Support NeoGAF

[TsuWave]

It's like many of you haven't even to other forums before if you thought OT or the discussion of politics here were not productive. I'm scared to know your definitions of a shit show if you thought GAF before today was a shit show.

It wasn't perfect but gaf before today was a one of a kind place. It's the reason many of us were here in first place!

yup, pretty much.

the other sites, the ones being used to corroborate that gaf had a "problem" (you can find people in this thread making reference to other communities making fun of gaf during this ordeal, as if that holds any weight) are much worse places than gaf ever was.

sadly, it feels like this place is already drifting, even if subtly, away from what made me like and use it regularly. hopefully i'm wrong, and gaf doesn't end up becoming anywhere like the other gaming forums/communities that normalize a lot of dickhead rhetoric under the guise of "balanced discussion"

 

[anothertech]

Also, to quote some familiar faces (sorry if I missed some of you): Great to see you are all here still and let us try to make sure this reamins a great place for civil and thoughtful discussion!.

Oh dam, super happy to see everyone on that list!

I just want to know if Leeh and Senjutsusage are still around. A lot of fun discussing stuff with those two over the years.

It may not but the way that Waypoint Article thread is going, it will be for something worst.

If that post below yours is any indication, this place will be better after the culling.

 

[Norwegian_Imposter]

I would advise any minority to leave this place asap. Gaf has never respected women or minorities or lgbt and simply allowed their presence. There was never a community effort to make them feel safer or to let them invest the forum in their own interests. It's def not happening now.

I have always believed and even now, still believe that GAF has respected minorities more so that most areas of the internet. What has or has not happened with the owner of the site aside 95% of people on here are good people.

 

[Grinchy]

People keep going on about how this is good for gaf and they are just here for the games. When all the best posters are gone or leaving I have to wonder what you're all so happy about.

Hint: Not everyone agrees that the people leaving are "all the best posters." Some feel that they were the cancer running the site into the ground.

 

[Sawneeks]

GAF will always respect women?

When the owner sexually harassed a woman and then tried to cover his own ass for it and failed, losing all of his Mods and Staff in the process?

what fucking planet are you living on, kid. Sexually assaulting a woman is the complete opposite of respect.

 

[KahooTs]

Got banned for apparently "quoting wrong figures and doubling down on it for reasons." And linked to a post in which I didn't quote any figures, in a topic I didn't post any figures. Then amusingly the nameless mod topped it off by telling me maybe I should read the topic.

Anyway, scroll through any ancient topic and it's just all grey names. Basically Neogaf could not or chose not to interact with the great majority of people. I suppose that was what was wanted, a safe space, and that's ok, only the hive mind was loathe to admit it and death to anyone who dared point it out.

 

[Number_6]

In response to OP, I'll just gently remind you that the actual owner of this site does not respect women, has victim blamed, and lied about the extent to which he knew a pedophile.

Hope you're flexible on that.

 

[HStallion]

Hint: Not everyone agrees that the people leaving are "all the best posters." Some feel that they were the cancer running the site into the ground.

Yeah I'm sure the Gamer Gators, VOAT trolls and the alt right are having a great time watching all those amazing posters leave.

 

[KarneeKarnay]

Neogaf will respect Women/Racial Minorities and the LGBT communities...but don't talk about it.

I'm not sexist/racist/homophobic, I just don't want it talked about on the forum. By all means bring up the issues within the video games, but don't bring politics into it.

If you bring politics into it, it's going to get you banned.

That's how we respect you. We respect you so much, that discussion of the issues of the groups can no longer happen, because you're all toxic asf.

Remember. Neogarf. respects. you. Just don't talk about it.

 

[Santerestil]

Something similar happened to me. I think what I said that spawned it was "I do my best not to demonize those with whom I disagree." I mean, I truly believe that. It was a manhunt from there on out.

Let me guess: you "disagree" with the Trump republicans, it isn't?
Or are you about another group of persons? Legit question.

 

[Ombra]

Neogaf will respect Women/Racial Minorities and the LGBT communities...but don't talk about it.

I'm not sexist/racist/homophobic, I just don't want it talked about on the forum. By all means bring up the issues within the video games, but don't bring politics into it.

If you bring politics into it, it's going to get you banned.

That's how we respect you. We respect you so much, that discussion of the issues of the groups can no longer happen, because you're all toxic asf.

