When moderating comments on such hot-button topics as race and race relations on PennLive, we strive to allow people to discuss the important problems and issues that affect their community.
But while we want people to have the freedom to talk about controversial subjects, we also want constructive discussion and ensure that commenters follow our list of community rules. And we don't want to give people a platform to promote hate or inflame racial tensions.
Keeping conversations productive and respectful requires efforts by both commenters and moderators.
Below is a list of the types of problematic comments pertaining to racial issues we often see cropping up in stories on PennLive. These are the sorts of comments that violate our community rules and would be best to avoid. Our hope is that these guidelines will serve as a future reference point for readers.
Remember: if you have a question about a comment being removed or our moderation policy in general, we have a specific page set up where readers can go to get their questions answered.
1. Overt racism. It should go without saying, but racial epithets of any kind are not tolerated on PennLive. Those who post epithets about any race or ethnic group will be banned from PennLive immediately, no second chances.
2. Accusing someone of racism. While it's not against the community rules to use the word "racist" in a discussion, accusing someone of racism or calling another commenter a racist would be considered name calling and a personal attack, which are against the rules. Saying someone is a racist assumes knowledge of his or her intent.
That being said, people do sometimes post blatantly racist comments. If you see a comment that you feel falls in that category, we encourage you to flag it instead of responding, and let one of our moderators determine if it should be removed.
3. Sweeping generalizations. So how does one spot the difference between comments about racial issues and comments that contain racism? Generalizing comments that suggest or state a particular race or ethnic group loves violence or promotes thuggery, for example, do not promote constructive dialogue and will be removed. This goes along with trying to impugn residents of a certain city or neighborhood.
Having said that, comments that seem genuinely interested in talking about the problems in society they think contribute to crime — like poverty, lack of education, violent video games or music — are fine and encouraged.
4. Hijacking a thread. Some commenters have a habit of posting comments about President Obama, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson on stories about local crime incidents. When a black person is arrested for a crime, comments along the lines of "This could be Obama's son" are removed for being off-topic. In a similar vein, when a white person is killed, or when a black person is killed by another black person, comments asking "Where are Al and Jesse now?" are off-topic in most cases because they attempt to bring race into the discussion when it actually isn't a factor in the crime.
5. False equivalence. Also known as "Why is there no white history month?" A false equivalence is a logical fallacy that describes a situation where on the surface there seems to be a logical and apparent equivalence, but in fact there is none.
For example, while there are differing opinions about the value of Black History Month, that doesn't mean the topic is open for debate on every single Black History Month story we do. Such comments would be removed for being off-topic.
More examples of false equivalence include "If this had been a white man attacking a black man..." or "If a black woman had done this instead of a white woman..." These types of comments aren't productive because they lack context and assume race is the only factor in determining our coverage. Moreover, they tend to set off a stream of hypothetical replies that have nothing to do with the story. Such comments would also be removed for being off-topic.
6. Asking for racial descriptions. We occasionally get questions asking why we don't mention the race or ethnicity of suspects, even when that information is available from the police. As a general rule, we only mention a suspect's race if there are additional identifying qualifiers. We wouldn't say, for example, "Police are searching for a black man." We might, however say, "Police are searching for a black man who is 6'2" tall and has a tattoo of an anchor on his left bicep." If we're not including someone's race or ethnicity in a story it's because we feel it's not warranted.