Opinions wanted: Is this racially offensive to an anglophone audience?

[cheriola]

Hello.

This time, I don't have a research question but a thorny issue that I would like some second opinions on, preferably by people of colour. I know this is probably going to cause a big argument, so my apologies go in advance to the mods (and a potential racism trigger warning for this entire thread to everyone who might need it). But I'm a

Comments

[lolmac]

No matter how careful you are and how hard you try, someone will be offended. Be true to your story, continue to work on not being gratuitously offensive, and try to write something that will only offend an unreasonable person. Bear in mind that the unreasonable people are out there, and you can't let them dictate your life.

One of the lessons I took away from the RaceFail episode (look it up if you're not familiar with it already) was this: when white writers try to write non-white characters (be they non-human or not), we stand a very good chance of messing up somehow. But that just means we have to try more often, so we improve.

Some years back, I interviewed a successful novelist from Northern Ireland. The issue of offending people came up, as it often does. His take on it? "If you're not offending someone, you're not trying hard enough." He personally aimed at offending people who were complacent and narrow-minded.

[nachtebuch]

This. I think ultimately, at the end of it, people looking to be offended will find some way to misconstrue whatever you end up with as being offensive or mean in one way or another. That's the Internet for you, I guess, and you can never really predict how anyone will react. As long as your conscience is clear, you've thought about it and you've done your research, your efforts will come through.

To the OP: All the best with the writing!

[tylik]

Of course, ascribing problematic communications over race to "people looking to be offended" is often used as a deflection.

Yeah, there are some people who do troll around looking for arguments. But the flip side is that a lot of people brush off serious objections with this kind of deflection, as if, as long as someone wasn't actively looking to offend, it doesn't matter what they actually said, it is everyone else's job not to be offended.

[lolmac]

Yeah, that's a very common excuse used. It's just laziness. I can't be bothered to do more work or take other perspectives into account or value them, therefore I'll blame the victims. They're too sensitive. It's just fiction, dude, why so serious? This writer is doing the right thing by asking around, getting other perspectives, at least giving a fig, and see, it doesn't take much effort. (And they're not just looking for 'yes' answers, and they won't take criticism personally and get defensive either.)

[tylik]

Well, and really, it's more than laziness. Being told you are saying something problematic hurts. This is natural, and a lot of people respond by essentially lashing out and saying "I'm not the problem - you are! You have a chip on your shoulder! Or you looking to pick a fight! Or you're too sensitive!" Or whatever. And sometimes they keep lashing out, other times they cool down, and then try to make sure this isn't going to happen again, and still others they come back and own up to the problem.

[knowledgequeen]

Those situations can be problematic ... on the one hand, maybe someone has a legitimate grievance, but on the other hand, where to draw the line? I personally refuse to spend my entire life offended, like so many people seem to. It goes back to the point I made elsewhere in this thread. Some people get offended at the mere mention of a historical event, for example. Others find that offensive, because we need to learn and grow from the past. Everyone's "line in the sand" is at a different point. I try not to blame people for being offended or lashing out, but neither am I going to toe a line terrified of pissing someone off. That's no way to live.