Hello Lokans,
Once again, I'm 404Lucas, this will be my second ban appeal. If you want to read my first appeal, you can do so here:
https://forums.lokamc.com/threads/404lucas-unban-appeal.9472/. 16 months ago I got banned for Hate Speech, I'm here again to apologize, explain what happened (the whole truth), and ask for forgiveness.
So, let's get into what happened and why I was banned. I, among a bunch of others, got banned as part of a major ban wave for Hate Speech, due to us having created, and promoted to our members an alliance Discord that was centered around the "n-word", and hateful, racist speech. The server name, channels, member roles, all of them incorporated the slur, and members were regularly pinged with extremely hateful messages and images by alliance leadership.
And although I didn't create these channels or roles, I was actively using them, staying willfully ignorant to the hate we were spreading. I was pinging the @nword roles in #call-to-arms, and also sending racist messages and very inappropriate GIFs in both leadership and public channels. (I'm avoiding specific examples and using words like "racist messages" and "inappropriate GIFs" not to gloss over what I did, but to keep the forums clean and Loka friendly).
And all of that got us rightfully and permanently banned. Now, I'd also like to apologize for my previous appeal, in which I downplayed my actions. I put a lot of effort into writing it, but I wasn't being entirely honest as Magpieman pointed out. I failed to mention I was spreading hate, not just passively going along with it. And I'm truly sorry for that, I should have taken accountability fully. Now, I'm no longer trying to hide anything, I've learned my lesson, and I just hope that my actions show that I have truly changed.
So, moving on to what I did after I was banned. As I mentioned in my previous appeal, I spent the first few months away from Minecraft. This was a good thing, it helped me cool down, and really think about my choices and actions. I'll be honest, at first, I really didn't think it was fair that I got banned, I blamed others, and didn't look at what I had done myself. But as time went on, after having calmed down and accepted the ban, it started to sink in how wrong I had been. It wasn't just "words", or "jokes", I began to understand the impact this hatred had, that my ignorant words and actions could really hurt someone. It's a shame that I realized this too late, and that I had already caused harm to the community. But I suppose that is how life works, sometimes you need feedback, and time, to grow as a person.
Now, it's time to apologize for my actions, especially to all the members of the alliance that were exposed to hate on a previously unseen scale, that I did not just allow to happen, but actively encouraged. And also to Loka's staff and community, for making it seem like this is a place where such extreme hatred and racism were permitted or even celebrated. I put the reputation of the server, its staff, and its players at risk with my actions, something I now deeply regret. I realize how serious what I did is, that my actions made innocent alliance members look like racists, and that I was undermining years of hard work by the staff to make Loka a fun, and welcoming place for players. I'm truly sorry for having done this.
Moreover, the staff had to waste their time investigating and banning all of us, and furthermore deal with the "aftermath", where a bunch of immature and arrogant people acted inexcusably. All of that time, effort, and energy could have been used productively to improve the server, but instead it was spent cleaning up after us.
By being entirely honest and owning up to my faults in this appeal, I hope to show that I have changed, and will no longer cause problems, but contribute positively instead. I really hope that you can see how much I have changed, and that I am let back into the community, I really miss playing with my friends.
Thank you for taking the time to read my appeal, and I hope you have a nice day.
Sincerely,
404Lucas
