How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist

What Hacker News said

Cites seigenblues · 2011-07 · on “Noah Kagan and the Faceless Bitch slide”

as near as i could read, no one was attacking Noah -- just Noah's behavior, which seems out of line. See the "i'm not calling you a racist, i'm calling your behavior racist" crucial line of distinction. ( [this video] ) Noah can be a sweet, helpful, lovable teddy bear, and still have behavior that needs to be called out.

Cites klipt · 2011-11 · on “Michael Arrington on Racism: The Game”

> Let's assume for a while that Arrington was really racist Even if that were true, the last thing you should do is call him one. [this video] If someone makes a racist comment, attack the comment, not the person.

Cites jamesmiller5 · 2012-10 · on “Racism at a gaming company”

If you replace the instances of "white men" with "mainstream white culture" his arguments are much stronger and I believe to be his original intent. "And it’s not a matter of generalizing white people, rather it’s being real about the culture San Francisco creates." The author is angry that white culture perpetuates racism and privilege, which himself and other cultural minorities are now forced to tolerate at their workplace. His choice of words was obviously inappropriate and while I'm not excusing how his point was said I don't believe it was his intention to make his point using racist statements. This is a classic example of "What you said was racist VS. You are a racist": [this video]

Cites peteforde · 2013-05 · on “The Food-Truck Business Stinks”

For those of you who think I was wrong to suggest that jellicle's statement was uncomfortably racist: we might have to agree to disagree, here. The vast majority of street food is run by immigrants, and it's a perfect entry point for them to get into the local economy they have chosen to make their home in. People who were born here are smart to use the food truck as a way to test a concept before they try it in a restaurant format. Perhaps we'll see that happening more and more. There's certainly all cultures represented in Portland. Meanwhile, we're all immigrants here unless you come from native background. I don't think the original commenter is a racist person, but his comment comparing

Cites ahelwer · 2015-02 · on “Facebook's Name Policy Strikes Again, This Time at Native Americans”

The developers are not racist. My entire original point is their attitudes and intents were irrelevant. The system they created is very much racist, completely independent about how they felt in creating it; I'm not sure how you can really dispute that. The venerable Jay Smooth describes a closely-related distinction here[0]. Also, when you describe a system as racist that's somewhat different from describing a person as racist, which might be a place we're talking past each other. Re: the culture/race/ethnicity terminology quagmire, the sister comment by dragonwriter explains it well. [0] [this video]

Cites peteforde · 2018-09 · on “Terry Davis has died”

When telling someone that something they said was racist, it's important to keep it focused not on the person but the act. Racism and prejudice is learned, and it can certainly be unlearned. Unfortunately, you cannot unlearn mental illness. [this video]

Cites pseudalopex · 2021-02 · on ““Silicon Valley’s Safe Space” has misinformed readers”

They didn't say or ask if he turned into a misogynist. The question is about what he said. Not what he is.[1] [1] [this video]

Cites pseudalopex · 2021-05 · on “What Are “Unusual Characters”?”

You're turning a discussion about what someone did into a discussion about who they are.[1] [1] [this video]