[dang]

What you posted was obviously a slur—this was not a borderline call. You can't make pejorative generalizations about entire populations like that on HN, no matter which population, nor how you feel about them. I'm surprised to have to spell this out.

HN's rules don't change during a conflict. On the contrary, they become even more applicable: "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> So my assumption is that you just chose your side already

People frequently assume that they got banned because the moderator just disagrees with them, rather than because they broke the rules. We hear this from every side of every argument. All I can tell you is that what you posted would be just as unacceptable if it were about any other nationality. Like I said, this is not a borderline call.

Banned accounts are allowed to comment on HN, but their posts are killed by default. Users can vouch for the good comments posted by banned accounts, so the posts don't necessarily stay [dead].