I am as troubled as you are about the uptick in overt racism and sexism on HN. But I know and trust the moderators of the site, and this is a conversation I have had with them too, and I don't have any better ideas on how to deal with it than they do.
The bigger problem is that the (very large) community of reasonable nerds who care about bigotry has largely abandoned Hacker News. In doing so, they've conceded it to the racist fringe. They, too, should reconsider.
It's at least comforting to know that blatant racism and sexism tends to get flagged off of threads.
Some of the trouble here is the tendency of divisive people to see any attempt at understanding an issue to be support of that issue. That's part of what encourages trumps.
Another is the funny sort of ways that liberals want to fix -isms by applying the -isms in attack and unironically saying it's okay because they have the right opinions. That's part of what encourages trumps.
It's a basic fact of human nature that the self-righteousness you feel about your own opinions is not unique to those who agree with you, and there is no objective way to prove it is superior. That's part of what encourages trumps.
And it sure doesn't help when all the rhetoric gets the added emotional manipulation of associations to hitler.
I've noticed this too. Not only on HN, but below the line on many publications - The Economist, Politico, even at The Guardian, long a liberal bastion.
I don't think the reason is that 'reasonable' people have jumped ship though. At least that's not the sole reason. It seems recent events have turned some of those reasonable people reactionary. They've watched an increase of censorship and dishonesty under the guise of progressivism and decided that sunlight is the best disinfectant (just take a look at the shrieks of conspiracy whenever a frontpage post is flagged).
In doing so they have paved the way for an increase in bigotry from those who now believe that the lid has blown off once-taboo topics.
Perhaps I'm wrong but sorting comments by 'popular' on any of the sites mentioned above suggests that this isn't a phenomenon unique to HN. It's a shift in our online discourse.
This is the thing i don't understand, and you say it a lot. Why should we reconsider? We are clearly not welcome here. I read and comment every once in awhile, certainly, because i have a certain attachment to horrifying trainwrecks -- but i don't delude myself that i'm doing anyone any good, including myself.
"The bigger problem is that the (very large) community of reasonable nerds who care about bigotry has largely abandoned Hacker News. In doing so, they've conceded it to the racist fringe. They, too, should reconsider."
Should they though? When the community tells them with every post that this isn't wanted here, that the community doesn't care, and that the contributions are not welcome, should they really spend (or waste) their time, effort, and keystrokes here? And if so why? This isn't rhetorical, but really something I think about often when I'm waiting for an app to deploy and choosing what to do with those free minutes. And more and more, the answer is a resounding NO.
Totally agree with 'genericpseudo and 'joesmo. YC's created the environment that's so tolerant of racism and sexism. If they don't want people who care about bigotry to abandon the site, it's up to them to change the dynamic.
I don't. By their actions shall I judge them, and their actions are complicit in making Silicon Valley an awful place to be for a number of my friends.
Asking anyone to "reconsider" their way into a hostile environment is pretty brutal. For that to be realistic, YC has to make the first move, and it'd likely have to be an extremely costly signal. What would you suggest?
The bigger problem is that the (very large) community of reasonable nerds who care about bigotry has largely abandoned Hacker News. In doing so, they've conceded it to the racist fringe. They, too, should reconsider.
It's at least comforting to know that blatant racism and sexism tends to get flagged off of threads.