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

[aubade-saudade.livejournal.com]

i (a PoC) do participate in the Supernatural fandom, a newb really, and i learned of this from a rec. i repeat: A REC. i was reading the rec and it was like getting wacked in the face by a hot poker, and then i just felt numb, and have been laughing about it ever since... which is basically what i do every time this sort of thing happens. it's laughter or homicide, basically.

then the anonys started getting riled up and i felt hope again for the human race. seriously. i've seen this kind of fic go down smooth like butter in other fandoms. the fact that it makes people incensed in this one, is a good sign, no? i don't know.

sing it, sistah. maybe the more people say this is wrong the more it will convince the people still hung up on the fact that people are being "mean about it" that there is no way to make racism pleasant. yeah. =/


sorry for all the edits.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

Nothing to add, just wanted to say I fully agree with and appreciate this post.

[causeways.livejournal.com]

Thanks for making this post, for taking the time to write this even though of course it is nowhere close to your job to educate people.

[random-flores.livejournal.com]

Word.

[oh-mcgee.livejournal.com]

The world makes me cry, man. Way too frequently.

[penguinparity.livejournal.com]

A-fuckin-men.

[sugargroupie.livejournal.com]

Ahaha. Oh Dave, keeping it real.

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

Yeeees, this so much. Thanks for making this post.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

The thing that got to me the most was the language bit. People who speak languages you don't know are still fucking talking, even when you don't understand them.

[thexpuzzler.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say thank you, and it does change things. I can only speak of myself, but I learn from every post you make about issues like this one, any issues, but specifically racism, and I appreciate every sentence of it so much. So thank you.

[sharksdontsleep.livejournal.com]

queeniegalore and I've been going back and forth about how this topic can/should be approached in GK fandom, but I think you (and tevere) just said it. Thank you for this.

"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?

EXACTLY. I've been a bit dismayed at the number of posts that are essentially, 'Please tell me if I fail.'" If I see something, I'm probably gonna say something, but I'm direct and blunt. That's not anyone's responsibility but the OP's and their collaborators', though it is a product of pervasive (fannish and nonfannish) privilege culture.

My fear from this whole mess is that people AREN'T going to write about characters of color for fear of offending - and be, well, racist by the nature of exclusion.

So, what I need to really say about this I can't articulate, so I just want to say, again, thank you.

[redheadaholic.livejournal.com]

Oh, for god's sake. I remember when someone threw out the idea of a Haitian adoption story for Brad/Nate in the GK community right after the first earthquake hit and everyone was all "have you lost your mind?!" Anyway, I have no words. Thank you for having so many that are so eloquent.

[tevere.livejournal.com]

I've been a bit dismayed at the number of posts that are essentially, 'Please tell me if I fail.'"

the_grynne and I were having a chat about this yesterday. As you (and hackthis) point out, it's clearly not the responsibility of minorities or POC or anyone else who's been Othered to point out Fail -- the ultimate responsibility for recognising fail are people themselves. But what we think might be useful about these little 'please tell me if I fail' disclaimers that we're starting to see at the bottom of pieces of meta (and, to a lesser degree, attached to fiction) is that they're helping to create a culture where criticism of racefail is welcomed. Or at least accepted. Too many times we find something objectionable and just backbutton away, because we know if we try and point it out, it'll just end with the OP being all defensive and angry, and-- well, we have better things to do than be called names on the internet when we try and raise a reasonable objection to something someone's written. But a person who writes that disclaimer is (to my mind), more aware that his or her privilege has the potential to produce something offensive, more willing to hear about it, and (at least on the face of it) more willing to change his or her future behaviour.

I'm not saying this will End Racism in Fandom OMG! But we're already starting to see more discussion of these issues than we ever have previously -- I'd like to see that continue.

I am not white, and I have racefailed more often than I'd like to admit. I'm called out by both my POC and white friends on that failure. White people don't have a monopoly on fail -- racism is institutionalised in the cultures we live in, and so I feel what we had better start doing is admitting it's a problem, talking about it, educating ourselves and increasing our awareness out these issues (thus taking personal responsibility, not trying to push it back onto 'Oh, it's the racist system'), and telling everyone we're happy to be informed when we do (inevitably) fail.

[sharksdontsleep.livejournal.com]

GAH. I'm going to apologize in advance for this essay of a comment.

You make a good point, particularly about people's receptivity to criticism. It's a good starting point for discussion and change, absolutely.

I think I'm having an issue w/ the transfer of responsibility. If I fail, I want my friends (RL or internet or whatever) up in my shit about it, because people should be open to criticism. But it's not their responsibility to do so.

I have a disclaimer on my LJ that says concrit welcome - maybe I should expand that saying concrit encouraged...and something along the lines of:

"If I suck, let me know, but it is in no way your responsibility to tell me, just know that I won't be offended or angry but will probably say 'thank you' and change it or at least try to discuss it with you. I won't do a non-apology apology, or tell you you hurt my little feelings or whatever, because I am a grown-ass woman and I can deal with being an imperfect product of an imperfect society and also, am a person who should self-monitor and may have failed and would like to hear your thoughts."

But, you know, eloquent and stuff.

In terms of the "you don't have to be white to be racist," agreed, but it helps, esp. in the US. I have no idea where the OP who wrote the story is from, but I can only speak to my experience and that's in the US. I live in a majority minority city in the US, meaning the people in power in local politics are POCs, but the US is what it is in terms of power dynamics.

