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Comment by BrandonM | Hacker News Reader

You know nothing about me except that I criticized your post for being misrepresentative. That's all. You have no idea what I do in my daily life to promote equality, what I do in my workplace to make it more welcoming for all, how important it is to me to "do the right thing." You have no clue, at all.

And yet you're comfortable saying that I'm "exactly the problem", that I'm "desperately" defending Hacker News, that I'm crummy to work with. You don't know me.

When I say that I feel victimized by you, you call me more names, say that I'm running my mouth, that I'm used to being coddled, that you can't possibly have more privilege than me. Sound familiar?

Please try to have a bit of perspective on your own behavior. There are much more effective, humane ways to win the hearts and minds of others and achieve your goals.

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> You know nothing about me except that I criticized your post for being misrepresentative. That's all.

I know you made the top comment on my article say you're glad when people say bigoted things so that the folks most impacted by them have to donate time to educating them. 'Bout all I really need.

> There are much more effective, humane ways to win the hearts and minds of others and achieve your goals.

Did you miss the part where I said that wasn't anything close to my goal?

Again: I expect people to demand the right things because they're the right things. Not because people are "nice" or not.

> you call me more names

Citation needed.

> When I say that I feel victimized by you

Whew. The privilege to call being disagreed with "victimization." Incredible. Tech in a nutshell, right here.

> you're glad when people say bigoted things so that the folks most impacted by them have to donate time to educating them.

What I actually said:

> It gives others a chance to provide them with some perspective.

When I said "others" I didn't intend that to mean the victims of their bigotry. I was referring to myself and the many other Hacker News members that disagree with those views. I can certainly see how my comment was unclear on that front, and I regret making such a contentious statement without making my intended message as clear as possible. ("Open views can be criticized and corrected. Subversive hate or discrimination is much harder to address," as I later clarified.)

There's a difference between a disagreement and a personal attack. We both disagreed with each other's messages, certainly. But I did not attack you or your character.

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