I was a part of a discussion in an online forum recently. This was a forum oriented on the SF/F genre. Conversations can and will run beyond that topic. Most active participants in that forum tend to lean at least a little to the left. I am frequently the lone [libertarian/conservative voice. -ed.]
Another participant tossed out a reference to the Koch brothers for their political contributions. I responded with a reference to George Soros and his political contributions.
The response [to my response -ed] was to implicate that offering George Soros' name was in some way racist or was treading on racist ground. My conversational partner went on to indicate that they had said that the statement was racist, not that I was racist.
The difference between those two is, in my opinion, diaphanous at best. From my perspective, the suggestion that a given comment is racist is nearly the same as indicting the commenter racist.
I am not a racist. There was nothing in my comment to suggest otherwise. The factual observation that George Soros donates to left-wing causes is not racist in any way. I objected to the allegation and indicated that I would appreciate a retraction.
A few days later and a robotic Israeli spaceship lander crashed while attempting to land on the moon. Another individual in the same forum made a "joke" about the moon participating in the BDS movement. The response from the active participants to this patently racist reference?
Crickets.
I'm not naming the forum nor the participants as a dog pile isn't really what is needed.
The ability to criticize one's ideological compatriots when the cross the line of civility is.
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