Dear Authors
... don't be stupid in public. It's harder now, with blogs and journals and all blurring the line between thought and publication, but still.
Or at least, be stupid about something relatively low in importance. Like, say, fanfic. I mean, if you lose it over fanfic, I probably won't read your work... but I won't actually discourage others from reading it. Same goes for issues which are essentially political in nature. Depending on how political the fiction itself is, I may choose not read it, but I have no compunction about selling it to those who might agree with it.
If, however, you are going to be stupid about something actually important, particularly when it goes against the basic tenets of a free society -- like restricting citizenship based on religion, for example -- then you may expect me to not only stop reading your books, but also to actively encourage friends to read someone else's books. And if you then announce that you are right-right-right and neither listening to nor responding to differing points of view, and then erase the comments of those people you have hurt and offended with your words...
Well, then, Elizabeth Moon, you can expect me to stop reading your books -- that goes without saying. But you can also expect me to provide counter-recommendations when customers ask about your books. (PS - I don't read much military sci fi. Right now, I'm leaning towards Tanya Huff's latest, but I'm open to suggestions.) And you can expect me to do some signal boosting online and off about the fact that you are being stupid (read: racist, Islamophobic, and presenting lies as facts and stereotypes as truisms) in public and unapologetic about it. In fact, my decision to post was largely determined by Elizabeth Moon's decision to shut down the conversations at her journal. Her journal, her rules.... but it does mean she's emphatically not hearing what she is saying when she uses "immigrant" and "Muslim" nearly interchangeably nor what she is saying by calling any displays of Islamic faith unAmerican, and that her attitude is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Personally, I find the push to narrowly define 'American' as WASP/passably WASP-like individuals only to be unAmerican in the extreme. And I find the push to combine "Muslim" and "terrorist" or at least "potential terrorist" into a single concept terrifying. She wonders why Schools in my area held consciousness-raising sessions for kids about not teasing children in Muslim-defined clothing...but not about not teasing Jewish children or racial minorities. More law enforcement was dedicated to protecting mosques than synagogues--and synagogues are still targeted for vandalism. in the immediate aftermath of 9/11? Voices like hers are the REASON and were unfortunately predictable. If she and others like her are going to conflate all Muslims with the actions of a few terrorists, then yes, citizens who are Muslim are going to need extra protection. The solution is not to demand that Muslims look, act, and dress more American Christian; the solution is to stop encouraging Islamophobic/racist/anti-immigrant actions with Islamophobic/racist/anti-immigrant speech.
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Or at least, be stupid about something relatively low in importance. Like, say, fanfic. I mean, if you lose it over fanfic, I probably won't read your work... but I won't actually discourage others from reading it. Same goes for issues which are essentially political in nature. Depending on how political the fiction itself is, I may choose not read it, but I have no compunction about selling it to those who might agree with it.
If, however, you are going to be stupid about something actually important, particularly when it goes against the basic tenets of a free society -- like restricting citizenship based on religion, for example -- then you may expect me to not only stop reading your books, but also to actively encourage friends to read someone else's books. And if you then announce that you are right-right-right and neither listening to nor responding to differing points of view, and then erase the comments of those people you have hurt and offended with your words...
Well, then, Elizabeth Moon, you can expect me to stop reading your books -- that goes without saying. But you can also expect me to provide counter-recommendations when customers ask about your books. (PS - I don't read much military sci fi. Right now, I'm leaning towards Tanya Huff's latest, but I'm open to suggestions.) And you can expect me to do some signal boosting online and off about the fact that you are being stupid (read: racist, Islamophobic, and presenting lies as facts and stereotypes as truisms) in public and unapologetic about it. In fact, my decision to post was largely determined by Elizabeth Moon's decision to shut down the conversations at her journal. Her journal, her rules.... but it does mean she's emphatically not hearing what she is saying when she uses "immigrant" and "Muslim" nearly interchangeably nor what she is saying by calling any displays of Islamic faith unAmerican, and that her attitude is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Personally, I find the push to narrowly define 'American' as WASP/passably WASP-like individuals only to be unAmerican in the extreme. And I find the push to combine "Muslim" and "terrorist" or at least "potential terrorist" into a single concept terrifying. She wonders why Schools in my area held consciousness-raising sessions for kids about not teasing children in Muslim-defined clothing...but not about not teasing Jewish children or racial minorities. More law enforcement was dedicated to protecting mosques than synagogues--and synagogues are still targeted for vandalism. in the immediate aftermath of 9/11? Voices like hers are the REASON and were unfortunately predictable. If she and others like her are going to conflate all Muslims with the actions of a few terrorists, then yes, citizens who are Muslim are going to need extra protection. The solution is not to demand that Muslims look, act, and dress more American Christian; the solution is to stop encouraging Islamophobic/racist/anti-immigrant actions with Islamophobic/racist/anti-immigrant speech.
Addendum
The Dreamwidth version of this entry currently has
comments.