Illegal alien arrivals now greater than American births?

[joshuabgood]

The people that I respect the most see the humanity in all demographics, including those on Kensington. Folks like Shane C have made their lives there loving and working with them, and he is now raising his son there.

I don't like violence, but I am not afraid of black or brown or white people.

[JohnH]

I want to acknowledge that I forgot your prior request in the moment when I clarified the post’s origin for Thomas, and I apologize for that.

OK. I would have (and planned to) PM him myself to clear it up. I would have appreciated your trust for me to do that - I've done so with many other posters.

That being said, I also want to be very clear -- I don’t believe I’m revealing any private information. "Josh" was your public username that you used on this forum for over a decade as one of its most prolific posters. The first post on this thread is by you under your old username. In that sense, I'm not revealing your real name, I'm using the username you chose and posted under thousands of posts on this forum.

I chose to stop using my real name on this forum; I asked you to respect that the last time you decided to try to use my real name anyway; you said you'd stop doing so. I think it's pretty reasonable to ask people not to use real names in a public forum if they choose not to do so. I have reasons for not wanting that. If you're willing to listen, I'd be happy to share them with you. I do feel frustrated that I have to try to justify not wanting to be doxxed in a public forum with you.

I don't think its reasonable to expect that the rest of the forum has to pretend that your previous posts don't exist, especially since you continue to post the same type of arguments, patterns and framing. This isn't about personal information. It's about the continuity of your public participation on this public forum.

I have never expected such and I responded to Bootstrap with continuity, although I didn't really appreciate him dredging up posts from the past, including complaining at me about something I'd already said I shouldn't have said with a particular phrasing and apologized for. But that's what happened. I offered to continue to speak with him about it in a PM. There wasn't any further discussion.

I also think the confusion in thread demonstrates why it's fair to clarify this. Bootstrap referred to one of your posts under your old username. Thomas Muentzer thought it referred to someone who's no longer here. Except that's not true. You are still here. You are participating in this thread. I think clarifying this is appropriate.

Could you accept it's appropriate to allow me to clarify that, instead of you? I don't think it's your job to clarify to other poasters who I am, including my real name.

Of course you can change your username, but that doesn't obligate the rest of us here to pretend your past here doesn't exist and to erase your public participation here. It's also about honesty, clarity, consistency and the history of this forum.

It's also about respecting someone who asks not to be doxxed. Szdfan, I'll be frank - this is the second time you've done this, and it's after you committed not to do it anymore. Why do you want to do something that could bring harm to me and my family?

[JohnH]

The people that I respect the most see the humanity in all demographics, including those on Kensington. Folks like Shane C have made their lives there loving and working with them, and he is now raising his son there.

I don't like violence, but I am not afraid of black or brown or white people.

I think it's ridiculous to claim that people who don't want their neighborhood to turn into Kensington are "afraid of black or brown ... people". The black and brown people I know and have known don't like living in a place that undergoes "demographic change" to become an open-air drug den.

[HondurasKeiser]

Demographic shifts, also, are nothing to be scared of. Things change.

Who’s expressing fear? I’m stating that it’s a shame.

[joshuabgood]

The people that I respect the most see the humanity in all demographics, including those on Kensington. Folks like Shane C have made their lives there loving and working with them, and he is now raising his son there.

I don't like violence, but I am not afraid of black or brown or white people.

I think it's ridiculous to claim that people who don't want their neighborhood to turn into Kensington are "afraid of black or brown ... people". The black and brown people I know and have known don't like living in a place that undergoes "demographic change" to become an open-air drug den.

I don't think I made that claim, your interpretation not withstanding. My point is demographic shift need not be something to inherently "scared of." (I already acknowledged that violence is bad and substance abuse also isn't good...but neither of those equate to demographics.) It doesn't bother me that more babies are now born to immigrants...or the pejorative term used in this thread, illegal immigrants.

And yes...fear of black and brown people is a real thing.

[joshuabgood]

“Things change” is a bit of a stretch. Would you agree that European settlers taking over North America was just “things changing”? “Nothing to be scared of” for the inhabitants who were already here?

The demographics weren't the problem. The violent imperialism was.

I think there’s a real shame in the “demographic shift” in North America irrespective of what caused it.

What is the "shame?" I find that a really significant word choice...

[joshuabgood]

Josh is John’s previous username.

I’ve asked you before not to use my real name on this forum, and you said you’d agree not to do so.

Is there a reason you are choosing to expose my real name on this forum?

I want to acknowledge that I forgot your prior request in the moment when I clarified the post’s origin for Thomas, and I apologize for that.

That being said, I also want to be very clear -- I don’t believe I’m revealing any private information. "Josh" was your public username that you used on this forum for over a decade as one of its most prolific posters. The first post on this thread is by you under your old username. In that sense, I'm not revealing your real name, I'm using the username you chose and posted under thousands of posts on this forum.

