Racist and other bad names

In a different thread, I found out that a common nasty racist name for blacks was filtered out, but a common nasty racist name for chinese was not. I think ATS should filter these sorts of names in a more even-handed manner. How does ATS decide which racist names to filter out, and which to ignore?

GRAMMATICAL EDIT

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by glee]

I think all offensive words should either be a)filtered out or b)not filtering at all. Either way no one can complain.

all offensive words should be filtered out.....id list them...but i dont wanna offend anybody...but since im white i think "cracker" should be filtered out....since i can say that and not offend anybody....

Absolutely, I don't think anything should be censored at all, but practically there is a good reason for the censoring policy.

That is that an abundance of commonly censored words will place a website at the mercy of other internet censors, making said site unavailable for view at a great many public terminals.

Better to censor ourselves initially than to risk limiting the potential viewage of the excellent content of this site to as many as possible.

Originally posted by dreamlandmafia
all offensive words should be filtered out.....id list them...but i dont wanna offend anybody...but since im white i think "cracker" should be filtered out....since i can say that and not offend anybody....

I think cracker shold be filtered out. I didn't want to say anything incase i get burned as a nazi lover or something

Originally posted by DeltaChaos
pubic terminals

I am offended by the preceding word used by DC, can we censor that?

The trouble with any automatic filtering system is that it is automatic. Let me explain with an example.

I used to teach and the school I was in had a libray that used networked computers quite extensively. To try to prevent stduents accessing "unsuitable" material, it was decided that there would be a filter installed to catch certain words. You get my drift.

Now the filter wasn't particularly "intelligent" and rejected one quite innocent search for:

S#horpe

which is a town near the east coast of the UK.

So, whilst I'd agree any use of racist language is abhorrant, it must be extremely difficult to filter out all words which have "legitimate" uses but might be used in some derogatory way as well.

All *we* can do is to avoid using racist words in our posts surely?

Just my �0.02...

jeez, thats abit extreme picking on DC . I think bush should be filtered cause it gives me disturbing mental images of hairy lesbians *shudders*

Ever hear any Lenny Bruce? I thought he did a good job of breaking down the name calling thing, i.e. a word is just a word and your reaction to it empowers it.

On a site that is strewn with intellect on many different levels, the whole concept of banning 'offensive' language seems childish.

Nonetheless when people use slurs or imply them on this site, they are usually met with a ferocious backlash. This can serve as a good enlightening.

Just my humble...

well i think we should try not having filters on. People get offended everyday, but childish name calling and racist marks shouldn't be even posted.

Originally posted by infinite
well i think we should try not having filters on. People get offended everyday, but childish name calling and racist marks shouldn't be even posted.

The thing is that people dont wanna be called a "chink" or a "cracker" or a "fag" or something....if they dont wanna be called one on the boards then we shouldnt allow them to see it....censor them to keep most of the board happy....and from stopping the people that want to say it, form actually saying it.

Edit...that was not calling anybody the words....just stating them....

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by dreamlandmafia]

Don't most of you turn your censors off as soon as you can? I want to see what people are saying, I turned mine off as soon as I could.

If you feel really strongly about a word and it's not already censored, it can be considered, as it's possible there's one or two that may have slipped through the net. If there's a word you really feel strongly about, but has not been censored, you can always click on the complain button and register your feelings for the powers-that-be to deliberate on.

That reminds me of the word 'dude", and a joke I played with someone.
A guy(black) who comes into our workplace regularly to pick up parts once said to me, "what's up dude?"

and I said, "what did you just call me?"

'dude', he said.

and I said," are you some kind of rascist?"

and he's like," huh?'

and I said," only a white person can call another white person 'dude', unless you spell it dewd, then it's ok. since you didn't know, I'll let you slide."

He just looked at me, then I broke out laughing, and then he knew I was joking. That was my play on blacks calling each other the 'n' word.

But yes, if one word is filtered, then they all should be filtered.

Originally posted by dreamlandmafia
The thing is that people dont wanna be called a "chink" or a "cracker" or a "fag" or something....if they dont wanna be called one on the boards then we shouldnt allow them to see it....censor them to keep most of the board happy....and from stopping the people that want to say it, form actually saying it.

Edit...that was not calling anybody the words....just stating them....

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by dreamlandmafia]

People want to be dealt with as individuals. Calling someone a name denies them their individuality. While I wish we didn't have to have censoring because we wouldn't need it, I'm sure we do. I think it is important to be fair, though, and not be unjust by taking some of these words less seriously than others.

i say, we just deal with things the way they are.

Censorship sucks, but so does ignorance. Certain words proclaim ones ignorance to me.
two-cents worth!

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by Jonna

Originally posted by DeltaChaos
pubic terminals

I am offended by the preceding word used by DC, can we censor that?

I DID NOT TYPE THAT!!! I WAS FRAMED!!!

Jonna, you're such a framer...

Originally posted by Joseph KnechtEver hear any Lenny Bruce? I thought he did a good job of breaking down the name calling thing, i.e. a word is just a word and your reaction to it empowers it.

This is my personal policy toward prejudice against words. And I have of my favorite comedians to thank for it. Bruce and Carlin, among others.

Originally posted by Zzub
Don't most of you turn your censors off as soon as you can? I want to see what people are saying, I turned mine off as soon as I could.

I didn't turn them off because sometimes it's fun to try to figure out what they said on your own first. Then if you can't figure it out, you can just quote the post and find out. Fun little game, whatchyoo say?

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by DeltaChaos]

Personally...thats how I feel....that its just a word....but most of the people out there would get offended by these words....

Originally posted by DeltaChaos

Originally posted by Joseph KnechtEver hear any Lenny Bruce? I thought he did a good job of breaking down the name calling thing, i.e. a word is just a word and your reaction to it empowers it.

This is my personal policy toward prejudice against words. And I have of my favorite comedians to thank for it. Bruce and Carlin, among others.

[Edited on 7-5-2004 by DeltaChaos]

For myself, I agree. But I also think this policy is an ideal to be yearned for, but one which few of us ever completely attain.

Just send me a U2U with the word you think should be in our censors, and I'll consider adding it. We don't censor everything that might be "offensive", but more the words that might automatically tag ATS as a "offensive site" in the eyes of automated software that ranks websites by the words found.