META: What are the rules around asking an unanswered question again or, more to the point, what's the likelihood that an unanswered question would be answered if asked again?

by Afitter

Sorry, if this isn't labeled properly. All I could find on the Android app was flair for NSFW and Spoiler. I'm asking this meta question in relation to a question I've asked previously (linked below). This is something that I've scoured the internet for and have come up completely dry. But, I don't want to violate the rules as this one of my absolute favorite subs. Thanks!

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/cwo765/mixed_race_children_in_antebellum_us/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Commustar

What's the likelihood that an unanswered question would be answered if asked again?

Let me share 2 examples: Did the Empire of Kitara exist, and what was it? 4th try

and During the decolonization of Africa was there any serious discussion/suggestions for redrawing colonial borders - 3rd try

Both of those ended up getting answers, eventually. But they got answers for different reasons.

For the question about Kitara, I saw the question asked the 2nd and 3rd times. But, I felt the answer I could give would be disappointingly vague. A narrative of how one historian says one thing and an archaeologist says another. I wanted to read more literature to try and find out if any consensus had developed, before giving an answer.

By the 4th time the question was asked, I had done that reading, /u/Khosikulu gave an answer, so it was easy for me to say "also, there's this and this and this literature which also says X and Y and Z"

For the question about borders, I simply hadn't seen the question the first two times it was asked. But, this time I was able to write something, and build upon earlier posts I had made about this topic.

TL;DR- there is always a chance you will get an answer if you ask again.

Georgy_K_Zhukov

/u/jschooltiger covered the short of it. I would just add on two things to keep in mind. First, definitely consider a more descriptive title, as something kind of vague like that can dampen attention.

You can find some pointers on that here.

The second is that your question is asking to prove a negative, which usually is a bit tougher to do. I can say with reasonable confidence I've never read about a mass movement to murder mixed-race children in the North, and I'd like to think I've read a fair bit of literature I'd expect to have touched on that if true, but still... it can be hard to be able to respond confidently to a question like that sometimes.

jschooltiger

Our rules say that reposts are welcome as long as you wait at least 24 hours. As far as likelihood of an answer, that's unfortunately out of our control.