Remember. Neogarf. respects. you. Just don't talk about it.

Are you done speaking on something you know nothing about? Now is not the time for those topics to be open to the miscreants that are working overtime shitposting as I type this. Be patient.

 

[Oemenia]

What about Microsoft?

 

[KarneeKarnay]

Are you done speaking on something you know nothing about? Now is not the time for those topics to be open to the miscreants that are working overtime shitposting as I type this. Be patient.

I was just summarizing the current Neogaf Stance on these communities.

(Personally I think their decision to ban all political discussions abhorrent and to sate that minorities and womens right will still be upheld, without providing any way for discourse, incredibly hypocritical. It is essentially saying we care, just don't bring it up.)

 

[BBboy20]

If that post below yours is any indication, this place will be better after the culling.

Pretty concerning to call the removal of those concerned for the disenfranchised as a "culling".

 

[berzeli]

(especially if you're bi)

 

[HStallion]

Are you done speaking on something you know nothing about? Now is not the time for those topics to be open to the miscreants that are working overtime shitposting as I type this. Be patient.

Says the person who doesn't know any more either.

 

[Zoggy]

Got the feeling that the current moderators will take no issue with that sort of language.

Lol

 

[FreedomFighter]

Yeah, but the problem isnt respecting minorities/lgbt

You have to be blind or deaf to not acknowledge Neogaf has a clear problem when it comes to being an echo chamber, over-empowered mods, and what can only be described as a toxic environment for dissenting opinions. Even ones with good intentions. Homophobic and racist individuals should be banned outright, but neo gaf had an environment where I could have been banned for defending Evilore. (not that I am, just an example).

This is true to an extent. I always got banned in the OT section for basically not 'kneeling during the anthem' and being critical of US foreign policy many times. Half the bans l deserved and weren't related to geopolitics at all, the other half were just vindictive mods who hated me and would throw all types of shade in the ban message. Wish I knew who that was cause it might've been the same person. Hopefully it was one of the mods who left and I don't have to worry about that anymore once OT does eventually come back.

 

[vityaz]

I've only read the first 7-8 pages on this thread and I've seen a lot of people worry about not being able to talk about LGBTQ, other social and political issues in gaming anymore.

Perhaps I'm a bit slow... but where does this idea come from? In the sticky thread I've only seen it mentioned that social and political issues will not be allowed in the new, future, Off Topic section?

Or is the idea that these topics won't be allowed to be discussed outside of gaming what is making people saying things that GG won, I'm being dehumanized, and this site is for the alt-right etcetera now?

 

[Widge]

GAF has been overmoderated to an absurd degree.

For example, the following post got me insta-banned for a month.

I'm not a sexist, I'm not a gamergater, I'm not even a conservative. I was just asking a fucking question. I'm not afraid to say that shit needs to stop. It's a discussion forum for god's sake.

I can kind of get where this came from. Ever since Anita started to get talked about on the net, there was the frothing audience who continuously demanded that she should debate someone like Sargon or any other terrible youtube figure piece. In essence, they wanted a nicely staged platform where they could have someone shout at Anita to tell her how wrong she was with a load of pedantic bad faith arguments.

This sort of demand was continual and it kind of grew tiresome as you had to discuss it to death every time the sentiment came up before anyone speaking in good faith (you) saw the context behind it or you realised that it was a bad faith arguer looking to push a point. So basically, it was "person running with the 'has she had a debate' line" = ban.

The problem is that it is incredibly hard to deal with. When GG was most active, the community was incredibly diligent at distributing guidelines on how to interact. Basically rules on how to engage but not cross the line. How to be a shit but not cross a line and get pinned by it.

Over on the likes of Twitter etc, the obviously have no tactic for dealing with the perpetrators of shit. They just let it run rife. Both sides. On here, there is considerably a harder line on it, which unfortunately can catch up the merely innocent and curious. Personally, I think I'd rather have some form of action rather than inaction. Yeah, even if people get caught up in it all. I've received a good few months time out in the past, so I've had to deal with ti and I'm ok with that.

 

[Atuin]

- snip -

 

[ZeroGravity]

This will always ring hollow as long as EviLore has ANY association whatsoever with this site. You can preach all you want online about respecting women, but what really matters is how you actually go about treating them for real.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

The reason I stuck around NeoGAF was the aggressive moderation. Without it the forum would be just like every other gaming community: actively hostile to women, LGBT individuals, and other minorities. I have no special insight into the accusations, I only know that I found a home here where I’ve been respected and treated with dignity.

