(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] elucidate-this.livejournal.com at 06:33pm on 27/04/2008
So a lot of people are saying the things I'd be saying to you about GCH and CoC in fandom so I won't bother but there is something in your comment that i think needs to be remarked on:

I just wasn't looking for it, as issues of race don't play in to my daily life. Maybe it's an American thing.

If you think issues of race don't play into your daily life you are simply not paying attention. Race and racism are everywhere even though white folks are often blind to those issues. It doesn't mean the issues aren't impacting you every day it just means you aren't aware of them because you have the privilege of not being aware of them. I'm making an assumption you are white here (because the vast majority of people I've encountered who say that race doesn't play into their lives are white), and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong btw.

Racism isn't just an American issue. Being Canadian doesn't give you a get out of racism free card. A ten second google search gave me access to a ton of information about racism in Canada (http://www.hopesite.ca/remember/history/racism_canada_1.html).
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ext_58859: (me: sunset canyon)

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] xcarex.livejournal.com at 07:48pm on 27/04/2008
Look, fine, to you I'm an ignorant white Canadian. I'm fully aware there is racism in my country, and I don't think that being white makes me totally blind to it.

Sure, I'm all Scandinavian blood on my mother's side and some bizarre mixture of Scottish/Irish/French Huguenots on my dad's so I'm not even a little bit anything else, I can't cling to some "one-sixteenth whatever". And it'll just sound assinine if I start talking about how my group of friends is so diverse, because what this whole discussion is supposed to come down to is what boys we like to slash and how having never written any smut about Travis or Gabe apparently makes me a bad person.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] vylit.livejournal.com at 11:48pm on 27/04/2008
Seriously? No one called you ignorant or racist. You're behaving like this is ABOUT YOU, and it really, really isn't. It's fandom-wide. It's all over. No one has said that you're ignorant or racist, and in fact, people have gone OUT OF THEIR WAY to make sure that your feelings weren't hurt in this discussion. No one called you a bad person, so I have to say that when a person of color or group of people say, "hey, fandom, this isn't on. has anyone noticed how we're treating people of color?" and you come and say they have it wrong, that they're making something about race when according to you -- the person that doesn't even read GCH fic in the first place and therefore doesn't actually KNOW -- it isn't about race, that's offensive.

No one said that you're a bad person, ignorant, racist, or an asshole, so stop acting like you're being attacked. This is a discussion, not an attack. You came into a discussion and said that the poster is wrong, that those who believe that race is informing people's choice to write or not write characters are wrong, but when other people try to give you context, you say that we're all ganging up on you. Do you see why that's a problem?

People of color in fandom can't actually talk about race issues in fandom because (a) white people come in and tell them they're wrong and (b) make the situation all about them, ignoring how racism within fandom affects people of color in fandom, and acting like they're being attacked even when they're not.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] elucidate-this.livejournal.com at 12:31am on 28/04/2008
I didn't say you were an ignorant Canadian. I said you were blind to race issues. It wasn't intended to be a personal attack. It took me years to see the way that race had a constant impact on my life.

I don't think your whiteness is what makes you blind to racism, I think the fact that you said race didn't play into your everyday life indicates that you are blind to it. I'm not saying you are a bad person, I'm saying you probably aren't paying attention.

I can see where the volume of response you got to what you probably saw as a fairly inconsequential comment can be overwhelming and where you might feel attacked. I highly doubt that was anyone's intention, it certainly wasn't mine.
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