Offensive joke

[notnats]

Forum URL: newworldtech.freeforums.net/

We have a post we as Admins find somewhat offensive. We have not yet had complaints about it so we are not really sure what to do about it.

Here is the post:

Puzzle

A puzzle solved...
For many years this one Zebra would ask other Zebras, "Am I white with black stripes, or black with white stripes"?
As I said he would ask this over and over.
Then one day a Zebra said to him, "Only God knows for sure".
So the Zebra went high up in the mountains one day, so he could talk with God.
When he came back to the other Zebras he was so happy and was jumping around.
So they asked him "are you white with black stripes or are you black with white stripes"?
He answered that he was white with black stripes.
They then asked how he knew that.
He replied that he was white with black stripes, because God said "You are what you are", if I was black with white stripes God would have said "You is what you is".....

Two of us Admins find it offensive because we feel it is racially motivated because at the very least it implies that all Afro-Americans use bad grammar but we feel the poster actually meant more than this. But we cannot decide if we should delete it or not and if we do exactly what reason should we use for deletion?

[m2marsh]

I can tell you I find the joke in bad taste. However, no one here is going to tell you what you should do about it. The administration of your forum is up to you.

I will tell you that if it were my forum, I would remove the joke and pm the poster that the staff have conferred and agree it is not appropriate. I would not discipline the member beyond asking them to refrain in the future.

[elhombre]

Jokes are supposed to be funny,it isn't.

But humour is always subjective.

Whether it has got racist overtones,depends how sensitive people are.

Personally,shrug shoulders move on,unless anybody complains.


EDITED TO ADD.Just looked at the thread concerned, looks a bit out of place with a lot of schoolboy jokes,but nobody has commented.

And not really a technical support issue.

[notnats]

Jul 24, 2018 5:11:48 GMT -8 elhombre said:

EDITED TO ADD.Just looked at the thread concerned, looks a bit out of place with a lot of schoolboy jokes,but nobody has commented.

And not really a technical support issue.

If you note the title of that section is Off Topic. Not meant to be a place for technical support.

[elhombre]

Jul 24, 2018 5:33:22 GMT -8 notnats said:

Jul 24, 2018 5:11:48 GMT -8 elhombre said:

EDITED TO ADD.Just looked at the thread concerned, looks a bit out of place with a lot of schoolboy jokes,but nobody has commented.

And not really a technical support issue.

If you note the title of that section is Off Topic. Not meant to be a place for technical support.

Missing the point,this is proboards technical support,and this is probably not the place to ask this question. 

But you can always wait for a comment from admin staff,who should be online in about 2 hours.

[stevecureboi]

Jul 24, 2018 4:44:40 GMT -8 notnats said:

Forum URL: newworldtech.freeforums.net/

We have a post we as Admins find somewhat offensive. We have not yet had complaints about it so we are not really sure what to do about it.

Here is the post:

Puzzle

A puzzle solved...
For many years this one Zebra would ask other Zebras, "Am I white with black stripes, or black with white stripes"?
As I said he would ask this over and over.
Then one day a Zebra said to him, "Only God knows for sure".
So the Zebra went high up in the mountains one day, so he could talk with God.
When he came back to the other Zebras he was so happy and was jumping around.
So they asked him "are you white with black stripes or are you black with white stripes"?
He answered that he was white with black stripes.
They then asked how he knew that.
He replied that he was white with black stripes, because God said "You are what you are", if I was black with white stripes God would have said "You is what you is".....

Two of us Admins find it offensive because we feel it is racially motivated because at the very least it implies that all Afro-Americans use bad grammar but we feel the poster actually meant more than this. But we cannot decide if we should delete it or not and if we do exactly what reason should we use for deletion?

I think think the bottom line is where you, as forum staff, draw the line. If you are prepared to accept even casual racism, then that is the standard you set.
This particular post evidently has you in 2 minds as to how to proceed.
Personally, I would delete the post & PM the member to explain why, but that's my personal standard. YMMV.
If that's the route you take, I would go as far as to clarify/ update any forum rules you have in place to include this sort of subject. The sooner it's clear where the boundary is, the easier it is to manage it further down the line.

[notnats]

Jul 24, 2018 5:37:41 GMT -8 elhombre said:

Jul 24, 2018 5:33:22 GMT -8 notnats said:

If you note the title of that section is Off Topic. Not meant to be a place for technical support.

