Tone: Let's approach this from the other direction
In discussions about race and racism, Fans of Color are repeatedly told that if they are sufficiently polite and non-confrontational when challenging racist activity, the original poster of the story, prompts, etc. with racist words or concepts will understand why the fan of color is upset and strive not to be offensive in that manner again.
Has anybody actually seen this work in the wild? Is there one instance on record of this actually happening? I am specifically looking for an occasion in which:
1) The person who brought the challenge was a fan of color. I do not believe that white fans, if they identify themselves as white, get hit with the same, "OH, I would have listened to you if only you were more polite," meme that faces people of color. (Also, I am looking for the original poster, not the follow up when the rest of fandom is going, "Why are those people willfully misguided?")
2) The challenge was brought up in the specific, either speaking about a specific story, or a specific kind of problem activity (e.g. epithet abuse), or in the context of a specific fandom.
3) The person or comm whose actions were being challenged were addressed directly. (Posts to the challenger's own lj are only acceptable evidence in a case where they are addressing a fandom at large and their post was picked up by a fandom newsletter.)
4) The person/livejournal community members/participants in the fandom whose actions/words were challenged were able to respond calmly and rationally in a way that indicated they understood the nature of the challenge.
5) No more than two people who are friends of the storywriter/members of the lj comm in question/participants in the fandom with a troubling racial behavior/speech personally attacked the person making the challenge.
Does anyone know of just one instance where this has worked? Can you provide links or screencaps? Because I've never heard a rumor of a hint of a possibility that anyone has actually seen this occur among actual people. Even the people who lecture me on my tone never say, "This method totally worked for me or my black best friend or my Asian sister-in-law." They just say that the person who has been challenged would have acted differently had they been approached differently. And I don't believe them, because every time I've seen an actual person challenged, they've either lost their shit or stood by while their friends and supporters lost their shit all over the challenger.
P.S. I have anonymous comments turned on with screening. If you comment anonymously, please sign with a pseudonym, even if it's not your regular pseudonym. For instance, if I were to comment anonymously, I might sign as Martha Jones, even though my regular pseudonyms are witchqueen or zvi.
I will be deleting unsigned anonymous comments, and unscreening signed anonymous comments.
eta rsi issues. few replies from me. good discussion in comments. pls keep talking. /eta
eta Results of this inquiry
Has anybody actually seen this work in the wild? Is there one instance on record of this actually happening? I am specifically looking for an occasion in which:
1) The person who brought the challenge was a fan of color. I do not believe that white fans, if they identify themselves as white, get hit with the same, "OH, I would have listened to you if only you were more polite," meme that faces people of color. (Also, I am looking for the original poster, not the follow up when the rest of fandom is going, "Why are those people willfully misguided?")
2) The challenge was brought up in the specific, either speaking about a specific story, or a specific kind of problem activity (e.g. epithet abuse), or in the context of a specific fandom.
3) The person or comm whose actions were being challenged were addressed directly. (Posts to the challenger's own lj are only acceptable evidence in a case where they are addressing a fandom at large and their post was picked up by a fandom newsletter.)
4) The person/livejournal community members/participants in the fandom whose actions/words were challenged were able to respond calmly and rationally in a way that indicated they understood the nature of the challenge.
5) No more than two people who are friends of the storywriter/members of the lj comm in question/participants in the fandom with a troubling racial behavior/speech personally attacked the person making the challenge.
Does anyone know of just one instance where this has worked? Can you provide links or screencaps? Because I've never heard a rumor of a hint of a possibility that anyone has actually seen this occur among actual people. Even the people who lecture me on my tone never say, "This method totally worked for me or my black best friend or my Asian sister-in-law." They just say that the person who has been challenged would have acted differently had they been approached differently. And I don't believe them, because every time I've seen an actual person challenged, they've either lost their shit or stood by while their friends and supporters lost their shit all over the challenger.
P.S. I have anonymous comments turned on with screening. If you comment anonymously, please sign with a pseudonym, even if it's not your regular pseudonym. For instance, if I were to comment anonymously, I might sign as Martha Jones, even though my regular pseudonyms are witchqueen or zvi.
I will be deleting unsigned anonymous comments, and unscreening signed anonymous comments.
eta rsi issues. few replies from me. good discussion in comments. pls keep talking. /eta
eta Results of this inquiry