I’m not eager to burn that down so quickly, though I completely understand why some who felt that insisting on decency and civil discourse was a form of oppression would be eager to pour fuel on the fire.

This sums up my feelings entirely.

 

[APF]

GAF has been overmoderated to an absurd degree.

For example, the following post got me insta-banned for a month.

I'm not a sexist, I'm not a gamergater, I'm not even a conservative. I was just asking a fucking question. I'm not afraid to say that shit needs to stop. It's a discussion forum for god's sake.

Are you sure it wasn't for all the other posts in that thread where you harped on the same point and essentially ignored the conversation and explanations provided to you just to go on and complain that someone blocked you on Twitter and that they should really be forced to argue with randos, and then again ignoring the conversation and explanations provided to that in order to ask your "innocent" question above? It's ironic because your posts were allegedly requesting courteous conversation and anything else would be a "red flag" intellectually but you didn't actually usefully engage with the people responding to your posts. Ban warranted.

 

[Caipirinha]

The best way to turn someone who isn’t biggoted into a bigot is to repeatedly scream at them that they are a subhuman bigot piece of shit the moment they disagree with your view of the world in any way.

GAF has been a godsend to the alt-right, the sooner these posters stop playing into their hands the better.

 

[Mahadev]

Yeah I'm sure the Gamer Gators, VOAT trolls and the alt right are having a great time watching all those amazing posters leave.

Great argument there. They're wrong because anyone who disagrees with you is "Gamer Gators, VOAT trolls and the alt right". It's the definition of ad hominem. If you were trying to demonstrate why some people think these "best posters" were a cancer you succeeded.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Without heavy and strict moderation, anybody that ain't white is going to feel the burn, 0% chance this place won't turn into a "SJW" hater white guy heaven. Hate isn't the opposite of love, apathy is. Certain people do not like seeing or having these discussions because the bad guys look like them and they don't like having they privilege checked. I'm high-key super interested if any of the progressives will stick around. I'm also interested in why it's okay for other art forms to not be divorced from political and social issues (and for good reason) but people cry and want video games to be.

 

[PBY]

Without heavy and strict moderation, anybody that ain't white is going to feel the burn, 0% chance this place won't turn into a "SJW" hater white guy heaven. Hate isn't the opposite of love, apathy is. Certain people do not like seeing or having these discussions because the bad guys look like them and they don't like having they privilege checked. I'm high-key super interested if any of the progressives will stick around. I'm also interested in why it's okay for other art forms to not be divorced from political and social issues (and for good reason) but people cry and want video games to be.

This place is turning toxic QUICKLY. Gamergaters are overrunning the pinned thread. Its definitely not a safe space for women now.

 

[FairyD]

We respect you. Now shutup and know your place.

 

[Kayhan]

Without heavy and strict moderation, anybody that ain't white is going to feel the burn, 0% chance this place won't turn into a "SJW" hater white guy heaven. Hate isn't the opposite of love, apathy is. Certain people do not like seeing or having these discussions because the bad guys look like them and they don't like having they privilege checked. I'm high-key super interested if any of the progressives will stick around. I'm also interested in why it's okay for other art forms to not be divorced from political and social issues (and for good reason) but people cry and want video games to be.

I have seen people banned for racist posts already so I am not sure that is true.

 

[GeordieMark]

This sums up my feelings entirely.

I agree too, but I think civil discourse was being eroded as there was far too much "with us or against us" when for the most part people were often aligned on the majority of issues but had a slight difference of opinion on how to tackle them. Civility quickly went out of the window. It always frustrated me that some posters seemed oblivious that its possible to be right and hold the moral high ground, but to do so in a way that still makes you look like a real arsehole.

 

[boiled goose]

Being respectful and mindful of your fellow human beings is a good thing, and there should really be no place for anyone to purposefully cause harm to another innocent person.
The problem is/was the collective, loose definition of "bigotry" that was so pervasive here. There ARE valid conservative positions about these types of social issues that do not warrant you being called a bigot, racist, homophobe, transphobe, or whatever other names you have in your ammo pack.
The problem was that no fair discussion could be had without getting immediately dog piled upon and banned.
If this type of culture at Gaf is gone, that will be a great day to witness. Perhaps some productive debate could take place and people could just agree to disagree. I guess we shall see.

