two sad things about the race meta going on

[tielan]

The second-saddest thing about this whole discussion of race and racism in fandom?

It took someone comparing interracial relationships with bestiality to get any discussion about racism really jumping.

It actually took someone more or less stating (intentional or not) that non-whites are not people, are animal, sub-human, lesser, inferior, and filthy, to make fans who've previously decried and denied any need for race discussions ("I'm white and not racist, so racism isn't my problem") to say, "This is unacceptable."

The saddest thing? I suspect that a lot of fans will completely miss the underlying issue - not the racism itself, but the response to the accusation.

It's not that the D-D mods (and community) are racist. It's not that they used the word 'miscegenation' in ignorance of it's history. It's not even that they used the word to put white person/non-white person pairings alongside human/non-human pairings.

It's the way they responded upon having it pointed out that the term was blatantly racist, or that lumping white/non-white in with human/non-human was insulting:

1. We're not racist!
2. There was no racist intent!
3. We won't change the prompt, because that goes against our principles!
4. The problem is yours, because you're taking our interpretation of the word the wrong way!
I used nardasarmy's phrasing of the D-D mods' attitude from this post.

Which isn't all that different from most knee-jerk reactions to accusations in fandom. Rather than take a look at themselves, examine their work, examine their mentality, examine their assumptions, most people prefer to point the finger at the person bringing the issue to them. "Not my fault but yours!"

It's easier to point the finger, I'll grant. I've done it before - used offensive terms in innocence, expressed offensive opinions unconsciously - and then told or implied to the person bringing me the issue that it's not my problem but theirs. I've also paused, reconsidered, apologised, and reworded so as not to cause offence where none was intended.

I'll probably point the finger again sometime in the future, self-awareness notwithstanding. But, hopefully, when I fall, there'll be thoughtful people who'll grab me, haul me up and say, "You might want to watch out for that next time" rather than let me stumble, roll their eyes with their friends and sneer, "Oh my god, what an idiot!"

And to the people who pick me up and help dust me off with kindness and consideration, I'll say, "Oh, jeeze, I'm sorry. Thanks for the head's up." And we'll continue on together.

--

Incidentally, for people willing to challenge themselves, their perceptions, and their fandom experience, next week is International Blog About Race Week (IBARW). Details are up over at oyceter's LJ.

Comments

[tielan]

Just to qualify, I didn't say that it was necessary for everyone to say something.

But there were people during the last few sets of discussions/meta about race who were all "racism isn't my problem to address" and I've noticed a few of those names rethinking, as well as some people who were all, "I never thought about it before."

I don't always have something to say when meta breaks out, but I know there are a few people who read this LJ who don't read too many other LJs. So I point the way around to other discussions, and hope that it gets people thinking.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know you didn't say that everyone had to comment! What I'd drawn from the first part of your post, though, is that remaining quiet, not commenting on a thing like that, conveys a sort of tacit acceptance of the behavior in question. I thought that was the sort of behavior you were talking about -- not people *saying* "It's not my problem", but people *implying* that it wasn't their problem by going on about their usual fannish activities without speaking up to say "This is wrong." However, reading back, I can see that you didn't really say this at all; it wouldn't be the first time I've jumped to conclusions based on what I *thought* I read rather than what was actually there...

Anyway, I was actually agreeing with what I'd thought you wrote ... which you didn't ... so, shutting up now. *g*

[tielan]

*G*

Well, I think that getting involved in the dialogue is a good place to start as well. Doesn't do any harm to make it clear that you believe the issues of racism in fandom worth considering - assuming that you do, of course!

As I said, for me, providing links and pointers for my f-list makes it reasonably clear that I believe this is something worth thinking about and questioning - in fandom, in society, in myself - and inviting others to do likewise.