Goddamn, that was racist.

[hackthis_archive]

I want to start this post by saying a) I do not participate in Supernatural fandom b) I am a black person c) I have not read the story that started this week's Race Fail Brouhaha -- and let's be honest, it is only TWF (This Week's Fail, because that's just how this works). But I did read the informative post made by bossymarmalade. And trust me. That was plenty.

I have also read subsequent posts both on my reading list and in the (very) wide fandom universe. Some have made me so blind with rage I've had to go outside. And some, like this one from tevere and the one she linked to by facetofcathy have made me go, "Thank you, ladies, you are better people than I, because mostly I think 'The more things change, the more nothing changes what. so. ever.'"

And I say all this to say:

I am a Person of Color. I am not your Racism Police.

Nor is any other Person of Color your Racism Police.

We were not put here to tell you when you are being a racist asshole. We are not here to be the back drop for your great romance. We are not a fucking background. We are PEOPLE. We are born, we live, we love, we die. We bleed just the same as any. body. else.

Just because you may not encounter a PoC in your daily life does not mean we are tiny people living in your TV that only start dancing around for your entertainment.

People of Color are not here for your entertainment.

We are not here to be your plot points or to be your One Minority Friend That Proves That You Are Totally. Not. A. Racist.

We are not birds. We are not exotic.

Our cultures. Not exotic.

So every time you ask to touch our hair because it looks different, or rub our skin as though the color might come off; and every time you ask what extraction we are, where our parents are from (implying that we obviously are "not from around here") or say we're pretty since we're mixed;

Every time you think, "These people are so *other* from me they must need a good white person to save them," -- and you know who you are (especially you, Hollywood) -- you are being a racist dick.

Point of fact, however, you don't have to be white to be racist. Anybody can be a racist. In fact, every time there's one of these Race Fail Tempests you inevitably get people asking, "Well, how am I supposed to know when I'm being racist?"

If you have to ask if you are being a racist, do I have to finish the rest of this sentence?

We are not small-eyed, thick-accented, Spanglish speaking or dark-skinned just to give you something to talk about. To give you something to compare yourself to and find yourself superior. We are not here for your artistic merit.

I don't care if your feelings are hurt today, I will still be a Person of Color tomorrow.

And yet, this still isn't going to change anything. It never changes anything. And why does it never change anything? Because people are making this into a theoretical discussion when it's not. These are people. Real fucking people. And these things really happened. And they caused a lot of fucking tragedy. The earthquakes? They happened. Colonialism? It happened. Blood diamonds. They happen. The wiping out of entire cultures by a bunch of greedy explorers. War in the name of oil or minerals (heads up, Afghanistan), the new land or spices or genocide. That shit happened. It keeps happening. It was not made up by six white guys in a air-conditioned office on the Warner Brothers back lot in Burbank drinking Diet Coke.

These things are happening now. And they will keep on happening. And just because they haven't happened to you in particular does not make them any less true, any less valid, or there to be exploited just for your amusement.


So I'm going to save the rest of my breath to cool my porridge and let Dave Chappelle say it best, because truly, "you ever have something happen that was so racist, that you didn't even get mad, you were just like, DAMN, that was racist."

Comments

[liederkreis.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post. I can't really think of anything to say, except that it shouldn't even be necessary to point out what you did. My brain still hasn't moved past stunned speechless on this.

[sharksdontsleep.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Now if I can find a way to phrase this that's a little more...succinct.

[ricochet]

I've never been so glad to be out of a fandom in my life.

Beyond the shallow relief of that though, Hell Fucking Yes to the rest of what you said. So much yes. It's not-- I can't even...

It's not that I don't understand how this happens, 'cause I do. But I can never get my voice to work around this issue, I end up too angry and too hurt sometimes to make words. So thank you for your eloquence.

If it's not too huge an imposition, may I use a quote from this in an icon? Full credit to you for where it comes from of course. 'Cause there's another head on this hydra I can't avoid anymore, and I'm going to be partially incoherent, but um, I think it might help me keep talking to have

"We are not birds. We are not exotic.

Our cultures. Not exotic."

in the corner of the screen while I try to form sentences.

Not that any of that means you should let me use your words if you don't want to.

Again, thank you for posting this. (Also, the Dave Chappelle clip is awesome even as it's awful.)

Re: She was majorly insensitive and stupid; but...

[nimbrethil.livejournal.com]

YOU aren't trying to see things from their angle. Drop the self-righteous, condescending tone, how 'bout it?

Re: She was majorly insensitive and stupid; but...

[nimbrethil.livejournal.com]

Shyeah. The fact that more than one person is angry for similar reasons, and has similar thoughts on the subject does not mean they're engaging in groupthink.

Drop the concern troll crap and consider what you're asking them to do. Your whole "she was majorly insensitive, but" line speaks volumes, because you're giving token acknowledgment to the way that writer fucked up, but then going on at length to twist the subject into NOT being about how she screwed up but how everyone else should "get over it." The only thing you're trying to do here is change the subject into what YOU feel is more important.

I'm a white mcwhiteperson with scads of privilege I didn't ask for and don't deserve, and I gotta say, you are displaying the most egregious example of privilege blindness I've seen in quite a while. It's not for you or me or any other person lacking a PoC perspective to tell any PoC how to react, and when enough is enough.

Right on.

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

Seriously, dude, just seriously. Thank you for this post.

[noelia-g.livejournal.com]

Hi. I have friended you, mostly for fics and thinky thoughts, I hope you don't mind. I'm mostly quiet and well-behaved, with occasional explosions of glee...

Here via metafandom.

[kylenne.livejournal.com]

All I have to say is word. To all of this. And to laugh at the use of Dave because seriously, that's all I could think of when I first heard about this hot mess (I am also black and not in SPN fandom).

I don't care if your feelings are hurt today, I will still be a Person of Color tomorrow.

I want to shout this from the goddamn rooftops. And on the topic of being the One Minority Friend? There's been more than one white friend in fandom I've had to cut loose because of that sort of foolishness. Because--and I know I don't have to tell you this--it's kind of hysterical how people like that will eventually show their ass. Like clockwork. And how everyone else will run to their defense (http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2010/06/rush-to-aid-of-crying-white-instigators.html).

As an aside, if we're expected to be "Racism Police" the least these douchebags could do is let us wear a bad ass uniform.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

a) If an icon will make you feel better, make 50. Help yourself. :)

b) One of the things I've always appreciated about Dave Chappelle's stand-up work is that he tells it like it is. Really and truly and people laugh, but they laugh because you have to, because you know what he's saying is true. And sad. And devastating. I was never a fan of his TV show, but one of the reasons he said he stopped doing the show is because he felt that white people were laughing, but they weren't getting the point. The racism stuff he was talking about was true and they were just glossing it over because to them it was just comedy. Racism is not comedy.

[freedomyell.livejournal.com]

This was thought provoking and I loved reading it.
I friended you because of your Iron Man fic I just read.
I have no idea what went on because I am not a Supernatural fan myself. I never could get into it - however, I think you are right. You said it so eloquently as well. I'm impressed.