Why wasn’t my comment posted?

 
One of the main goals of this website is to further understanding of complex and difficult issues around oppressive systems of privilege. If you comment on an essay or other piece of writing in a way that helps deepen the analysis or that provides an opening for others to take it deeper, it should appear within a day or two. Questions are especially welcome.

Most comments that don’t get published have one or more of the following in common—

• The comment doesn’t seem to be based on a complete reading of the essay (including comments). It reads as if the author read the first few paragraphs and then either assumed they knew the rest or didn’t care. Or they may have read the whole thing but didn’t spend much time thinking about it.
• The comment responds to something that isn’t in the essay.
• The comment raises an issue that the essay already covers but without adding anything new.
• The comment doesn’t actually respond to the essay, but just uses it as an opportunity to express the author’s opinion or tell a personal story that doesn’t improve the analysis.
• The comment disagrees with the essay without giving any basis for it—e.g., “You’re wrong”—or is based on a misreading of the essay or its concepts, or depends on assertions of fact that simply are not true.
• The comment engages in personal attack or uses insulting, violent, or demeaning language directed at individuals or groups.

This site is not a public forum for opinions. It’s based on the work I’ve done for more than forty years to build a useful analysis of some of the most divisive and painful issues in this society. If you want to make a comment or raise a question that in one way or another might help contribute to that, I’ll be happy to post it.