btw, about the post you reblogged, that accuses all of the RQO mods of being racist: one of the rules of RQO was that deeper discussions about whether something in a RQ show is racist, homophobic, antisemitic, etc. were NOT allowed in the server. the reasoning for this rule is because discussions like this can easily get out of control and become long and heated arguments, and in a server of that size, with only volunteer mods who couldn't be available all day long to make sure things stayed civil, such conversations were nigh impossible to moderate, so whenever one popped up the mods would urge the people involved to take the discussion to a side server and/or email Helen Gould about their grievances. was that a good rule? can't comment on that. are the mods who were just following and attempting to enforce the server rules racist for it though? not at all.
Learning about this whole situation from the outside in, having never being in the RQO, I am taking every account with a grain of salt. I don't know any of the mods personally, nor anyone who was active in the server at the time of its shutting down.
That being said, I cannot stress enough that racism—and really any widespread bigoty—is fostered and perpetuated by systems in power. I'm not disagreeing that, in a server of that size, those discussions tended to get out of hand or become difficult to moderate. And I don't doubt that the mods were overworked, undervalued, and put in a position that was harmful to their mental health.
But individuals don't have to be prejudiced to still be racist, anti-semetic, homophobic, etc, as long as they are upholding a system that allows such rules to stand. To completely shut down critique from minority fans, without giving them the space to safely bring up these grievances in an "official" capacity, is—and I am going to comment on it—pretty fucking bad. Again, I don't know any of these people personally. But I can see all too well how that equation causes more harm for minority fans who already don't feel heard in the greater community.
