@ Teresa

You know, I just checked back and it seems that you've got your hands full with this thread. Although I feel quite strongly about the issues we've been discussing, I believe that it's best that I don't press you anymore ;).

I am still confused about our miscommunication- c'est la vie. We all hate racism. And being from the South, you tend to get sick of being stereotyped and associated with society's worst when you've done nothing wrong yourself. Maybe I've just got a chip on my shoulder. If so, sorry.

I am a long-time reader of BoingBoing and have always admired your work as a moderator. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable being at odds with you. This is actually my first time commenting on this blog! I don't want it to go like this :-).

And I have to agree with (#134) ill lich. I hope you're getting paid for this- looks like hard work....

.M

#131 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Hi, Teresa.

I'm sorry, but I feel I've possibly been misunderstood by you. I did not, and am not, asking you to intervene. But when I step in to defend myself and comment on the hypocrisy of certain people using bigotry to fight bigotry and you criticize me for it, I find it hard to understand.

As one commenter above said "As someone who's lived in the North, the South, and the Midwest, I find racism to be equally prevalent. All the snide, smug, ignorant, anti-southerner bigotry by the self-professed open-minded always seems to get a pass, though."

Being called "inbred," a "hick," and compared to a "dingle-berry" may not fall into the hate-speech category to you, but I take offense. Go figure. I can't help but feel if these comments were directed at another group of people that they would be thought of as hate speech. And when I say the comments are "scary," I don't mean I'm physically afraid. C'mon.

I did notice that some of the comments above have since been censored by you. I definitely was not insinuating that you should be controlling or censoring speech here. I just wanted to point out that fighting hate with hate is not good and stereotyping people is not good, no matter where those people happen to live or what color they are.

BTW: I don't think I would use the word "dignify" to describe hate-speech. (That's beside the point, though).

@ #120 Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator:

"Myku (108), puh-leeze. You and yours are in no danger of getting lynched. And how is it scapegoating Southerners to talk about a term used by Southerners?"

Teresa,

In regards to scapegoating: I'm assuming that since you're the moderator you've actually read the article that's being linked to. It contains only one reference to the South and that is basically a "friend of a friend" type story.

"Oh, somebody wrote this blogger who we don't know an email and said...." Top notch journalism, for sure. And yet, it has this sensationalist title that targets Southerners.

As one commenter above noted, the story isn't even about the South. It's about happenings in Texas with a little blurb thrown in about the South and another blurb about Kansas City.

Now, MANY of the comments above contain derogatory, insulting, and hate-filled language directed at people from the South. I see that you've had no problem coming to the aid of Canadian citizens who've posted here and felt that they were being insulted or attacked in some way, but it seems that same consideration does not apply to everyone.

As far as my claiming that I might be attacked if I left the South? Um. That was a joke. Sorry if it didn't come off that way, but I was alluding to the scarily aggressive hate-speech directed at "me and mine" in the above comments.

I'm not trying to flame you, not trying to be a problem, and am NOT RACIST. I just don't like people calling me names, nor do I like double-standards.

Um. Scapegoat much?

I'm from the South and find many of the comments above to be quite offensive. I'm not sure that the approach of fighting the ignorant bigotry of others with your own ignorant bigotry is really coming across as well as you think. Maybe it's just me.

I guess if I ever travel to any of your home towns, I'd better hide my accent or I might get lynched....

...Ah, you never forget the first time someone gives you an eyeball.