why did you step in on the thread about takign custody?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Yeah, I get that it's your sandbox or henhouse or whatever. And I find your quick response to technology-related questions to be extremely helpful. But now I see your posts are tending to be either offensive (abortion, STFU) or you appear to be the angry out-of-control substitute teacher yelling at a bunch of rowdy school children. What's with all the hostility? You, and probably only you, know that some of these posters asking you questions are not the same "Amys" that you've referred to or other people who are just out to spoil your day.

Angry out-of-control substitute? I'm no substitute. I'm the real thing.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yeah, I get that it's your sandbox or henhouse or whatever. And I find your quick response to technology-related questions to be extremely helpful. But now I see your posts are tending to be either offensive (abortion, STFU) or you appear to be the angry out-of-control substitute teacher yelling at a bunch of rowdy school children. What's with all the hostility? You, and probably only you, know that some of these posters asking you questions are not the same "Amys" that you've referred to or other people who are just out to spoil your day.

Angry out-of-control substitute? I'm no substitute. I'm the real thing.

Touché.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:Someone tried posting a message that began "You are making my point for me...'. It appears the poster tried posting it twice because I received two copies by email (I subscribed to this thread). However, the messages do not appear here. Similarly, earlier today someone started a new thread regarding an idea for a blog article. That thread does not show up either. I have no clue what is going on. But, if possible, could either poster tell me whether they received an error or had another issue when trying to post? Feel free to re-post your message. I have the complete text if you want me to post it for you. I am not censuring you. I swear.

Yes, that's happened a few times lately. I didn't suspect any censoring; it looked like it timed out. Lemme see what else is said - i can't remember what I wrote. FWIW, the second one had an edit from the first, took out something that seemed unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Okay well the thread has certainly evolved in a way that I didn't expect! Seems like poor form to go back and get all aggro again. Jeff, if you read the post and want to post it or respond to it, I'll leave it up to you. Otherwise, I'm fine sticking a fork in this subject! (Famous last words - I can't usually resist if someone starts up with me again). Wondering if this is one of the longer website feedback threads we've had?

[Anonymous]

I agree. Stick a fork in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Mr. Steele, there is a forum in the real estate section regarding PG County that I believe has a few racist comments. And frankly, as a resident of PG County, I'm feeling like perhaps I'm not welcome on this forum. But therein lies the problem -- people come here to bash other people, to bash where they live or how they raise their children or care for their pets or what they eat, and in doing so, they not only make hurtful comments about people but they perpetuate subtle racism, which, in my view, is worse than overt racism. I think you run the risk of your site being viewed as a white person's forum or, even worse, a wealthy white person's forum.

Perhaps you need to think seriously what this site is -- is it a resource for information, where people can ask questions and get relevant answers, or is it a place where people can say the vile, nasty, hateful things they would never dare say in their polite society upper crust inner circles and get others to join in?

I can't help but say that I sort of view this place as the mean girls site.

I also want to say that people really should learn that even though they post as "anonymous," they shouldn't be so smug as to think people won't figure out who they are and that they things they post here, however anonymous they feel they are, could hurt their real-life relationships.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Mr. Steele, there is a forum in the real estate section regarding PG County that I believe has a few racist comments. And frankly, as a resident of PG County, I'm feeling like perhaps I'm not welcome on this forum. But therein lies the problem -- people come here to bash other people, to bash where they live or how they raise their children or care for their pets or what they eat, and in doing so, they not only make hurtful comments about people but they perpetuate subtle racism, which, in my view, is worse than overt racism. I think you run the risk of your site being viewed as a white person's forum or, even worse, a wealthy white person's forum.

Perhaps you need to think seriously what this site is -- is it a resource for information, where people can ask questions and get relevant answers, or is it a place where people can say the vile, nasty, hateful things they would never dare say in their polite society upper crust inner circles and get others to join in?

I can't help but say that I sort of view this place as the mean girls site.

I also want to say that people really should learn that even though they post as "anonymous," they shouldn't be so smug as to think people won't figure out who they are and that they things they post here, however anonymous they feel they are, could hurt their real-life relationships.

Thank you for your post. I am not able to read every thread on this site for reasons that I believe are obvious. So, the existence of a thread should not be construed as my condoning that thread. I assume that you are the poster who just reported a post in what I assume in the thread in question. I have deleted the post that was reported. I will now take a look at the rest of the thread and clean it up if necessary.

I have a strong commitment to free expression. That means a fairly strong tolerance for language that some may find hurtful. However, my tolerance does have limits. Hurtful language may be an unfortunate byproduct of free expression but it is not and should not be the goal. Feel free to report messages that you feel are offensive. I will do what I can to make DCUM more welcoming to you.

[jsteele]

Okay, now I read that thread and, while I understand how it could cause discomfort, I don't actually think it's that bad of a thread.

One of the recent developments that I've noticed on DCUM is black people discussing differences within the black community. Maybe that happens all the time elsewhere, but as a white person I haven't had the opportunity to see much of it (though, of course, I was aware of the differences). The PG thread is a good example. Many of the anti-PG posters identify themselves as black. They are not anti-PG because of race, obviously. Rather, there are class and cultural reasons for their feelings regarding the county.

The post that I removed was from a white person who I believe shared many of the same attitudes regarding class and cultural differences as the black posters I referenced. That person attributed the differences to race. In my opinion, that was wrong and offensive.

Anything touching on race is going to be sensitive and likely to cause some feelings to get hurt. But, I believe we can accomplish a lot more good by addressing the topic, even at the risk of ruffling a few feathers (white feathers as well) than we can by ignoring it.