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valarltdI've been pissy all day, so why not blog it?
I stayed out of RaceWank09. Yes, wank. It degenerated from an important discussion to a bunch of people shouting in corners.
What I learned:
There aren't enough characters of color in genre fiction.
White writers not writing characters of color is racism by omission.
White writers writing bad characters of color is racism by comission.
White writers writing any characters of color is appropriation.
And there is no way to do it right.
Yeah, I'm a racist.
I was raised in a sundown town. My father fought in the '68 race riots with his National Guard unit. I grew up not knowing any black people. When I moved to the South, it was pure culture shock. Suddenly every face I saw on a daily basis was black. I developed some very unpleasant attitudes based on this contact. During my involvement with fandom, I refused to write characters of color. I would not vid them. I was attempting to create a media buffer zone between me and reality.
Things change. Attitudes and behavior change.
Now, I wonder...
If I write characters of color, am I fucking it up?
If I don't write them, am I omitting them from convenience, from a messed-up idea of how reality should look or as a deliberate act?
Basically, my take on RaceFail: If we're told every depiction of characters of color is wrong, but that not depicting is wrong as well, shall we then be silent?
Frankly, I've had enough of people, all colors, shapes, sizes and genders, telling me I'm doing it wrong.
I do what I do. If it doesn't suit you, find someone who does.
I stayed out of RaceWank09. Yes, wank. It degenerated from an important discussion to a bunch of people shouting in corners.
What I learned:
There aren't enough characters of color in genre fiction.
White writers not writing characters of color is racism by omission.
White writers writing bad characters of color is racism by comission.
White writers writing any characters of color is appropriation.
And there is no way to do it right.
Yeah, I'm a racist.
I was raised in a sundown town. My father fought in the '68 race riots with his National Guard unit. I grew up not knowing any black people. When I moved to the South, it was pure culture shock. Suddenly every face I saw on a daily basis was black. I developed some very unpleasant attitudes based on this contact. During my involvement with fandom, I refused to write characters of color. I would not vid them. I was attempting to create a media buffer zone between me and reality.
Things change. Attitudes and behavior change.
Now, I wonder...
If I write characters of color, am I fucking it up?
If I don't write them, am I omitting them from convenience, from a messed-up idea of how reality should look or as a deliberate act?
Basically, my take on RaceFail: If we're told every depiction of characters of color is wrong, but that not depicting is wrong as well, shall we then be silent?
Frankly, I've had enough of people, all colors, shapes, sizes and genders, telling me I'm doing it wrong.
I do what I do. If it doesn't suit you, find someone who does.
