In general I think the mods do a good job. I

I will admit that in the discussion last week on Nigerian money being repatriated that my intervention at the start of that discussion was wrong. On reflection I overreacted at the beginning of that thread and I don't believe the op was racist or intended to start a discussion that descended into clear racist bile.

I agree with a lot of what unforgettable fire said - censorship is not the answer but also the more serious cases of it do perhaps need a little more mod intervention.

pablomakaveli

Without a doubt racists posters should be banned. However there are other posters who like to label people as racist too freely and they should be infracted or banned as well especially if its unjustified.

Beruthiel

Unforgettable _ Fire wrote: »

I'll get round to using the report post function too, but I think this deserves a thread to bring it to the attention of Cmods and Admins.

Unforgettable,

Without the provision of links to comments which have not been dealt with by a Mod, there is very little a Cmod/Admin can do.

I can assure you that the AH Mods are extremely diligent and deal with all reported post.
If you have not reported the comments then you can hardly fault them for doing nothing.

Doctor Strange

Beruthiel wrote: »

Unforgettable,

Without the provision of links to comments which have not been dealt with by a Mod, there is very little a Cmod/Admin can do.

I can assure you that the AH Mods are extremely diligent and deal with all reported post.
If you have not reported the comments then you can hardly fault them for doing nothing.

I didn't say they've done nothing, and I reported the posts immediately after I posted this thread. I recognise they've done and continue to do a lot, but I feel it's getting out of control slightly. Maybe that's just my view from the outside in, but it was more a case of flagging this for CMods and Admins as well as notifying local mods by "report post".

biko

In my view AH is pretty much a representation on the Irish as a whole and I must say that what I hear in the pubs is similar to what I read in AH.
Is it just one religion you are thinking of, or more than one? In my view pretty much all religion is getting a lot of abuse in AH.

Tbh, religion and race are two different things and should not be mixed up.

Doctor Strange

biko wrote: »

In my view AH is pretty much a representation on the Irish as a whole and I must say that what I hear in the pubs is similar to what I read in AH.
Is it just one religion you are thinking of, or more than one? In my view pretty much all religion is getting a lot of abuse in AH.

Tbh, religion and race are two different things and should not be mixed up.

It's not just about religion though. There's a lot of islamophobia in the Stockholm riots thread, but I took a quick glance at the Nigerians sending money home thread, and there is out and out racism there.