unusualmusic_lj_archive | Entries tagged with race fail 09

So apparently there is much processing to be done after Wiscon, but I need to say this loud and clear:

HEY WHITE PPL? IF YOU INSULT POC? YOU APOLOGIZE TO THE POC. I REPEAT...IF YOU INSULT POC, YOU MUST APOLOGIZE TO THE POC. Not to the white ally. HOME-TRAINING, MANNERS AND COMMON DECENCY, GET YOU SOME!

I must, after all, practice what I preach. And I cannot stand behind on the dismantling of an aspect of institutional oppression, racism, while seeing sexism, lgbt phobia, etc., running about unchecked and defended. It's hypocritical and cowardly. So I stand. I cannot be a part of

foc_u, much as I admire its aims.Intersectionality. All oppressions must be fought, or none of us will be free. And yes, as dharma_slut points out, private journals count. WTF? Race fail has been raging for the most part in private journals, for gods sake. Yes, shit gets said when people are angry. But that don't mean you get a pass. You CAN be angry without using fucked up slurs to show it. Each of us has got our issues and our blind spots. Gotta work on them. Gotta be able to see our shit and apologize and learn from it. Like that New Testament story goes, you know the one about motes and beams in our neighbour's eyes and ours...

...since there won't be any Native Americans to have already done a certain amount of prepping land for human occupation, nor to be exploited later.
Patricia Wrede, planning her abomination of a book The Thirteenth Childe in which Native Americans are blithely written out of the history of the Americas so as to allow Whites to play with mammoths. Empty land, just like the whites of history tried so hard to set up.

See more of her thoughts here

via:

dragovianknight

So someone made a list of the authors that she would avoid based on the racefail imbroglio. And many a person are having fits because this is a boycott/blacklist and boycotts are wrong because...it might hurt the author? Or maybe it reminds one of...McCarthyism/ book burning/ fascism ZOMG? I really don't get the argument that they are using.This is how I look at things.
The various authors linked to have expressed racist and sexist views unrepentantly. They have have have used descriptors of me and mine that include cunt, whore, uneducated, malignant fuckwit, troll, orc, unintellectual, witch-hunting, ignorant and too many others for me to even remember. Are you people now seriously telling me that I have no right to object to being so characterized and I am under an obligation to buy their books regardless? WHY exactly am I supposed to do that? WHY in the world should I support a person who considers me less than and other, to say the least? Who write books about me and mine that stereotype us , that make us feel like shit, and that contribuet to our dehumanization in the wider culture? What would that say about my self esteem? What would it say about myself that I, having been insulted and degraded, would now contribute to the degraders' financial surety? WHY do I need to write this post to explain HOW GODDAMNED FUCKING RIDICULOUS IT IS TO ASK TO ME
TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO DEBASE ME?!?!?!!?!?!?!

To make matters worse, some people still seem to be of the opinion that what is said on the the internet is compartmentalized and not relevant to the offline personality of the person. So according to this reasoning, apparently, the views expressed online are unlikely to flavour the characterizations of women and POC and LGBTs in their books. There are others who seem to feel that their online behaviour is a completely separate box from their offline behaviour. So apparently online behaviour is what? Not real? And meatspace beahviour is the real bit? This argument I consider to be BS of the highest order. Considering the fact that many studies have show that subconcious racism, sexism and homophobia guide our interactions, do you really expect me to believe that consciously, bluntly and subtly expressed racism, sexism and homophobia are NOT going to guide the way we see people? The way we interact with them? The way we write them? Do you think that we are complete and utter ignorant idiots? And are you really, REALLY trying to argue that online behaviour is a separate and unrelated thing to offline behavior? WTF? THEY ARE BOTH ONE PERSON'S BEHAVIOR. THEY ARE ALL PART OF ONE PERSON'S PERSONALITY.

In fact, IMO, online behavior can sometimes be a true indicator of a person's real feelings, in that because they are not looking squarely in the person's face at the time, they feel more comfortable in saying what they really think, because there is less social consequence than there would be a face-to-face confrontation. Behavior online and offline are simply different facets of the same person's personality. In fact, let me say this in a different way. People behave in different ways due to the situation. In meatspace, blatant racism, sexism and homophobia can have, depending on your location, very direct and negative social consequences directly in your face. We have this illusion of distance online because we are looking at a computer screen and not directly facing someone. Thus, we feel less connected, less at risk and therefore safer. I mean, seriously, how many times have people used the internets to expose or construct identities that they would never debut in meatspace because of the consequences? But you know what? Unless you are suffering form multiple personality disorder? ITS. STILL. YOU. Why is this so hard to understand? Even in meatspace we don't show all teh facets of our personalities to everyone. We code-switch, dont we? For instance I am not gonna act in certain ways in a business environment that I would act in a more casual environment. There are some things I won't say to my parents that I will say to some friends. I sure as hell won't discuss some topics with certain friends that I will with other friends. Its the same ME, I just show different aspects of my personality depending on the venue that I am in. Ladies and gentlemen? The world wide web is a venue. Not a different person. Your actions and saying on this venue ARE STILL YOURS. You are racist, sexist homophobic online? You are racist, sexist, homophobic offline as well. You just choose WHERE you show your racism, sexism, homophobia.

