alright, first off, this is going to be a book. second off, this is going to be my only post here, because i don't want to cause any more drama than I already have, but I feel like something needs to be said. thirdly, whatever, if nagger says the name wasn't meant to be offensive and there's a language barrier and he hasn't done anything worse than ask for gear, then alright, whatever, welcome to ephinea. this isn't about that anymore.
Mayn’s delivery was poor, but if we start punishing speech because it questions assumptions about the great disadvantages and / or advantages of qualities people are born with / without, or if we start calling people racist for questioning how much advantage or disadvantage is a result of those qualities, or for offering alternate possibilities for why certain demographics may have some advantage or disadvantage just because it’s an uncomfortable matter...
But this...no. I can see your thought process, and I'd agree in a vacuum, but we have actual conduct here to consider, conduct that is a far fucking cry from just questioning widely-held assumptions. So let's go point by point with that bit in red.
mayn did not offer alternatives as to why black people are poor. you wanna discuss the nuances of sociological norms? the role of culture on work ethic (see europe v japan, for instance)? fine. nobody should be banned for that (and nobody has) just because shit's going to get uncomfortable. the whole topic of white privilege is uncomfortable.
but "black people do not pursue education so it's their fault they're poor" is not an alternative reason nor a defensible ideological position. it's blaming the victim for an incredibly complex host of issues that have continued to work against them ever since—get this—white people stopped being allowed to keep them them as property 150 years ago. shocker: people who come from poverty can't afford to take out 60k in student loans for higher education. Or even get them. people who say that sort of shit just want the world to be simple so they don't have to feel bad about being born into a better situation than the people around them.
mayn did not offer alternatives as to why black people are more affected by violent crime. he dismissed it because "black on black crime is a thing." even if we say that black on black crime makes up for the difference in the rate with which blacks and whites are attacked or killed (which, by the way, it doesn't) so fucking what? we're supposed to be okay with the fact that black people are killing each other because why, exactly? because they're just black people so it's okay? because it's not white people doing it so woo-fucking-hoo we're off the hook, guys? or because as mayn said, they're just incompetent individuals upon whom all of their miserable circumstances should be laid at their feet?
mayn did not offer alternatives as to why black people are discriminated against in the work place. "Idk guys, they're probably lying" is not a fucking alternative reason and I should not have to say that out loud.
and as for the contrarian thing, I get where you're coming from, but no. what makes racism so insidious is the modern perception that racists are exclusively mean people. my parents say racist shit from time to time and they're wonderful people—but they need educating because they're products of a different time and that is in no way their fault. in the same vein, I don't think mayn's a mean person at all—I think he's a product of his education and circumstances (which might be—and probably are—much harder than any of us know). I don't think he was trying to be malicious, either.
but here's the thing: that doesn't matter. it's not okay because he honestly believes this stuff, and if he does, that's all the more reason for it to be called out. maybe after being banned for a bit, he'll reconsider his point of view. probably not, but I'm grateful that the staff acted the way they did. that shit is necessary in today's society, if only to say "no, you've crossed a line, and there are consequences."
what you perceive as an isolated, minor slight that wasn't deliberately harmful could very easily be the straw that breaks someone else's back. anyone else have any poc or queer or otherwise marginalized friends that have killed themselves? I do. and I wonder all the fucking time if they'd have stuck around if I'd have spoken up about some of the shit they had to deal with that I couldn't even wrap my head around at the time.
this is just a video game forum and I get that, and maybe I'm out of line here, and maybe this post will get me banned too, but alright then. I know for a fact there are POC here, and blatantly racist shit deserves to be called out, and I don't want to have some poor motherfucker come home after a 12 hour shift to log in and try to relax only to see hate spewed all over the forums and think that's representative of our community.
tl:dr be kind, motherfuckers. it isn't that hard.