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The following was my answer to this question - Is mentioning that a synagogue is located in a well off neighbourhood a racist remark? enter image description here

That was an honest and polite answer, had 5 upvotes and downvotes, was accepted by OP and directly answers the question. Why was it deleted?

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  • 5
    Uneducated guess: The last paragraph. First the sweeping statement that Jews are not going to be offended (some Jews will be offended and will find that statement dismissive). Second the side-swipe against SJWs, that really gets people upset here.
    – Thorsten S.
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 22:32
  • @ThorstenS. you're saying that the answer was deleted because it was ... incorrect? Shouldn't voting take care of that? Right, maybe whoever deleted it was incorrect. This is exactly what voting is for. (I do agree that political sideswipes get on people's nerves)
    – akaioi
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 22:47
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    Without getting into speculation, your post was marked as "spam, rude, or abusive" and deleted by a diamond moderator. I'm sure one of them will come around to explain sooner or later.
    – apaul
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 22:56
  • I don't know, just guessing. I would not take it too seriously because I have the inkling that the whole question will be killed sooner or later...it is already on hold. Some questions are despised because they invite drama.
    – Thorsten S.
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 23:15
  • How is this question getting downvotes? It's an eminently IPS.SE-meta sort of question. Does a downvote mean "Yes question should have been deleted", or "You should not have asked this question", or ...? 'M not understanding this at all...
    – akaioi
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 5:58
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    @akaioi, unlike on main, on meta downvotes mean something like 'I disagree with the points made in this question'. The question is arguing that the answer should have been left, so people that don't agree with that are downvoting.
    – Tinkeringbell Mod
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 8:02
  • You may want to take a look at this meta.
    – Em C
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 17:36
  • @EmC I'm aware of it, the question is neutral, the comments and answers are written form an ... point of view, I was considering writing a different answer but never got to it and now I see that when moderators disagree with me they just delete my answer so there was no point. But even based on that post my answer should be edited and the last paragraph removed, not deleted. All the other answers also present a viewpoint and if mine were deleted they also should be deleted. The only difference is that my viewpoint differs from the moderators viewpoint.
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 20:02
  • @Oleg I disagree; your answer is in essence saying "You're correct, no problems here!" (which is unhelpful as clearly the friend was offended, regardless of whether or not she was justified in that), whereas the other answers can be summarized as "Here's why she may have been offended" which actually answers the original question of "what is wrong with what I said?"
    – Em C
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 20:51
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    @EmC hmm... So if a woman will ask "Is wearing a miniskirt makes me a slut?" caused by her brother accusing her of being a slut because she wore a miniskirt; would you delete an answer that explains that it doesn't make her a slut and upvote an answer that tells her to apologize to her brother?
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 23:28
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    @Oleg no, I would delete an answer that only says "skirt length doesn't mean anything, he's obviously an idiot jerk not worth talking to", and upvote an answer that explains why her brother might be concerned and gives advice on how to talk to him about it.
    – Em C
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 1:29
  • @EmC I'm going to take only the "no" from your answer and reach the conclusion that deep down you agree with me. The rest of your comment is a gross misrepresentation of my and the top voted answers.
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 1:54
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    @Oleg To be clear, I think your answer was rightfully flagged as rude/abusive. If you actually discussed how the information you presented could be used to fix the relationship with the friend, then I would consider it an attempt at solving the problem. But since you did not do that, your answer is just there to push your opinion and therefore I am fine with it remaining deleted.
    – Em C
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 13:39
  • @EmC Why do you think it was rude/abusive? OP and his friend doesn't have any problem with their relationship quote:"Honestly, my friend does not care about this episode" why would you consider discussing something that wasn't asked an attempt at solving the problem?
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 15:09
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    @Oleg because you made generalizations of an entire demographic by saying "Jews are not going to be offended", and because you characterized OP's friend as an "SJW" who is trying to "thought police". If you didn't think there was an interpersonal problem to be solved here, then you shouldn't have answered anyways because that makes the question off-topic..
    – Em C
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 15:16

1 Answer 1

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I wasn't involved, but I would have flagged it for deletion if I'd seen it.

First off, you answered an off-topic question. Note that the other answer there responds to an on-topic IPS question, apparently based on comments; that's not ideal either, as the question hasn't actually been edited to ask that, but it at least tackles an IPS issue.

Your answer doesn't address an IPS issue. Yes, you answered the question that was asked, "is it racist", but that's not a suitable question for this site. If you think that's the question, you should have voted (or flagged) to put the question on hold, not answered it. If somebody were to ask for help debugging his JavaScript and somebody were to actually answer that here, then it helping the OP wouldn't protect it either. Don't answer questions that should be closed if you mind your answers getting deleted.

But you didn't even give the OP any advice. Well, unless you consider the implicit "ignore it" in your answer to be advice. Answers here need to address things the OP can do, not how you feel about other parties in the interaction.