This is why I stand behind the list. I have the right to refuse to interact with people who consider me shit. I see no goddamn reason for me not have the right to refuse to support monetarily people who consider me to be shit. And I consider what I see as teh request for me to rise above the piles of FAIL squared to support these people an act of arrogance, for it priviledges their need to make a living over my need to refuse to engage with people who want to make a living sabotaging me and mine. Fuck That Shit To HELL.

Change Is Coming To Fandom

On the issue of cultural appropriation, where all this discussion started, the central disconnect I am seeing in the genre is between "this is supposed to be fiction" and authentic cultural representation. Over the past few months, I have tried, both in person and in private correspondence, to call several people on misrepresentation of the "other". Speaking generally, when I tell these people that they are deeply misrepresenting certain groups, the reply is often "but it's supposed to be fiction/I'm taking artistic liberties." When I say, "Yes but it should still be thoughtful and authentic," they retaliate with "well if that's the standard that you demand, and we're not allowed to use our imaginations to make it up, how is anyone ever supposed to write anything that's not their own personal direct experience?" at which point it sometimes gets hostile and they tell me I'm "stifling their creativity" and "against creative expression" and "censoring" them.

The impact this misrepresentation has on the misrepresented groups was, of course, ignored, overlooked, negated, and dismissed. Dismissed is often not even a strong enough word, because in those instances, the message was that I had no right to be making such "demands" or criticism of their writing and their ideas, even when I was a member of the misrepresented group myself. The message was one of, "Who are you to tell me what I may or may not write?"

So it gets all derailed and becomes all about them and their right to write (and I guess publish) these stories laden with offensive stereotypes. Let me be clear- people may write whatever they want, in the privacy of their own homes. But publishing this stuff should not be an "entitlement" in the genre- and that's where I think we are. And when you publish it, you need to be held accountable for it. The status quo privileges the author's right to engage in stereotyping, cultural appropriation and misrepresentation over the reader's right to be authentically portrayed in SF/F and the community's right to have authentic diversity in the genre.MORE

(Bold by me)

See also:

Let Me Tell You a Story

Why do we need stories? In the greater human sense, not in the bestseller, ZOMG Alan Moore is awesome sense. Storytelling is an essential human activity, a paleolithic one, hardwired into us. It's the campfire and the tribal circle, the shaman and the nomad. And while you could argue many motivations for this ritual act, I want to focus on one. One especially applicable to folklore, fairy tales, mythology--and therefor to fantasy and science fiction.

Stories teach us how to survive. They tell us that our lives can be transcendent, that we can overcome almost anything, no matter how strange, that we can go into the black wood and come out again, that the witch can be burned up in her own oven, that we can find someone who fits a shoe, that the youngest, unloved child will find their way in the world, that those who suffer can become strong, can escape, can find their way into comfort and joy again. That there are secrets, and they are always worth discovering, that there are more and different creatures in the world than we can ever imagine, and not all want to eat us. Stories teach us how to win through, how to perservere, how to live.MORE

See also Racefail Mix: but don't talk about Revolution Which includes the absolutely hilarious and spot on:

Phil Ochs - Love Me, I'm A Liberal
For the white people who think opposing racism is great as long as they don't actually have to work too hard over it. ("I voted for Obama, so nothing I do can be racist" falls under this one.)

I go to the civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
And I'm glad that the commies were thrown out
From the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
And I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
As long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberalMORE

Note to the colorblind: BE LESS BLIND

In the good things dept.:

verb_noire, a new publishing venture focused on POC, disabled, LGBT fiction is fundraising. If you can contribute, can you click "Chip In"?

Of good things that have come out of race fail 09

verb_noire

Donate

Submit

And save up cash for buying!

The right to speak anonymously constitutionally protected

Pseudonymity, as the Brodie court observed, has been a part of internet culture from the very beginning. Pseudonymity does not yield way to lawlessness because of the concept of social capital. Every person with a livejournal account builds up social capital through discourse. An individual can become a respected herald even with a name like humpmydick or two_left_toes (I made those names up and apologize in advance if these users exist and I am using their handles profanely). In some ways, the pseudonymous nature of internet connections provides a level playing field. Each individual must prove their online worth through their words and deeds and not through any phenotypical characteristic (although backstories have a way of wending themselves in one’s narrative).

