African American
Related: About this forumI don't feel safe on Democratic Underground anymore
************** For the African American Group *********************************
As a person of color, I don't feel safe in posting to Democratic Underground any more.
I feel like our voices are being silenced. I do not know who is targeting us. So many of us and our allies are being taken off this page. This needs to stop. For the foreseeable future, I will be lurking on this forum. I will come back once the Administrators promise to do something about this situation and I feel safe enough to post here. Until then, I am out of here. Sheshe, if you see this, I have given you my cell phone number feel free to contact me when you see this.
Until then, stay safe my fellow people of color as well as our allies. I love you all
boston bean
(36,224 posts)That never works well for the discriminated against, black persons, women etc.
As host of HoF, and other feminists groups here tried to get admin to recognize the non=phenomena of minorities being trampled on this democratic site and the answer was to educate the buffoons. Placed the issue square on the shoulders of those being targeted in mean spirited ways.
I understand where you are coming from. But I would not expect to see any changes made to help make this place more welcoming to those who suffer bigotry.
Sad statement, but one I am sorry to say I feel is true.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Going from 6 to 7 on juries.
Hung juries went the poster's way over the alerter.
The change gave primacy to the alerters.
MADem
(135,425 posts)The admins have taken a hands-off attitude towards the site, unfortunately. Their 'vision' of what they wanted this site to be back in 2001 has pretty much died.
I wish they'd start up a new site for Democrats, for people who like and support the Democratic party, and who save the nasty hyperbole for the GOP, like this place used to be. I'd join that!
I also wish they'd slow the roll on new members, and make it a longer process before they can vote on juries. I think 1000 posts or six months (whichever comes LAST) is long enough to get an idea of the culture here . We've got wingnuts and trolls voting who are thrilled to shit-stir and who haven't read the TOS--as for that, I think to sign up you should have to read and initial every paragraph of the damn thing. We've got people on juries who have no ideas of what our guidelines are about wingnuts, trolls, conspiracy theories, etc. It's insufferable.
If I ruled the world...!!
boston bean
(36,224 posts)But they just allowed this place to become more and more like freepervile, getting worse over time.
I to long for a site that supports democrats. Sad we lost that.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)at least (so far) we're being allowed to talk about it. 7.
boston bean
(36,224 posts)Seems no matter how many people say or events happen will help to show there is a problem that needs some correction.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)No attempt at corrective action, or recognition of an ongoing problem, seems to be forthcoming from anyone who could do anything.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)We need real action to be taken on alert-stalking and threats issued toward the AA community on DU, and that action can only be taken by admins. Laissez-faire isn't going to work.
brer cat
(24,637 posts)and certainly understand how you are feeling today. I am heading out to spend a few days with my daughter and granddaughters. I plan to keep DU off and so some thinking about whether to stay. So many of us have become good virtual friends over the years, and it will be sad to walk away.
Take care.
stonecutter357
(12,698 posts)redwitch
(14,952 posts)I know DU has had it's share of battles especially around presidential campaigns. Lately though it has become a hatefest. If we can't treat each other with decency here on DU how do we expect our dreams for a just and peaceful world to come to fruition? The malicious alerting, the snide remarks, the hateful private messages, the stalking here and apparently in the non virtual world has got to stop.
I am so sad that you no longer feel safe here.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)We have other places to go where we are safe. They can have Bernie Underground for all I care as long as they keep their fucking snail mail out of my mail box.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)leaving DU only makes it more Bernie dominant. if you have a problem with the majority of your party supporting Bernie on DU then either accept it or continue trying to convince others that Hillary is the better choice.
I swear, politics are all about making decisions, wise ones. and you don't make the best decisions in an echo chamber, that's why the people on capital hill are so out of touch with the rest of us, they only see each other and the 1%.
so stay, learn, teach and fight.
boston bean
(36,224 posts)retrowire
(10,345 posts)are you?
or is your candidate being targeted just like mine?
all I'm trying to say is, this is a part of the process. emotions are high. and leaving or turning away or denying conversation weakens that which makes democracy work in the first place.
boston bean
(36,224 posts)Until it does, maybe try to understand that leaving sometimes is the best.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)just remain vocal. don't give up and be open to disagreement. that's all I'm saying.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)boston bean
(36,224 posts)So, that doesn't fly for me. I'm not looking for an echo chamber. I would like to speak with adults who act a bit more mature.
boston bean
(36,224 posts)originally?
