SubscribeI was suspended from my local newspaper’s message forum yesterday for posting a comment they deeded to be “racially offensive“.
I’d like to explain what actually happened, but I’m still too pissed off to put it all into words. Luckily for me, fellow Hagerstown blogger Steve Shives of Steve Likes To Curse already blogged about it. He does a much better job then I ever could describing what actually happened.
I’m not even going to try. Go read Steve’s blog post and let me know if you have any questions.
Jesse Jace
/ March 25, 2008What’s a “Double Whooper With Cheese?” It sounds noisy.
Rachel
/ March 25, 2008Bull. Shit.
Glad they rescinded the punishment. But still.
burn
/ March 25, 2008dude! without so much as a “bye?”. well. best wishes. erg. that sounded lame. you know what i mean.
Billy Bob
/ March 25, 2008Sorry about your luck
jenn
/ March 25, 2008Wow.
The Herald-Mail never ceases to amaze, astonish and bewilder.
It Doesn't Matter
/ March 25, 2008So the answer is to take your ball and go home after deleting all your posts? The mod publicly apologized and reinstated you apparently as soon as he/she saw his/her mistake. I can understand your chagrin, and it was an unfair ban, but you’re just going to give up like that? You brought a lot of intelligence and discussion to that forum. Your actions surprise and disappoint me. But you gotta do what you gotta do.
LMFAO
/ March 25, 2008What a puss, can’t take the heat? Get the hell out of the kitchen.
RonAndrewSchooly
/ March 25, 2008You’re such a silly Negro.
Rick
/ March 25, 2008It Doesn’t Matter, I deleted my messages because I didn’t want any more of them to be edited after the fact. Having something I’ve written to be altered so that it looks like I’m using the N-word isn’t very fun.
If ModSquad thought my comment was racially offensive, he should have just deleted it. Instead, he made it much worse.
Rick
/ March 25, 2008LMFAO wrote:
Please. Who are you calling a puss? At least I don’t hide behind fictitious names.
Jesse Jace
/ March 25, 2008“What a puss, can’t take the heat? Get the hell out of the kitchen.”
Ah, yes….the proverbial kitchen that is unproductive comment posting. Mr. LMFAO, if that really is your name, while you’re in that kitchen, make me a sandwich and be quick about it.
BMIC
/ March 25, 2008I think I know how you feel. Been there, done that. Hope you’ll rethink this after you’ve had a chance to cool off. If not, well, I understand making that choice too. You did nothing wrong, and after we all made that abundantly clear, they corrected themselves. But I know it leaves you feeling more than a little violated. There’s no shame in losing your cool over it, or taking a time out to reassess matters. Best of luck to you!
B
sam
/ March 26, 2008While I dont agree with 98% of your opinions. I hate to say this is one instance where you were totally in the right. I can see you being pissed and the Mods editing skills are just as shady as the H/M’s reporting skills I can’t agree with taking your ball and going home!
This is one instance where you should stay and make your point known. Obviously the Mod has had to rethink his or her rash suspension and hatchet job on your post and offered their apology.
Deleting your posts and leaving makes it seem like you have done something wrong and are running away. I dont think thats the case but there are some who will see it that way. I just wouldnt want to go out on that note and from someone who would argue with me tooth and nail over any innocuous comment it just seems like you are going out with a whimper. Personally,I expected more
Rick
/ March 26, 2008BMIC wrote:
I decided to pull stakes only after I cooled down. I was extremely bothered by how all this went down. If there’s one thing folks on the forums can assume about me is that I am not a racist. I think about all of the spirited debates I’ve had over there about race and racism. To think that ModSquad could have honestly thought I would post anything that was racially offensive is absolutely ridiculous. If he honestly believed the word had the same connotation as the n-word, why didn’t take the 4 seconds required to look the word up on Wikipedia?
Announcing to the world that I was suspended for posting something racially offensive and editing my post to make it look like I used the n-word is extremely irresponsible. That’s why I wanted to delete all of my posts. I don’t trust them. Who’s to say it won’t happen again?
I emailed the forum administrator about this and they never got back to me. I only found out that my suspension was lifted from reading Steve’s blog. Someone left a comment stating that my suspension had been removed. Why didn’t they bother to tell me? They make the announcement on a forum I have been told I cannot access? That’s just dumb.
Thanks for the kind words BMIC. I realize you and I didn’t agree on very much on the forum.
Rick
/ March 26, 2008Sam wrote:
It’s not about being pissed. I just simply don’t trust them. I think both the ModSquad and the forum administrator acted in a very unprofessional manner. I don’t want anyone altering anything I’ve written. If ModSquad truly believed my comment was racially offensive, he should have just deleted it.