Missing the point,this is proboards technical support,and this is probably not the place to ask this question. 

But you can always wait for a comment from admin staff,who should be online in about 2 hours.

I apologize I didn't understand what you meant.

This thread can be ignored as I was not sure where to post it and have posted the question in the wrong place.

[Beckea]

I agree with m2marsh and of course not the place you could have put in the posts below that asks for admins views or things forgot the name of it. But I think for the best interest of the members overall to remove and send a pm to the poster.

Here is the forum I was thinking it would be best in -- if you were looking for views on what should be done:  support.proboards.com/board/140/open-discussion

[Kami]

Racism has no place in any community, full stop. The only way this is funny is if you accept the explanation that black people are a punchline.

[Retread]

Jul 24, 2018 4:44:40 GMT -8 notnats said:

Forum URL: newworldtech.freeforums.net/

We have a post we as Admins find somewhat offensive. We have not yet had complaints about it so we are not really sure what to do about it.

This isn't a technical issue so (imho) this seems it would be better if placed in Open for Discussion - Staff of Forums Sharing Ideas

Unless, of course, your question is: Does that post violate the Proboards Terms of Service In my opinion, it doesn't. But it does crowd the line. Perhaps you'll get a reply from Proboards Admins.

Jul 24, 2018 4:44:40 GMT -8 notnats said:

But we cannot decide if we should delete it or not and if we do exactly what reason should we use for deletion?

I hope you realize your forum staff doesn't need a reason to delete any content they dislike.

[elhombre]

Just looked ,it has been deleted,with a note saying why.

[notnats]

Yes, the Admins who are available (three are on vacations) did discuss this we decided that it would be removed with a note saying why in the thread itself. The poster is well known to all admins from actions at two other forums. He never paid attention to warnings or PM's but he did pay attention when his "indiscretions" were brought to the attention of all members via a note within his unacceptable posts. We know he has seen the post has been removed and obviously the message because he visited after this was done. Thanks to all for your opinions and help. Next time I WILL post in the correct location.
Thank you again.

[stewie22]

Im in Australia and we have a situation where our Aboriginals can call us white B*****ds and if we complain we are labelled racists, however if us whites call them black B******ds and we complain we are told to get over it. There is a program on TV (Pawn brokers) in there advertising a black person is asked why do they want to pawn there item there response is (because we is in need of money) I can only assume that is the way they speak if that's so where is/was the problem with the joke?

[Kami]

Jul 25, 2018 0:12:56 GMT -8 stewie22 said:

Im in Australia and we have a situation where our Aboriginals can call us white B*****ds and if we complain we are labelled racists, however if us whites call them black B******ds and we complain we are told to get over it. There is a program on TV (Pawn brokers) in there advertising a black person is asked why do they want to pawn there item there response is (because we is in need of money) I can only assume that is the way they speak if that's so where is/was the problem with the joke?

i had a long post typed up but im tired and dont want to argue. take some time and research about microaggressions and casual racism and why stereotypes are harmful to marginalised people. while youre at it, also research racial/ethnic linguistic differences and how said differences negatively impact people of colour. also learn about systemic racism to understand why people of colour making fun of or being mean to white people will not have the same context ad white people makinh fun of / being mean to people of colour.

lastly, since you are australian please do your aboriginal fellows a favour and try and understand the history and current anti-aboriginal sentiment in your own country before trying to compare one group using slurs versus another. for example there are literally issues right now about aboriginal languages being taught in schools which directly relates to the inequality between the two groups in your example, as well as controversy re australia day for the same reasons. if i as an american can learn about them you can too.

[Retread]

Jul 24, 2018 12:32:34 GMT -8 notnats said:

Yes, the Admins who are available (three are on vacations) did discuss this we decided that it would be removed with a note saying why in the thread itself. The poster is well known to all admins from actions at two other forums. He never paid attention to warnings or PM's but he did pay attention when his "indiscretions" were brought to the attention of all members via a note within his unacceptable posts. We know he has seen the post has been removed and obviously the message because he visited after this was done. Thanks to all for your opinions and help. Next time I WILL post in the correct location.
Thank you again.

Hello notnats

Thanks for filling us in on how you resolved this. I see you're using a tiered approach, starting with PMs then escalating on repeat offenses. That seems prudent.