Your answer probably would have merely been flagged Not An Answer and deleted from review if not for closing. First, you extrapolate from your own opinion to all members of the group, even throwing in "I'm a Jew" as if that means anything more than whether you are offended. That's something that people looking to start arguments or defend positions do. It's the "well I'm not offended, so there must be something wrong with you if you are" tactic that leads nowhere useful. Whether that's what you were doing would have been ambiguous, had it not been for your further comments about people who "will tell you that you're a racist because you dare not think like them". It doesn't matter who you're talking about; that's soapboxing, not attempting to answer a question.

Add it all up, and I'm not surprised it got some "rude" flags and was deleted. Had it been deleted by the community through flags, by the way, you would have incurred a 100-rep penalty. The moderator who just deleted it did you a favor. You're also able to edit it and ask for undeletion, which also wouldn't have been possible if it were deleted by flags.

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  • I explained the situation and gave specific though not detailed advice "You can...". HDE was the only one who gave more detailed IPS advice, apaul's answer gave even less advice then mine did and the other 2 gave zero advice. If my answer is not an answer, all the other answers should also be deleted. I don't see how me generalizing it to all Jews is "rude" or makes it not an answer, it might be wrong but that's a reason to downvote, not delete. I explained to OP that he's not racist and that the problem is with the other person you calling it "soapboxing" is ridiculous.
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 0:22
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    @Oleg interpersonal.stackexchange.com/help/be-nice
    – apaul
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 0:38
  • @apaul Yes? I'm aware of it and follow it why did you share it with me?
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 0:41
  • @Oleg it generally explains what things are considered rude, abusive, and inappropriate.
    – apaul
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 0:42
  • @apaul And? How does it apply to me?
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 0:45
  • Also it's very ironic that you have a problem with someone declaring "I'm a Jew" in a post about antisemitism.
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 1:05
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    @Oleg I'll try once more to presume good intent. I don't have a problem with you saying you're a Jew; I have a problem with you assuming that you somehow represent the whole community.
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 1:25
  • I don't and I didn't. Me being Jewish and not being offended by it was provided as a "back it up" which is not a rule but does make an answer better. I explained in my answer that it's not offensive and because of that Jews are not going to be offended, not because I "represent the whole community".
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 1:43
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    That's the problem right there, @oleg: you saying something isn't offensive accomplishes nothing beyond starting an argument with folks who disagree. The question already implied that at least one person was offended; you can argue they shouldn't have been, but that's not an answer. Constructing a hypothetical scenario in which the problem to be solved doesn't exist isn't a solution - you've denied the askers' reality and substituted your own. They may find your world appealing... But since they must live in their own, you've still done them a disservice.
    – Shog9
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 1:57
  • @Shog9 No, Me saying it's not offensive and somebody else saying it's offensive is the same. The question directly stated that there was at least one person(the OP) who didn't find it offensive. It wasn't a hypothetical, the problem exists only it's not with OP but with the other person, realizing it and acting accordingly is a solution. How I see it and how you see it are both valid view points denying me expressing mine, making this site one sided does a huge disservice to OP, to me and to the whole SE community. I'm extremely troubled and saddened by your comment.
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 2:07
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    It is neither your responsibility nor within your power to solve a communications problem had by someone who isn't using this site, @Oleg. OTOH, if you choose to answer here then you must at least make a passing attempt to solve the communications problem had by the person asking the question you purport to answer. You've spent some time on Stack Overflow: if someone asks why their Java isn't compiling and posts a pile of C++ template code, telling them it's a bug in the Java compiler isn't helping; either tell them how to write Java or point them at a C++ compiler.
    – Shog9
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 2:15
  • @Shog9 OP is the one with the problem he accepted my answer hence he found it helpful(and 5 other people). My answer solves the problem he has, it's just not a solution you like which should be a reason to downvote my answer not delete it. A similar answer on SO would be an answer and will never be deleted meta.stackoverflow.com/q/287563/1398418 and in your analogy I did point them at a c++ compiler.
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 2:23
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    The asker still has a friend who think they're being racist, @Oleg. Unless you're envisioning a scenario where they print out your answer and triumphantly wave it in front of their friend while proclaiming, "The Internet declares you are WRONG!" ... and that that somehow ends well... I don't see any evidence that you've solved a problem here. Telling people they're right and proper is always a good way to make 'em like listening to you, but this isn't tellmewhatiwanttohear.stackexchange.com
    – Shog9
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 2:32
  • @Shog9 I answered based on how I see things. OP wanting to hear it is a coincidence. His problem is the racist remark, he gave no indication that all he cares about is what that particular friend thinks about him. Explaining to him that his remark is not racist solves the problem. Him accepting my answer proves it. I also don't understand why are we having this argument, why on earth do I need to convince you that my answer solves the problem? As long as it's an answer it shouldn't be deleted. meta.stackexchange.com/q/225370/372935 - something you once wrote...
    – Oleg
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 3:07

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