And we're hypocritically together ever after!

[dmitchell1985]

Note: Crossposted directly from my IJ

So, I've been thinking about this today and last night about fandom's latest obsession with racism and how it is Evil. (Capital 'e' and everything.) But then I got to thinking about just how hypocritical fandom is at the same time and I had to wonder why do we even take up these causes?

Comments

[chvickers]

One of the interesting things I found in the racial discussion was that the people who were screaming and hollering the loudest about racism failed to notice their own US-centrism and even their own racism.

In one discussion someone bitterly complained about three fans who didn't know that Blair Sandburg, a character on The Sentinel, was Jewish. After all, his name was indisputably Jewish and could never be anything else, right? When I pointed out that the fans were Swedish, and Sandberg (spelled differently but sounding the same) is a Christian name in parts of Sweden, I was cut down: those fans were still horribly anti-Semitic and anyone who said otherwise was just trying to make excuses. (It later turned out that the character wore a cross in the first season, which means that if he was portrayed as Jewish in later seasons it was likely a retcon.)

But no, if Americans think something is a certain way the rest of us have to bow down because that's the way it is, and thinking otherwise is racist. Because Americans are always right.

[angelhunter]

Don't you dare to criticise Americans!

Next thing you know you'll wake up and have an invasion army on your doorstep.

[dmitchell1985]

Strangely enough, this made me laugh. That's not exactly true, but you have to be careful of what you say of all governments. It's not unusual, from what I've heard, for a person to be put under surveillance for spouting off.

Also, pretty icon.

Blair... what?

[gillyp]

Actually, Sandburg isn't a Jewish name, it *is* Swedish. *Sandberg* is Jewish - something the TS writers were clearly unaware of.

It's an ankh he wears in season one, btw, not a cross, but the point is the same - he's never shown wearing a star of David, he never celebrates Jewish holidays, there is no menorah in the loft, he eats hot dogs and etc. etc....

He is clearly intended to have Jewish origins (an aparently arbitrary decision in episiode 6, Night Train, when he declares he was Bar Mitzvahed - something that sits ill with his hippie past imo, but - letting it go... (o:) but he certainly doesn't celebrate his heritage in any way I can see.

::is glad wasn't in on that discussion:: *G*

Re: Blair... what?

[caeru_]

*pokes nose in*

Um. Being Swedish myself, I can safely say that I've never seen Sand*burg* used in Sweden. (I even checked the yellow pages) Sand*berg* is fairly common however and basically means sandy hill/mountain. Not really any Jewish connotations at all there.

Not that important really but hey *nitpicks for fun* ;)

Re: Blair... what?

[gillyp]

Well, I'm not Swedish, but I am half-Jewish -

How about Carl Sandburg?
http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm

Do a search on 'Jewish surnames' you'll find Sandberg consistently listed, but never Sandburg.
http://www.jewishgenealogy.com.ar/warszawa/ancestors_s.html
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/surname_list.htm
http://www.family-crests.com/family-crest-coat-of-arms/surnames-7-7/german-jewish-surnames.html
http://www.avotaynu.com/books/DJSGNames.htm
and etc...

I also nitpick for fun *g*

Re: Blair... what?

[caeru_]

Oh this is cool!

The Sandburg in the first link must've changed the spelling of his name though (or his ancestors did) because really, there are no Sandburgs in Sweden:

http://privatpersoner.eniro.se/query?what=wp&search_word=sandburg&geo_area=
(basically asks you if you spelt it wrong)

And the Swedish version of Sandberg ties in with a lot of other Swedish surnames with the surfix (or prefix) of -berg (which means mountain). There was a craze for nature-related surnames in the 19th-early 20th century when the patronymic surnames were going out of style and a lot of people adopted variations of -berg names (Sundberg, Bergström, Berg, Lindberg, Bergman etc).

So basically you have two identical names with completely different histories behind them. Bwee! *dork*

[kita0610]

Wow.

Agenda, much?

[ms_maree]

And this being different from 99% of everyone else in LJ land?

Hmmm.

[kita0610]

Guess it depends on your definition of "agenda". Mostly, I meant her agenda was clearly to denigrate others in an effort to make her point. Sorry if I failed to make that clear originally. Now there won't be a misunderstanding.

[ms_maree]

Well, I was only taking your comment as it stands, not within a context that I didn't understand.

It's all good.

[dmitchell1985]

Wooo! When I first skimmed this comment before I read downward, I thought, "Oh dear god! This is going to make every starchly patriotic person come out of the woodwork! I can't have that wank going on!"

*laughs*

But I definitely see what you mean about some Americans. What you have to understand is that what is shown of America (and every other country out there) isn't what represents the whole lot of us. You would be hard pressed to ever hear me say that everything America does it right. It isn't and I've said so loudly for many a year now. But what can I do when voting really doesn't count for anything and we have a government that is going to do what they damned well please, no matter what its citizens think?

And on the name thing, I see your point. It would have been one thing for them to politely point out the name difference like someone did below, but was another entirely when they apparently snipped at you with anti-Semitic garbage. I've never bought into that ridiculous bullshit and I never will.