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Re: Norman Spinrad's complete fuckmuppetry.
Yes, I commented, but I think the best commentary so far can be found in this post from author NK Jemisin, who says the things I really wish I had been smart enough to say.
Especially this:
African Americans -- those of us who are the descendants of slaves, specifically -- are not cultural blanks. We are not white people with black skin. Not even slavery could erase who and what my ancestors were. Slavery forced them to give up a lot, yes: language, many customs, overt expression of their religious beliefs, even the physical distinctions that set one African ethnic group apart from another. But they kept what they could, and passed it on to their descendants, and that legacy is neither small nor insignificant. Some of this legacy we're aware of -- our prayers, our art, our cuisine. Some of it we're rediscovering -- our contributions to civilization, our real history. Some of it we've even been magnanimous enough to share with the rest of America. Bottom line: we don't just call ourselves African American as an affectation, or a pointless point of pride. We call ourselves this because we are different.
I can't begin to express just how much is right and true and yes about this. I really can't. Just get over there and read it for yourself.
I mentioned before in my commentary just how offensive I felt Spinrad's assertions on Mike Resnick (btw, has anyone seen if he's said anything about this whole mess?) being as African as Octavia Butler, but looking back, I fear I have unthinkingly, ignorantly indulged in the same "cultural blank" meme as he did in speaking of ways in which whiteness has been forced upon people of color in this country.
Without, of course, examining that my own whiteness and white privilege have put a blindfold on me and made me unable to see and recognize the many vital, important facets of heritage that remain and impact the country in which I live. As nojojojo said, it's there, in prayers, art, cuisine. Ways in which I have been completely ignorant to, because white privilege asserts that I have no impetus to know these things and that somehow, they're just not important because white people have decided they're not important.
Which is pretty much one of the main powers of white privilege. Wherein white folks and white culture get to (meaning: are empowered to) decide what is and isn't important or real about everyone else's cultures. And it's funny how anything that would threaten our ability to keep believing that the world centers around us because we're the bestest race ever is declared not real, not important.
So for that unexamined error, my sincerest apologies. Not that my apologies count for much or mean anything or should mean anything, but it is important for my own process of self-improvement that I say, unequivocably: "I fucked up. I am sorry."
This all tells me that I have a lot more examining and listen and shutting the heck up and self-educating to do.
Yes, I commented, but I think the best commentary so far can be found in this post from author NK Jemisin, who says the things I really wish I had been smart enough to say.
Especially this:
African Americans -- those of us who are the descendants of slaves, specifically -- are not cultural blanks. We are not white people with black skin. Not even slavery could erase who and what my ancestors were. Slavery forced them to give up a lot, yes: language, many customs, overt expression of their religious beliefs, even the physical distinctions that set one African ethnic group apart from another. But they kept what they could, and passed it on to their descendants, and that legacy is neither small nor insignificant. Some of this legacy we're aware of -- our prayers, our art, our cuisine. Some of it we're rediscovering -- our contributions to civilization, our real history. Some of it we've even been magnanimous enough to share with the rest of America. Bottom line: we don't just call ourselves African American as an affectation, or a pointless point of pride. We call ourselves this because we are different.
I can't begin to express just how much is right and true and yes about this. I really can't. Just get over there and read it for yourself.
I mentioned before in my commentary just how offensive I felt Spinrad's assertions on Mike Resnick (btw, has anyone seen if he's said anything about this whole mess?) being as African as Octavia Butler, but looking back, I fear I have unthinkingly, ignorantly indulged in the same "cultural blank" meme as he did in speaking of ways in which whiteness has been forced upon people of color in this country.
Without, of course, examining that my own whiteness and white privilege have put a blindfold on me and made me unable to see and recognize the many vital, important facets of heritage that remain and impact the country in which I live. As nojojojo said, it's there, in prayers, art, cuisine. Ways in which I have been completely ignorant to, because white privilege asserts that I have no impetus to know these things and that somehow, they're just not important because white people have decided they're not important.
Which is pretty much one of the main powers of white privilege. Wherein white folks and white culture get to (meaning: are empowered to) decide what is and isn't important or real about everyone else's cultures. And it's funny how anything that would threaten our ability to keep believing that the world centers around us because we're the bestest race ever is declared not real, not important.
So for that unexamined error, my sincerest apologies. Not that my apologies count for much or mean anything or should mean anything, but it is important for my own process of self-improvement that I say, unequivocably: "I fucked up. I am sorry."
This all tells me that I have a lot more examining and listen and shutting the heck up and self-educating to do.