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)Except on DU, show me any national poll that says: "the majority of your party supporting Bernie"? Please provide that poll. Thanks.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)it is just on DU, the rest of the party is coming around I believe. I'll correct that.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)retrowire
(10,345 posts)Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)leftofcool
(19,460 posts)retrowire
(10,345 posts)it just means that those you oppose have won.
and that's bad for du because it creates an unnatural bias.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)I will break this to you gently, DU is not the only Democratic forum on the internet.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)leftofcool
(19,460 posts)Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)Maybe it's because some of us have been around longer than 3 months. To be told "go elsewhere" after having been around for a number of years seems pretty presumptuous to me.
Response to retrowire (Reply #40)
brush This message was self-deleted by its author.
brush
(53,968 posts)There might be a majority of DUers supporting Sanders here but that hardly means the majority of dems support Sanders as DU is a just a small sampling of dems.
Your wording needs a bit of editing.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)I edited it to clarify that wording yesterday.
brush
(53,968 posts)I'm an old newspaper person. The wording still seems to suggest that the majority of dems support Sanders.
if you have a problem with the majority of your party supporting Bernie on DU then either accept it or continue trying to convince others that Hillary is the better choice.
Shouldn't that read something like: ". . . the majority of DUers supporting Bernie" since DU is not the majority of the party?
retrowire
(10,345 posts)the ending of the sentence clarifies that majority of the party supporting Bernie belongs to DU, and not outside it.
it's a matter of perspective. but my intent is just that. I meant only DU.
kjones
(1,053 posts)Stellar
(5,644 posts)retrowire
(10,345 posts)message the admins!
allan01
(1,950 posts)Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)an Ignore list. Maybe he has trashed this group, and some of it's members? I've left questions in the ATA forum, months apart, and he hasn't responded to either of them.
If the Admins are ignoring posters, maybe they really don't know, or care, what's happening here, and that's just sad.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)not sure how one administers a site like this if you have certain members on ignore. It certainly helps explain why we're in the predicament we're in right now.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)have anyone or anything on ignore, they are seriously messed up. And irresponsible.
I don't know that they do. I just a) say "if" and b) find it appalling if they do and c) feel it would explain a lot of things.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)But he could ignore everyone if he just did what all message boards do, assign moderators.
You have 5 or 6 admins and 20-30 moderators for a place this big.
The admins make final decisions about banning, but mods can suspend short times, hide, etc.
The key is all the admins and mods will be LIBERALS
duh
Tarheel_Dem
(31,249 posts)few of us left. So, I can understand, from a business standpoint. However, it just strikes me as strange when you look at posts in ATA that have been sitting there for months, unanswered. Are these people on ignore? Could another admin address the questions? Does it have to be Skinner? Lots of questions, but he doesn't respond to me in ATA.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)Do you think someone is going to crawl thru the internet and jump out of your computer screen and shoot you? Feeling that your voice is not acknowledged is one thing, but "safe?" Goodness, that seems like such a strange fear to me. Sounds like you have a low tolerance for opinions different from your own.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)murielm99
(30,780 posts)Someone DID jump out of their computer screen and send a threatening letter to a member here via snail mail. That means they know her name and address.
I understand people not feeling safe.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)stalkers sending her a hate letter.
I do have one question: Is most of this trouble originating in the jury system only? Or are there other threats being made on DU?
If it is the jury system only then it is up to the administration to fix this.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)I wouldn't count on admin.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)is that "Mr. Citizen" brags about how he and his friends have RIGGED the jury system. The fact someone is bold enough to risk a federal crime bragging about somethign that many admins have been trying to IGNORE says something.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)not the greatest so I could not read all of it.
This sounds like something Skinner and Earl need to look into and I cannot imagine that they are not doing just that. Especially since this letter has come to light.
artislife
(9,497 posts)I had two the other night from someone who is known to do that. That was just wrong. Their name has been auto removed and I wasn't able to let the admins know, because apparently they sent other emails that night.
We all need to take a collective breath. I got caught in a couple of swarms and now I may reply once or twice to the same poster, but I know that I have to walk away and not get in the last word. Because that becomes a problem when both posters are trying to do that.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)leftofcool
(19,460 posts)sheshe2
(84,005 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/118724694
There are links there as well.