I emailed the forum administrator as soon as this happened. They still haven’t gotten back with me. When something I’ve written is altered in a way that makes it look like I used the n-word, I think at the very least I deserve a reply to my email.
It’s not so much that I’m taking my ball and going home. I’m just not playing ball on that particular court anymore.
sam
/ March 26, 2008I agree it would be hard to have any faith in any H/M authority after this fiasco and the fact that they haven’t gotten back to you yet and personally explained the situation is inexcusable. If you werent pissed about you truly are a better man than me. I havent been on for a while and when I saw that and went back to sort through the controversy it does make it look like something far more than it was. Even if I dont always agree with you this is WRONG and they should at the very least answer your emails and try to rectify the situation. the one thing I know you aren’t is a racist and for them to portray you as one is BULLSHIT!
Rick
/ March 26, 2008Sam, I think that is what pissed me off the most over all this. If there is one thing everyone should know about me on the Herald-Mail forum is that I’m not a racist. Out of all the topics I beat into the ground, the ones dealing with racism were at the top of the list. :)
Everyone is more then welcome to come over here and argue with me about stuff. Even Patton. :)
Kevin Huxford
/ March 26, 2008So…they suspended you again for no reason? Oh brother…
Rick
/ March 26, 2008Yes, they suspended me for going back and deleting all of my old posts. Something I had every right to do. If they don’t want people deleting their posts, they shouldn’t put the ‘delete’ button at the bottom of the post.
The most absurd thing about this is that when they thought I used a racially offensive term, they suspended me for 2 days. When I deleted my own posts, I got suspended for 365 days.
Click here to see a screen capture showing that I was suspended for a year.
Brian
/ March 29, 2008Rick,
Look I know you and I don’t agree on a lot. And in many way’s you and I are too dawm much alike. I can see we’re both bull headed and stuborn as hell. I’ve made a comment on that same page you got banned from and I hope that I covered EXACTLY what you said. My comment back to you was “Now that’s racist” Well when I posted that I sure as hell didn’t mean to refer that you was being racist. I took your comment to mean to me as in the form of a question, so I answered it and look what the fuck happen. I’m sorry and I sure hope that this was not done over my statement.
I do know that Tracie, (Unbelieveable) has made several email’s and instant message’s to me that she’s been calling and reporting you and WVDragon lady on a daily basis. I unfort. got sucked in by her illness with her back/neck/now having a spot on the brain. Well I found out all is a F******* lie. I’ve contacted Mayor Bob because the second I logged on 1 day to my personal email on AOL she began to IM me. She would brag about calling T.Miller, cussing out Mayor Bob. I swear to God I couldn’t log on and pull my own mail with out her hitting me with IM”s.
Look Rick I just want to say I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble I am adult enough to be able to disagree and adult enough to agree. I feel you may be surprised to know that Tracie and some of her buddies at the H/M is behind all of this. I’ve been getting hit big time from Papperpusher about what I’m saying. When I reported MiMI over a honest to God clear threat, I was the one who got the warning. Dose that Bitch work for H/M?????????
Brian AKA (Dodgeman)
siriunsun
/ April 1, 2008I don’t think Unbelievable could work for HM, because her spelling and grammar are not the result of the education required for a career in communications. I have no idea why adults try to ban people from forums….it seems so silly and juvenile. I do not always agree with Rick, either, but his opinion is the result of thought, research, and EDUCATED opinion. It looks like some people at HM were simply not prepared for that sort of thing.
Rick
/ April 1, 2008Tracie (Unbelievable) work for the Herald-Mail? LOL
The thing about the Herald-Mail that annoys me the most is that none of them had the common decently to simply reply to my email and tell me why I’ve been banned for a year. If they don’t want me participating on their forum, more power to them. That’s their call. I have no problem not posting there any longer. I just think that by not telling me what I did is a total punk move. I would be embarrassed to do something like that.
And to be totally honest, the Herald-Mail forum is much more suited for the likes of Tracie and Carl then it is me. I like to discuss more important issues then what people had for lunch.
Brian
/ April 2, 2008Rick
I’m glad you’re not pissed at me over this and I hope you understand what I meant by my statement on there. And Rick don’t worry about being labeled as a racist, I’m one too according to our “Now on the run, and has a No Bond bench warrant lazy well before I go anyfurther, WTF, Slut ass daughter” We’re racist because we don’t approve of her lifestyle and we’re not going to lie for her action’s on her dope dealings that we know for fact. See we live in the same world. LOL
Brian