Even comments that are "borderline" can be insidious over time. Is simply deleting comments enough to show that StackExchange is pro-minorities and pro-respectful discourse? Suspensions create resentments, and leave most users asking themselves "why" and "whatever happened to free speech"?

Be careful, people with just an average quota of intelligence will masquerade their bigoted ideas as "constructive criticisms". SE cannot change people's "enthusiasms"

@Mari-LouA What do you propose then? Who gets to judge in that instance what crosses the line? The mods have always been the ones to do this...

@Magisch good question. I don't pretend to have the solution, so I don't know. But if someone is a bully, a troll, a bigot, or a racist the condemnation must be swift. They must be aware that they will not enjoy notoriety or reap any benefits by snarkily demeaning people. That condemnation, first and foremost, should come from the community itself, but I'm not seeing it. Flagging is silent but I also understand the necessity for it to be anonymous. So, when I see words of hypocrisy and unfairness, I try to speak out. The mods should not be alone.

@Mari-LouA All you're doing in that instance then is giving the behavior more visibility. Stack has always been about resolving problems as quietly as possible so as to not introduce noise into the Q/A. By calling out people in comments, you only generate more work for the moderators once everything is slated to be cleaned up so it can be reused later as searchable online ressource, though. I'm not sure how to square these two contradictory targets.

@Magisch then comments should self-delete after 24 hours.

@Mari-LouA Sounds like an idea for a feature request post if you feel it could be an improvement.

@Magisch no. You cannot take away a "privilege" once it's been given. Nobody would agree with it. Let me repeat myself, I don't pretend to have the solution. We should basically be kinder to one another, and simply ignore those who drive us up the wall :)

@Mari-LouA I'm confused. Do you think self deleting comments would be a good idea or no? If you believe they are, then in order to get that implemented, you'll need community support and a feature request. If you believe they'd never do it, then it's kind of futile to suggest anyways.

@Magisch So what's your proposal? You asked me first, which suggests that you are not entirely convinced by the current system. Or are you?

I think we ought to be really careful with labeling people and their intentions and instead focus on behavior. I think stack exchange is not really built for or can support public callouts of bad behavior. This stuff has always been handled behind the scenes

Definitions vary, stack is a extremely diverse place with so many sometimes really vastly different cultures that it's impossible to make a "one size fits all offensive" definition. So we gotta be able to build understanding. This is best done by subtle hints and private conversation so people get the hang of it eventually

If someone refuses, more drastic action can still be taken