Even beyond the inherent double sided nature of an author speaking out against pseudonyms is the false argument that there is no accountability for those who use pseudonyms. The voice behind the pseudonym is well known. I think if I shut down Dear Author today and started up another blog, it wouldn’t be but a few weeks before someone would figure out the voice behind the other blog.

...
MORE

Nicely constructed timeline:featuring derails

I am not the moderator

A moment of contemplation AKA The Yelling Class

You Can't Spell RaceFail without "I". There be snark in this here LJ

Conservative Fantasy

Publishing By Omission

And, then, of course, there is the recent fail of fails, POC pain as social experiment and info for book writing...

Thanks to all the posters!

sparkymonster and

delux_vivens weigh in

From: Links for me and links for you

Stones on my chest

This is what racism is to me as a young Asian woman: racism is hundreds of stones on my chest.

A stone for every time a racial slur is thrown my way.

A stone for every time achieving a goal is harder because of my race.

A stone for every time I am pushed/assumed/written/declared out of the sphere of what is considered Australian.

A stone for my white mother, who said to me last week but I've always thought of you as white.

A stone for my white father, who said to me yesterday CHINA. WORLD POWER. TERROR. FEAR. RESOURCES. INVASION. NOT LIKE US. INSCRUTABLE. MERCILESS. GROUP-THINK. COMMUNISTS!!!!!!! P.S YUM CHA IS DELICIOUS.MORE

Go read the whole thing

Listen. Hear That?

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

We Wear the Mask

WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

rest of post here

So, Ms. Bear has decided to explode any remaining goodwill that she might have retained from the ongoing MOTHER-OF-ALL-SCI-FI-RACE-FAILS-09.

I think these are the best quotes of the whole thing.

It's my fault because I accepted criticism of my book that I knew to be untrue, that I knew to be based on a shallow and partial reading (a reading of the first chapter of a 160,000-word novel), because I felt it was important to serve as an example of how to engage dialogue on unconscious institutional racism.

I wanted to be part of the solution, and make it a teaching experience, rather than responding with hurt and defensiveness. I wanted the dialogue to be about racism and how to combat it, rather than about me.

...

Let's just all shut up for a little bit and think about what we've learned--those of us of good conscience, anyway, those who really are interested in productive dialogue, those who care about social justice and making sure all voices are heard.

So this author decided to nobly sacrifice herself on the altar of those mean, unreasonable POC in order to serve as an example to one and all of how to engage in dialogue on unconscious institutional racism?. Really? And then you decided that you could have your cake and eat it too by allowing your friends to serve as the defenders of your white virtue, while you lay down and played the martyr? Did you expect a cookie? Did you really think that we were that stupid? Did you not think that we wouldn't demand that you walk the walk as well as talk the talk? Really now? Did you really think that you could get away with building your progressive credibility so easily by walking on our backs? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! My dear child, if that was what you thought? If you though you could pull the wool over our eyes with that pathetic display? You completely underestimated us. You think we haven't seen that and worse before? Like

bossymarmalade said in what is a strong contender of the post of the year award...

You see, I couldn't just decide not to have a conversation about race anymore, because it follows me home. My race issues ARE my home.

We have seen it all before. Heard it all before. So fuck that noise and get off your cross. We need the wood for recycling.

As as for that last bit that I quoted? Let me make one thing clear. Who thehell do you think you are, trying to set the boundaries on this situation? HELL NO, we won't stop talking, and organizing and doing our own shit and critiquing, and shunning and boycotting where necessary, and in general orcing the hell out when we like, as we like. Take your "teaching" and your "dialogue" and shove it. To hell with your "voice", its been heard, and that overmuch, as well. In case you didn't know, WE defined the word "social justice" and we sure as hell know and live its meaning a HELL of lot better than you, Ms. White Matyr for the Cause! We POC are the definers, the people who run this conversation, not the defined, and we refuse to take your shit. We will combat you and your companions BS, all of us, college educated or not, pseudonymously or not. You can't scare all of us off. We will keep coming. AND you know what? We. will. win.

ETA:

ithiliana Niceness:Highly Overrated

asim brings the smackdown with an edition of Teh R-word in which Martin Luther King calls white progressives on their shit. Funny the stuff that gets confines to a black memory hole, ain't it.

stoneself Point/Counterpoint

Not enough spoons in the world

You know, I'd already been avoiding B & N's scifi fantasy pile, due to lack of diversity (only white people are ever in space or in fantasy worlds, apparently) and very, very derivative plots. With this clusterfuck? Excuse me while I simply toss these jackasses overboard and stick to POC writing for the most part from now on. Amazon.com and small presses on the internets will be my friends. We'll build our own shit and actively starve the beast. May it have to eat its own tail.

See

rydra_wong for the latest shenanigans, which are myriad and rage-inducing.