silver

community.livejournal.com/fanficrants/9803928.html

*moan*

I was going to post a feel-happy, look-a-pretty-book, isn't life wonderful? sort of post. I suppose not. I bring this to you because the person in question was ignorant, and that's the last time I ever want anyone to use that excuse for racism again.

If you're not in fandom, you might've missed this. An author posts a story set in Haiti during the earthquake, accompanied by really, really cringe-inducing portrayals of actual Haitians, many of who are still suffering. This is, apparently, to further the relationship between two of the characters. See link lower for context (the round up has a large number of commenters, as well as the link to the original.)

A lot of people, most more eloquent than I, have already gone through and processed this, torn it open and looked at the racism and the bad taste, and have offered their own commentary. I was going to sit on my hands and read, but then there was a sentence in her apology that really, really ticked me off.

' [I see how the] portrayals can be seen as unflattering,"

No. NO.

Unflattering connotes vanity, self-image, trivial, skin-deep. Unflattering is used to describe clothes: "Oh, that dress really doesn't flatter your figure, dear." 

People are not objecting to the fact that all your characters aren't saints. Excuse the capslock, but THEY ARE POINTING OUT THE RACISM THAT IS INHERENT IN THE INTERACTIONS THAT YOUR PROTAGONIST HAS WITH HAITIANS. These are people, they are living through an immense tragedy, and a decency to understand that their pain is not OK for you to exploit for your story--you're missing that.

Semantics? Maybe. But I think it shows what the author truly thinks, and that word--"unflattering portrayals"--is indicative of their attitude towards this. I don't think they get it.

amazonziti has a beautiful round-up of links, but warning: if you value a rage-free day, avoid the direct quotes. It is bad. Very, very bad. Don't look.

I have slowly been making my way through Racefail 09, of last year. And it is disgusting that I find on fanficrants the same arguments, the same excuses and "I'M NOT RACIST STOP PICKING ON ME" attitudes that were hashed and rehashed last year brought up all over again.

Here is one statement that I found enlightening. "There ARE no races [swear] (at least that is our stance in europe, I know some us-americans heart and embrace races) so why should it matter what color I am?" I've taken out the swearword because this journal is not closed in any way, but that is otherwise the quote, word for word.

Biologically? Yes, there may not be a distinction between races. Maybe in physiology, there is no difference.

But this has absolutely no bearing on a discussion of racism, because all it does is tell people who are trying to speak up that their issues are worthless. You do not eradicate racism this way. Differences in humans may not exist scientifically, but they exist in my society, in your society. Stop trying to silence people.

It's not easy, nor is it painless to be called a racist. But maybe you ought to reflect before replying: "Am I coming off as racist? Did I mean what I say?" If what they said was untrue, move on. Don't go down in a flounce.

If you have the right to say blatantly racist statements (not the above, though it's coming close), then I have the right to say that you're being racist, and to STOP NOW. Free speech runs both ways.