Can someone please tell me what Racefail 2009 is really about?*
I mean, I've read some of the posts, as well as
pats_quinade's
wonderfully biting write-up. I saw Elizabeth Bear's original response to a critique of her work, which I think was one of the starting points to this whole thing, and I very much respect the way she tried to handle it. I've seen the
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As for writing "the other": The best advice I ever got from someone about writing people of a separate race than I am was this: "Write people. Write human beings. Their skin colour doesn't matter." And I try to live by that.
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(Of course, I write mostly fantasy, so race, and skin colour only counts when I say it does. ;)
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And I know what you mean. My first trilogy was mostly blue-skinned and yellow-skinned folks :-)
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I have an unpublished book where I got it wrong, and I'm incredibly grateful that one never saw the light of day. I think I've become a much better writer since then, and part of that means becoming more aware of my own ignorance as a person and as a writer. But I know I still make mistakes. I made some with one of the characters in Stepsister Scheme, and people have called me on it. They were right to do so. Some of those issues were a deliberate choice, and some were out of ignorance.
I'm still glad I wrote the character. I think I did a lot of things right with her, too. Either way, that book is done. All I can do now is try to do better with the next.
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...well said on the rest of it. But thank you for opening with a laugh line.
I have no idea where this all started, but the last few days have been interesting. A lot of authors have been stating their PoV, and it's all been educational and well thought out.
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I do think there are some very good posts and points being raised. I just wish we had a better signal-to-noise ratio, if that makes sense?
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When I said I thought everyone's responses to it were well thought out I then realized I had only seen a few of the authors I follow. I then started reading others.
Now I want to go hide under my blankets.
Although there has been funny stuff. Thank you for that link to pats_quinade's thing.
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Your entry seems most intelligent and I like that you mention in your comments that to ignore skin colour is to ignore history and personal experience and part of what makes a Non White Person, who they are and thus part of what makes a Character of Colour who they are.
But I believe autopope is suffering from the institutionalized racist idea that People of Colour are a Horde and should you speak up about racism - you will be ripped to shreds.
On the other hand, he could be worried about Wll Shttrly coming into your journal to tell you how wrong you are and that class is the only problem dividing human beings and then outing you (if Jim Hines is not your legal name).
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Timeline of many of the earlier events:
http://seeking-avalon.blogspot.com/2009/01/timeline.html
Summaries of more recent events:
http://snacky.livejournal.com/560654.html?thread=5172494#t5172494
http://rydra-wong.livejournal.com/155427.html
rydra_wong has been keeping a very extensive archive of posts at this tag, if you're looking for primary sources: http://rydra-wong.livejournal.com/tag/gcadod+09
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