Race Fail '09: Failnation
This post at one point made a very cogent statement about white privilege also meaning you can just say "I have nothing useful to offer" and retire from the fray.
So I just want to say something. All I can say, because I honestly don't have anything particularly useful right now is that I am sorry that fen of color, including but not limited to my friends, have been hurt and continue to be hurt on a regular basis-- by fandom, by media and by authors that exclude them or do things that are implicitly or explicitly racist.
It's fucked up to expect people to participate in and enjoy a community when that community rejects them. That so many fen of color DO participate and enjoy fandom and the media that produces it is not something to be quickly dismissed. The friends I've made in fandom have enriched my experience in fandom and my life as a whole, and it would be a mistake to refuse to consider what we as a community do that might alienate other fans, and what our media does that might do the same.
That's it, really.
So I just want to say something. All I can say, because I honestly don't have anything particularly useful right now is that I am sorry that fen of color, including but not limited to my friends, have been hurt and continue to be hurt on a regular basis-- by fandom, by media and by authors that exclude them or do things that are implicitly or explicitly racist.
It's fucked up to expect people to participate in and enjoy a community when that community rejects them. That so many fen of color DO participate and enjoy fandom and the media that produces it is not something to be quickly dismissed. The friends I've made in fandom have enriched my experience in fandom and my life as a whole, and it would be a mistake to refuse to consider what we as a community do that might alienate other fans, and what our media does that might do the same.
That's it, really.