I've heard a lot of white people here complain about "reverse" racism, which is generally code for "I don't know what I'm talking about and POC called me on it and didn't treat me like I am a special snowflake." So...there are POCs here biased/discriminatory against white people, but I feel like you need a real power element to make it from discrimination into racism. So, this is obvs. flavored by my own experience.

Of course, you could pretty much do a Ctrl+F and replace "white" with any dominant culture, so there you go. Which is my long-winded way of saying: AGREED.

And yes, failure is inevitable, but the backlash doesn't have to be.

Lastly, 16 Days in September is one of my favorite GK stories. I read your post about how it would compare as an original fic, and I would read either story, but was glad of the opportunity to read the one you wrote. The OCs were indelible, and you had both a closeness to and a distance from the events that made the story immediate without being exploitative. My two cents.

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

As a middle-class Asian who now speaks English as a first language, I've had my fair share of !failing and being !failed against. I remember years of bullying in primary school when I first arrived in Australia from China; and there also being times when I have looked at other Asian migrants and thought "I'm not like them," with a feeling of gladness. Characters I'm drawn to writing are inevitably like me - between two cultures - which on the one hand makes me susceptible to being doubly blind, and on the other, I think can be an opportunity to be hyper-critical and reflexive of both sets of prejudices.

"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?

I'm trying very hard to see both sides of this, coming from the background that I do. I've been yo-yo'ing between abject dispondency and faint hope these last few days: the part of me that agrees that "nothing has changed, we're as bad as ever", and the other part that argues, "but how can I change myself?"

No, it's not any of our responsibility to call out racefail when we encounter it, but at the same time, I do think that silence is a form of complicity. It's saying that you're too tired, too indifferent or too embarrassed to make a fuss, that you're willing to accept the stereotypes and the ignorance; and that is damaging for everyone. I don't think racefail breaks a fandom community. I think the only time we actually come together and are a community is when we're putting ourselves on trial; but if we immediately fall back into cynicism and complacency then it really will have made no difference at all.

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

I remember that plot bunny! I also remember being proud of the fact that people immediately called his/her out on it.

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

I'm still a little astounded that this fic made it past the artist, the betas, the mods and some adoring fans in spnpermanon before someone stood up and said, 'This shit is wrong, y'all.'

[penguinparity.livejournal.com]

A lot of people have been asking how it passed so many people before any flags went up and I ended up writing a post about it, but the short version is pretty much: racism and white privilege are so ubiquitous in our culture that a story like this isn't new for a lot of white folk in the dominant culture, the outcry against it is.

Which is a crying fucking shame.

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

Oh that is just wrong. (Thanks for the heads up, I am reading your post!)

I'm usually very passive about my WoC-ness, but sometimes I wonder if what I need to do is get in more people's faces about it.

She was majorly insensitive and stupid; but...

[shezan.livejournal.com]

You realise the woman has by now been receiving death threats, yes? I think a step back is more in order.

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

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I do not speak for anybody else and I certainly have not been brandishing death threats. I am not responsible for anyone else's behavior, and I will certainly not step back from talking about something that is important to me and my life or something that I endure every damn day.

[sharksdontsleep.livejournal.com]

No, it's not any of our responsibility to call out racefail when we encounter it, but at the same time, I do think that silence is a form of complicity. It's saying that you're too tired, too indifferent or too embarrassed to make a fuss, that you're willing to accept the stereotypes and the ignorance; and that is damaging for everyone. I don't think racefail breaks a fandom community. I think the only time we actually come together and are a community is when we're putting ourselves on trial; but if we immediately fall back into cynicism and complacency then it really will have made no difference at all. *NODS.*

I agree - there is complacency in silence. If I pledge to "see something, say something," I guess I want a pledge that people will also practice some self-reflection and self-policing and not EXPECT that POCs are responsible for policing fandom. So, if I pledge to say something and self-monitor and self-police, will others do the same? Can we get some kind of fandom pledge along the lines of the warnings pledges people were putting up during an earlier fail? Does that even make a little sense?

I know I have and will failed and that my life experiences certainly do not make me immune from FAIL because no one's do, and especially not mine. But I think the only thing that we can change is ourselves, so there's that, so I want to think of some way to post this as an invitation to discussion on my LJ. I'm tired and my words are coming out wrong. Does this again make sense?

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

[sparky77.livejournal.com]

She was racist. It's okay to say. It's doesn't mean she's an irredeamably bad person. It just means she fucked up. But the point is that the kind of racism that she displayed in that story hurts people. Those little bits of unintentional racism add up and destroy lives and it's not okay to be silent about it. I feel for anyone who fucks up publically. Making mistakes is never fun and it's even worse when you make that mistake in public, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be held accountable for her actions. Learning hard truths is not a nice process. It does not happen in civilized, polite conversations. It's ugly and messy and there are often tears involved, but we all need to learn because the racism in the world right now is not okay and stopping it starts with speaking out against things like this story.

[incoherenteye.livejournal.com]

I have lots of words to say about this, like I agree with you, and more, but all I can really think of is :(((.
yeah. :(((.

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

[anywherebeyond.livejournal.com]

Nobody here is threatening her. When you make an error of magnitude, people are going to discuss it. Reasonable people having a reasonable discussion aren't the ones who need to step back.