You often see the argument of "I'm not being racist, it's just a joke" used by genuine bigots who deserve to be burnt alive. In this instance however, it was a moment of injustice for a community of people from a certain region or from other regions simply looking to have fun.
2b4u, as I'll be referring to it from now, was a sub filled with what looked like to average w*stoids as racism. A Croatian calling an Albanian an organ harvesting construction worker while someone else calls a Turkroach a karaboga. Thing is, this was nothing more than banter. In fact, in my opinion, it was something of a cultural exchange and helped people understand others' cultures, situation and the fact that they too were people. As much as there were wars, genocide and conflict in that region, everyone there came together in solidarity of being "Balkan" while shitting on everyone else and on each other.
Why do I care? I'm not Balkan and I wasn't that active on 2b4u anyway. However, even I, someone who never interacted much with people from that area, got to understand that it was a region rich of culture and experience and people that was simply down on its luck, much like a lot of the Middle East.
2b4u, of course, ended up birthing many other relatives, including 2MiddleEast4You which I participate in. These subs let people, through sarcasm and humor, take out their anger on others who caused their bad luck and maybe even come to realizations that they wouldn't have before, thanks to the experience of being mixed together with different groups.
The banning of 2b4u, and the probable banning of other 2(region)4you subreddits is an overreach that shouldn't occur. Of course, protecting people from harassment is very important. Some people shouldn't be subject to such attacks but in the case of 2b4u and others, all it was, was banter. Banter that was interfered in by American Reddit admins who didn't understand what fun is.
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Furio
as if you have a choice
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