Snotcicles
(9,089 posts)Glassunion
(10,201 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)was not used on the envelope. Her lp name was used.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)Does not matter. Using her real name, the coward that sent the letter was able to get her physical address and mail her a letter.
840high
(17,196 posts)to Bravenak.
Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)The freak has her address.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)As a quick example of how to do this:
You make a post mentioning you live in a particular city. That greatly narrows down where to look.
You mention some other events from your personal life. For example, "Here's me shaking hands with _________!! I'm so stoked!!" with a link to a newspaper article. That lists your actual name in the caption of the photo.
Unless you have a common enough name, it is likely that there will only be one person with that name in that city. So now you turn to various records searches (like the whitepages, property tax records, etc) and you will have one hit. With an address.
The actual path is obviously different for every person, since we all post different stuff. But it's probably possible to identify anyone on DU who has been posting for a while.
If you want to get a rough guess about how easy this is, put your name and city into google and see what comes up. It will probably start with some Facebook links that don't really reveal anything, but there may be something more specific further down.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)that other site. The poster had her real name on her blog so anyone could have sent that letter.
Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)Someone was sent a threatening letter in snail mail from a supposed Bernie supporter.
Definitely not cool.
lark
(23,182 posts)Are some of these really Bernie or HRC supporters or are they trolls, just trying to discourage Dems? It's always heated during the primaries and much better once a general election candidate is confirmed.
I do think this time it seems worse, more vitriolic, and not sure why?
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)It's too vitriolic to come from a voter attracted to a candidate like Bernie who is all about fairness and equality.
That person is a right wing Republican troll.
lark
(23,182 posts)Using the duck test, this passes on all elements.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)vkkv
(3,384 posts)Now, at HuffPo and / or HRC central, there are some extremely mean and narrow-minded comment posters.
D.U. is downright comfy! D.U. even has a jury system to keep it fair and clean..
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)And anyone else who didn't read the group's SOP (pinned at the top of this group) and the warning the OP was kind enough to put in his message--if you come in here to be unkind and unsupportive, I will be blocking.
Read the other threads in the group for background, if you need to catch up.
--AA Group Host
JustAnotherGen
(32,000 posts)There was no need for that post -
I would agree with a block.
Here is the text for our record of the reason why:
29. Possibly the oddest posts I've ever read here.
Silenced?
Targeted?
D.U. was one of the earliest places to bring discredit to bad cops and racist P.D.s!
What on EARTH are you talking about?!
WTF?
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)which is a signal that it is posted in a safe space.
JustAnotherGen
(32,000 posts)We've had the drop a bomb, insult, be disruptive posts before that then get deleted:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Response to Coolest Ranger (Original post)
Thu Sep 10, 2015, 01:34 PM
Star Member vkkv (687 posts)
29. Possibly the oddest posts I've ever read here.
Silenced?
Targeted?
D.U. was one of the earliest places to bring discredit to bad cops and racist P.D.s!
What on EARTH are you talking about?!
WTF?
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)I'm not warning first on this one.
JustAnotherGen
(32,000 posts)As this poster was blocked by a co-host this afternoon - please do not respond to his post anymore.
For the Group Host Team -
12. Are you kidding me? You don't feel "safe?"
Do you think someone is going to crawl thru the internet and jump out of your computer screen and shoot you? Feeling that your voice is not acknowledged is one thing, but "safe?" Goodness, that seems like such a strange fear to me. Sounds like you have a low tolerance for opinions different from your own.
Response to JustAnotherGen (Reply #48)
Post removed
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Vylons wrote:: "" Sounds like you have a low tolerance for opinions different from your own. ""
Vylons could NOT have said it any clearer, nor more accurately, nor more presciently.
Presciently - definition of
Democracy and freedom of speech are not in your dictionary, but unreason, paranoia, fear are high-lighted in bold.
Got it.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Must be weird to believe that a post in a safe haven group on a message board being blocked is indicative of one's knowledge of democracy and free speech. Indeed, it's your fallacious premise which leads me to believe you yourself possess a most dramatic lack of awareness of what those concepts mean.
Bless your little heart.