Meh. Getting dogpiled is fair. I dont think people were banned for just expressing opinion.

The issue was that there was a subjectively enforced double standard for moderation. Thread titles, posts, etc when misleading or exaggerations were allowed when mods agreed. Disallowed when mods didn't agree.

And it wasn't a liberal echo chamber, it became an echo chamber for promoting specific candidates and politics.

Alt right garbage should be banned and questionable unsupported beliefs should be piled upon. The issue was a double standard.

 

[rochellepaws]

It's fairly evident from playing any online game ever or looking at the vast majority of gaming forums out there that there's a huge problem with disrespect and aggressive confrontational behaviour among the gaming community. Heavy moderation is needed in such a community and I don't believe it is particularly strict here when you compare it forums for other hobbies or interests, it only appears strict compared to the free for all that is generally normality in the gaming community.
For those who found themselves getting banned within their first month or felt reluctant to post due to that fear then I'd hope they'd reflect on themselves and how they choose to communicate rather than feel aggrieved with the site. It isn't difficult at all to not be banned around here for anyone with a small bit of consideration for those around them.

 

[Yoshi]

This place is turning toxic QUICKLY. Gamergaters are overrunning the pinned thread. Its definitely not a safe space for women now.

It has never really been a "safe space", but considering moderation still acts quickly, even if many people are comming out of the wood work right now, I would still say it should continue to be a "safe" space.

 

[DarkConfidant]

“Nobody has more respect for women than me.”

 

[eKongDiddy]

Without heavy and strict moderation, anybody that ain't white is going to feel the burn, 0% chance this place won't turn into a "SJW" hater white guy heaven. Hate isn't the opposite of love, apathy is. Certain people do not like seeing or having these discussions because the bad guys look like them and they don't like having they privilege checked. I'm high-key super interested if any of the progressives will stick around. I'm also interested in why it's okay for other art forms to not be divorced from political and social issues (and for good reason) but people cry and want video games to be.

Because I play video games to relax and have fun with my friends. Same with books. Same with movies/tv shows. If you want to be an “enlightened” sourpuss and inject politics into every single thing, go ahead. Don’t try and force everyone else to believe “everything is political so let’s discuss how this hurts/helps/moves who”, though. I honestly want to understand how some people can be happy when their minds revolve around politics 24/7. Someone is always offended. Someone is always winning some battle. Someone is always appalled. Let games just be games again. I’m glad Nintendo doesn’t try to inject politics into their games.

A lot of people seem to just be ridden with anxiety that a race war or something is about to burst out, or that someone is always out to get them. The real world does not work like Twitter or the rest of wherever some people browse.

 

[Bulby]

Because I play video games to relax and have fun with my friends. Same with books. Same with movies/tv shows. If you want to be an “enlightened” sourpuss and inject politics into every single thing, go ahead. Don’t try and force everyone else to believe “everything is political so let’s discuss how this hurts/helps/moves who”, though. I honestly want to understand how some people can be happy when their minds revolve around politics 24/7. Someone is always offended. Someone is always winning some battle. Someone is always appalled. Let games just be games again. I’m glad Nintendo doesn’t try to inject politics into their games.

A lot of people seem to just be ridden with anxiety that a race war or something is about to burst out, or that someone is always out to get them. The real world does not work like Twitter or the rest of wherever some people browse.

Amen

 

[deli2000]

GAF has never respected minorities, just merely tolerated them. Any time we spoke up about an issue that affected us and that made white people uncomfortable people like me and the communities we occupied were deemed as 'toxic'. Meanwhile i've had to deal with 4 years of condescension, dog-whistling, & baiting on issues like blackface, police brutality, hate speech & the n-word and that gets placed under the banner of reasonable discussion. Now those 'toxic' communities have been eradicated and everyone is jumping out of the rafters dance on their grave. And people have the audacity to believe that this forum even cares about minority issues beyond lip service. What do we have left now? A pseudo-intellectual bubble where people can just talk about video games and nobody 'virtue signals' any more, wow I sure feel at fucking home. How fucking inclusive.