I don't think its reasonable to expect that the rest of the forum has to pretend that your previous posts don't exist, especially since you continue to post the same type of arguments, patterns and framing. This isn't about personal information. It's about the continuity of your public participation on this public forum.

I also think the confusion in thread demonstrates why it's fair to clarify this. Bootstrap referred to one of your posts under your old username. Thomas Muentzer thought it referred to someone who's no longer here. Except that's not true. You are still here. You are participating in this thread. I think clarifying this is appropriate.

Of course you can change your username, but that doesn't obligate the rest of us here to pretend your past here doesn't exist and to erase your public participation here. It's also about honesty, clarity, consistency and the history of this forum.

Exactly. I don't want to bother wasting everybody's time by rehashing the same perspectives with the same person under a 'hidden" identity.

[HondurasKeiser]

The demographics weren't the problem. The violent imperialism was.

I think there’s a real shame in the “demographic shift” in North America irrespective of what caused it.

What is the "shame?" I find that a really significant word choice...

Something similar to sad, deeply tragic.

[joshuabgood]

Could you accept it's appropriate to allow me to clarify that, instead of you? I don't think it's your job to clarify to other poasters who I am, including my real name.

But did you clarify it? I was under the impression you were somebody new...and it wasn't clarified with me even after numerous exchanges.

[Szdfan]

I want to acknowledge that I forgot your prior request in the moment when I clarified the post’s origin for Thomas, and I apologize for that.

OK. I would have (and planned to) PM him myself to clear it up. I would have appreciated your trust for me to do that - I've done so with many other posters.

That being said, I also want to be very clear -- I don’t believe I’m revealing any private information. "Josh" was your public username that you used on this forum for over a decade as one of its most prolific posters. The first post on this thread is by you under your old username. In that sense, I'm not revealing your real name, I'm using the username you chose and posted under thousands of posts on this forum.

I chose to stop using my real name on this forum; I asked you to respect that the last time you decided to try to use my real name anyway; you said you'd stop doing so. I think it's pretty reasonable to ask people not to use real names in a public forum if they choose not to do so. I have reasons for not wanting that. If you're willing to listen, I'd be happy to share them with you. I do feel frustrated that I have to try to justify not wanting to be doxxed in a public forum with you.

I don't think its reasonable to expect that the rest of the forum has to pretend that your previous posts don't exist, especially since you continue to post the same type of arguments, patterns and framing. This isn't about personal information. It's about the continuity of your public participation on this public forum.

I have never expected such and I responded to Bootstrap with continuity, although I didn't really appreciate him dredging up posts from the past, including complaining at me about something I'd already said I shouldn't have said with a particular phrasing and apologized for. But that's what happened. I offered to continue to speak with him about it in a PM. There wasn't any further discussion.

I also think the confusion in thread demonstrates why it's fair to clarify this. Bootstrap referred to one of your posts under your old username. Thomas Muentzer thought it referred to someone who's no longer here. Except that's not true. You are still here. You are participating in this thread. I think clarifying this is appropriate.

Could you accept it's appropriate to allow me to clarify that, instead of you? I don't think it's your job to clarify to other poasters who I am, including my real name.

Of course you can change your username, but that doesn't obligate the rest of us here to pretend your past here doesn't exist and to erase your public participation here. It's also about honesty, clarity, consistency and the history of this forum.

It's also about respecting someone who asks not to be doxxed. Szdfan, I'll be frank - this is the second time you've done this, and it's after you committed not to do it anymore. Why do you want to do something that could bring harm to me and my family?

I would like some clarification from the moderators. What are we supposed to do with the fact that there are thousands of posts written by JohnH under the user and “Josh?” Are we expected to ignore these posts? Are we expected to pretend that these are not the same person?

John has made it clear that he doesn’t want his prior username referenced. I forgot that when I clarified Thomas's question and I apologize for that. However, I think there's a bigger issue that needs to be addressed .

This isn’t doxxing. This isn’t private information. It’s a public username that John used on this forum for over a decade for thousands of posts, including the very first post in this thread. It’s part of the public record of this forum.

So what are the expectations here? Are the rest of us supposed to pretend those posts don’t exist? Are we being asked to act like there’s no continuity between the arguments being made now and the arguments made under that username for years?

Because honestly, that doesn’t seem reasonable to me. This forum has always functioned on the idea that what we say publicly is part of an ongoing conversation. We regularly reference each other’s post history. We hold each other accountable to our own words. That’s how forums work.

And frankly, it feels manipulative to expect everyone else to play along with pretending that history doesn’t exist, especially when the arguments being made right now are the same arguments that were made under the previous username.

There's an irony here. The person making repeated arguments that identity is fixed, permanent, and tied to ancestry is also demanding that their own identity here be treated as fluid and disconnected from the past. That’s a pretty big ask.

So I’m putting this to the mods. What’s the expectation? Because if the rule is that changing your username means your entire public post history gets memory-holed and disconnected from you, then the rest of us deserve to know that.