Response to LanternWaste (Reply #74)
sheshe2 This message was self-deleted by its author.
sheshe2
(84,005 posts)Thought you were talking to jag.
Deleting.
JustAnotherGen
(32,000 posts)Unreasonable
Paranoid - Personal Attack
Fear
I'm so glad my CO HOST banned you!
Bye sweet heart.
Make sure you alert on me calling you 'sweet heart' after you attacked me with 'paranoid'.
Let's see who has the thicker skin here . . .
sheshe2
(84,005 posts)As to what has happened here in the last 2 days.
Also, not your place to tell a member of AA how they should or should not feel. Ha! Guess what, that is one of the reasons they are leaving. They are TOLD how to feel and how they SHOULD REACT!
You are simply tone deaf.
murielm99
(30,780 posts)We need everyone so that we can make this site a good place again.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)You say that you will lurk until the Admins promise to do something about the situation. What is it exactly that you propose they do?
I do understand where you are coming from, but if you just ask for someone to do something, without proposing what that something is, it makes it hard to do anything, because nobody knows exactly what you expect to be done.
Yeah, I know that there are some things that we should have common sense to know about, but, without you putting them in words, not everyone knows what they are, and they have a tendency to get overlooked.
So if you could be more specific in what you are expecting from the Admins here, I am sure that they would find it more helpful.
Solidarity Forever.
Stay safe my friend.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)It really doesn't matter at this point.
randys1
(16,286 posts)members not to post links to their image accounts like photobucket, because that is how real bad people can find out about you and stalk you...
BlueMTexpat
(15,374 posts)from in many ways. I am not a person of color, but I am a woman and I believe that other posts above me have expressed a lot of what we both have seen and experienced as "minorities" - whether numerically, racially, or historically.
Please don't leave! I know that I myself don't visit as often as I used to because I get so tired of seeing supposed Democrats constantly slinging the worst aspersions and motives at the person who is the best all-round candidate for 2016 - and one of the best qualified ever for President - in a misguided attempt to persuade me that their candidate is the best. Such tactics will never persuade me. They merely discredit those posters so far as I am concerned and I won't waste my time with them any more.
The constant repetition of RW and GOPer talking points here has worn me down, however, whether it be those posted about Hillary or whether it be deliberate efforts to misinterpret the #BlackLives Matter movement.
You have much more support than you may know.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)The hostility toward the AA community at DU is out of hand.
gordianot
(15,249 posts)I am not a person of color but have learned much here. Your voice will be missed. This is one of the few places in my world I communicate with persons of color or for that matter fellow Democrats. The area I reside is a hotbed of white ignorant (uneducated) reactionary racist Republican pseudo Christian fundamentalist hate I am a Sanders supporter and on DU I only view safely that group from a distance. I empathize.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)Silenced?
Targeted?
D.U. was one of the earliest places to bring discredit to bad cops and racist P.D.s!
What on EARTH are you talking about?!
WTF?
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)lib87
(535 posts)Read the posts and learn instead of criticizing and denying there is a problem.
Good luck.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)changes this whole experience.
We know these people exist, we just cant really believe it until they do this shit
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)I know I am not Skinner, and I sure do not envy him, but, in light of the ATTACKS targeted at the AA forum. I would publicly assign an admin to that forum, and make it very clear that that forum is begin watched for mischief. I would also make sure whoever runs the AA forum is in personal contact with me, so that if that person says "hey watch out for this person" Skinner could watch. Yes, it is possible to say "why not for (insert group here), but this election, and this year, there is to be frank, an epidemic of people hoping to get a hit at AA's now that Obama is on the way out.
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)sheshe2
(84,005 posts)Catching up on my mail. Yes, I've got it now. I will send you some mail in a day or so. I have an idea I want to share with you. Thank you, brother.
What has happened in the past here and what seems to be escalating in epic proportions, saddens me. I just want to weep.
Stay safe.
mhatrw
(10,786 posts)They should be the ones who get chased away. Not you.
Admiral Loinpresser
(3,859 posts)lovemydog
(11,833 posts)yuiyoshida
(41,869 posts)Anzen ni taizai shi, sugu ni akusesu shite kudasai! 安全に滞在し、すぐにアクセスしてください
see you soon I hope,
Response to Coolest Ranger (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Kurska
(5,739 posts)Alert stalking is out of control and being used as a partisan weapon.