GAF cares so much about black people that people actively rebuked and ignored any point they made about racial issues to cry about dogpiling, ignored black members concerns about the forum as a whole as SJW hysteria, and actively turned a blind eye to people going into the BCT thread itself trying to bait people. That's all 'reasonable discourse' apparently. Y'all were willing to implicitly buy into the stereotypes of black people being rash, emotionally charged, and unreasonable, and let that dictate the way you interact with the black community on this forum and black issues as a whole. The lie that this forum and a large section of what remains of it's userbase actually cared about this stuff is some grade A bullshit. You tolerated us, that's all. And now you don't have to anymore.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

I have seen people banned for racist posts already so I am not sure that is true.

High key racist stuff for the most part are considered unacceptable in mainstream white society, it makes them feel uncomfortable. The worst racism isn't a klan member burning a cross in your lawn, it's the coded shit.

 

[APF]

It always seemed weird to me that people willing to argue over technical minutiae like 1-2 frame drops or 1-2% differences in pixel resolution are completely unwilling to see the/any utility in discussing real-world influences or implications of the media they consume.

 

[Galang]

It always seemed weird to me that people willing to argue over technical minutiae like 1-2 frame drops or 1-2% differences in pixel resolution are completely unwilling to see the/any utility in discussing real-world influences or implications of the media they consume.

Yup. Couldn’t have said it better. Absolutely pathetic.

 

[Carcetti]

Because I play video games to relax and have fun with my friends. Same with books. Same with movies/tv shows. If you want to be an “enlightened” sourpuss and inject politics into every single thing, go ahead. Don’t try and force everyone else to believe “everything is political so let’s discuss how this hurts/helps/moves who”, though. I honestly want to understand how some people can be happy when their minds revolve around politics 24/7. Someone is always offended. Someone is always winning some battle. Someone is always appalled. Let games just be games again. I’m glad Nintendo doesn’t try to inject politics into their games.

I'm not sure why I bother to try and explain this but maybe one last time.

It's super easy to be happy with 'apolitical' entertainment when you're positively represented in movies, games, books, etc etc etc all the time. Maybe you're not a straight, white male but in case you are, that's where you're at. When you're a minority, you live a life 24/7 where people use political power to make your life harder, screech hate messages at you, or just try to beat you up. It's not something you can take a vacation out of. Also, you don't see yourself represented in game characters like the aformentioned group does. In short, it's easy to love the status quo and not want to shake the boat when you're the one who's on top. I mean I love playing something mindless too, but I don't have the luxury of turning things 'off' even if I want to.

 

[Keihart]

I really enjoy NeoGaf for being heavily moderated, keeping discussion civil and avoiding things like shitposting or insulting others. But lately it was becoming ok to say anything if you were being part of PC discourse in topic.

I've gotten banned 2 times on GAF, i can't even remember the first time because i didn't notice, but the second time was because i was trying to argue how words don't have the same impact when you use them in a second language, in the "pewdiepie saying the n-word" thread, no insults, nothing, the explanation i got was that i was downplaying racism. That kind of moderation it's not ok i think, not because it affected me, but because i was banned for trying to even challenge the idea that the dude was being a racist for saying the word.

If a thread devolves in people only agreeing with each other and posting things like "he is a piece of shit" and not getting banned for it, what is even the point?

I hope that Neogaf stays a well moderated forum since is one of the few places online where you are expected to add to discussions in a thread instead of drive by and shitposting because it can get you banned.

 

[NHarmonic.]

It always seemed weird to me that people willing to argue over technical minutiae like 1-2 frame drops or 1-2% differences in pixel resolution are completely unwilling to see the/any utility in discussing real-world influences or implications of the media they consume.

They care more about frame jumps and lighting filters than the real impact of this media in the world, tbh. It's sad but it's the way it is.

 

[eKongDiddy]

I'm not sure why I bother to try and explain this but maybe one last time.

It's super easy to be happy with 'apolitical' entertainment when you're positively represented in movies, games, books, etc etc etc all the time. Maybe you're not a straight, white male but in case you are, that's where you're at. When you're a minority, you live a life 24/7 where people use political power to make your life harder, screech hate messages at you, or just try to beat you up. It's not something you can take a vacation out of. Also, you don't see yourself represented in game characters like the aformentioned group does. In short, it's easy to love the status quo and not want to shake the boat when you're the one who's on top. I mean I love playing something mindless too, but I don't have the luxury of turning things 'off' even if I want to.

No I’m not a white male, so that doesn’t pertain to me. I saw a joke on Reddit once that said straight black males are the new minority (I’ll remove that if it offends anyone). My life is not hard and I’m not affected by the status quo. I’m not sure how old you are, but depending on your age, life has changed since when you were younger. No one has ever tried to beat me up because I’m black. No one has ever screeched hate messages at me in the real world or online. The only time I’ve ever been called the N word was by some stupid freshman my sophomore year of Highschool that was an uppity majority white,Christian school. I have seen it online and I think it’s stupid, but I have never seen it as much as some people say it is. It’s probably dependent on where you are also.

I guess it’s just different mentalities. We have BET, the Oprah network, and all of those other secular TV Shows/Stations that are majority black. Yea there can be more black characters, but that shouldn’t ruin your enjoyment of a game or tv show.

 

[deli2000]

No I’m not a white male, so that doesn’t pertain to me. I saw a joke on Reddit once that said straight black males are the new minority (I’ll remove that if it offends anyone). My life is not hard and I’m not affected by the status quo. I’m not sure how old you are, but depending on your age, life has changed since when you were younger. No one has ever tried to beat me up because I’m black. No one has ever screeched hate messages at me in the real world or online. The only time I’ve ever been called the N word was by some stupid freshman my sophomore year of Highschool that was an uppity majority white,Christian school. I have seen it online and I think it’s stupid, but I have never seen it as much as some people say it is. It’s probably dependent on where you are also.

I guess it’s just different mentalities. We have BET, the Oprah network, and all of those other secular TV Shows/Stations that are majority black. Yea there can be more black characters, but that shouldn’t ruin your enjoyment of a game or tv show.

It's great that you have those experiences to shape your worldview. But a lot of people had worse experiences than you. They're not liars, i'm one of those people. And frankly i'm a bit sick and tired of people on this forum putting their fingers in their ears and pretending that these things don't happen. It's fucking spineless.

 

[Carcetti]

No I’m not a white male, so that doesn’t pertain to me. I saw a joke on Reddit once that said straight black males are the new minority (I’ll remove that if it offends anyone). My life is not hard and I’m not affected by the status quo. I’m not sure how old you are, but depending on your age, life has changed since when you were younger. No one has ever tried to beat me up because I’m black. No one has ever screeched hate messages at me in the real world or online. The only time I’ve ever been called the N word was by some stupid freshman my sophomore year of Highschool that was an uppity majority white,Christian school. I have seen it online and I think it’s stupid, but I have never seen it as much as some people say it is. It’s probably dependent on where you are also.

I guess it’s just different mentalities. We have BET, the Oprah network, and all of those other secular TV Shows/Stations that are majority black. Yea there can be more black characters, but that shouldn’t ruin your enjoyment of a game or tv show.

Yeah, I didn't want to assume about you and the message was also more of a general one to anyone who happened to read it. Maybe you're right about the age thing but I'm also a parent and seeing regressive values rising up pisses me off so I don't want to shut up about these issues at all.

Personally I've never felt GAF was a safe space, more of an adult place removed from the juvenile teen idiocy that plagues rest of the gaming forums. The thing the 'opposing side' often forgets is that moderation also shielded them from honest opinions on people like me since opening up about some of the posters around here would've gotten me banned as well. That is a good thing that led to a more civil forum than most.

 

[HiiiLife]

What a sad state of affairs.

 

[BBboy20]

I've gotten banned 2 times on GAF, i can't even remember the first time because i didn't notice, but the second time was because i was trying to argue how words don't have the same impact when you use them in a second language, in the "pewdiepie saying the n-word" thread, no insults, nothing, the explanation i got was that i was downplaying racism. That kind of moderation it's not ok i think, not because it affected me, but because i was banned for trying to even challenge the idea that the dude was being a racist for saying the word..

...................you apparently did!

 

[Keihart]

...................you apparently did!

My point is this https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-its-easier-to-swear-at-people-in-another-language-1536262864 wich i thought it was worth discussing...it IS a thing, i didn't come up with the idea from my ass. It really wasn't downplaying racism but what people were classifying as it in the thread.

Edit:

The social norms and taboos over insults are too powerful, and people tend to tone down ethnic insults in their native languages — even if they are willing to go over the top with them in other languages.