Fandom is all fun and games until someone uses the “N’ word.
Dear daily-deviant mods,
I know some of you, you seem like nice enough people, so please understand that I’m not saying you’re tobacco-spitting, sheet-wearing, Klan members when I say that your using “miscegenation” and in particular the way you defined the term “sex between two people of different race or species“ was offensive. Your subsequent behavior? Would make those sheet-jockeys proud.
No, really.
Whether the Wikipedia fully explores the offensive, racist baggage that word carries isn’t actually relevant. Wikipedia is, well the Wikipedia, something you should have learned the first time you got a big red mark through your bibliography on some high-school history paper. Answers.com couldn't be any more bland or less useful if they wrapped it in wonderbread and miracle whip, and Miscegenation.com is NOT "an inter-racial dating site" as you stated, it's a sponsored link-dump for miscegenation search engine hits. The links you chose are beyond the fail level for a discussion among grown-ups.
Despite this, the links YOU provided explained some of the negative history of that word. Perhaps you should have read them? In any case, the etymology is far from innocuous:
"The word "Miscegenation" was coined in an anonymous pamphlet printed in the United States of America in late 1863, entitled "Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro". As the pamphlet noted, the term was coined from two words of the Latin language, miscere (to mix) and genus (race)." [1]
It was a word specifically coined to spread racial hate and fear. The "genus" is meant to emphasize and lend a scientific credence to the racist idea that there are "distinct biological differences between whites and non-whites". Offensive, yes?
Nor does it matter whether some/most of your members recognize the word as having racist connotations - this argument actually baffles me. If I refuse to recognize something, say gravity, I'm no less squashed like a bug when an ACME safe (a la Wyle E. Coyote) falls out a 10 story building onto my head. But I digress, and we can have a discussion about the racial/social make-up of fandom, and the implications thereof at some other time - what’s important is that a group of PoC are telling you, “hey! This word has racist connotations!” Accept the fact that in this case, by virtue of daily confrontation, the people pointing out racism might have more expertise in this area, and bow to their judgment.
Just take a step back and breathe. Racism is not a black and white issue, it’s a human rights issue. No one has “more” of a right to speak about racism based on their race - although some people WILL have more direct experience with racism because of the color of their skin. No one expects you to suddenly understand the nuances of injustices that are largely invisible as a person belonging to the socialogically/economically advantaged race. But once you start to realize thos injustices exist, it IS on you to recognize, change your behavior, and for God’s sake - when you do something that can be construed as racist, even if you didn’t mean to - Apologize!
Also, I’m trying really hard not to grind my teeth at this:
We are a community designed to push the boundaries of sex-themed fic and art, including engagement with many themes that are very likely to be offensive to people. We have warned our watchers of this. See "Warning: You may expect a wide range of pr0nish stories and erotic art. Slash, femmeslash, or het. You name it, we are going to give it to you. If not yet, then sooner or later. Consider yourself warned. All posts will be properly tagged with warnings, and no art or fic will be posted without an lj-cut. Don't like - don't look!" We give ample warnings for the possibility of being offended by the content, and that is the end of our responsibility, unless a post solicits real life illegal behavior - including racism - in which case our responsibility is to remove the post.
I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt, that you’re NOT implying that “racism” is on par with “kink” or worse, that racism IS a kink, but you’re making it very hard - particularly when you complain you’ve been slandered. Guys, you’re not helping yourselves here. Your entire reply is exactly the wrong tone to set, dismisses the concerns of now many, many people, and reads as condescending.
Look, I understand its horrible and hurtful to be accused of racism. But those first emails were NOT accusations. It was an objection to an offensive word Zvi thought you’d used accidentally. If her letter seemed angry and offensive to you, well - she was angry and offended. Rightfully so. Just because the offense was accidental does not mean people don’t have the right to be offended.
I don’t think anyone thinks you intentionally chose a word with so much negative history, but when it’s explained that you did? A better response is to explain that the offense was accidental and change it. Getting defensive, playing the victim, defining what “is” is and justifying yourselves under some half-baked banner of “artistic freedom” just makes you look like you’re exactly what you’ve been accused of being: racist.
No, really.
<3
Me
EDIT:
If you haven't been following this discussion:
This is the link metafandom got today (because of how we compile now, it will appear in tomorrows issue) outlining the original problem:
witchqueen - Dog Whistles and Insults
And liviapenn has a nice round-up of links here:
liviapenn - Have a nice day and fuck you very much.
On my flist I've seen
coffeeandink - Harry Potter and the Racist Deviant Daily Moderators Even aside from the loadedness of equating interracial and interspecies sex, the term "miscegenation" is generally considered offensive because it has historically been used to refer to PoC/white interracial sex and marriage, with the implication that the white partner was "polluted" by the "bestial nature" of the PoC.
bethbethbeth [untitled] I have to admit that I hadn't paid a great deal of attention to the posts on DD recently because it wasn't my assigned month to write and also because I was distracted by the release of the last HP book. However, to say that I didn't notice the word in question at all would be a lie.
I know some of you, you seem like nice enough people, so please understand that I’m not saying you’re tobacco-spitting, sheet-wearing, Klan members when I say that your using “miscegenation” and in particular the way you defined the term “sex between two people of different race or species“ was offensive. Your subsequent behavior? Would make those sheet-jockeys proud.
No, really.
Whether the Wikipedia fully explores the offensive, racist baggage that word carries isn’t actually relevant. Wikipedia is, well the Wikipedia, something you should have learned the first time you got a big red mark through your bibliography on some high-school history paper. Answers.com couldn't be any more bland or less useful if they wrapped it in wonderbread and miracle whip, and Miscegenation.com is NOT "an inter-racial dating site" as you stated, it's a sponsored link-dump for miscegenation search engine hits. The links you chose are beyond the fail level for a discussion among grown-ups.
Despite this, the links YOU provided explained some of the negative history of that word. Perhaps you should have read them? In any case, the etymology is far from innocuous:
"The word "Miscegenation" was coined in an anonymous pamphlet printed in the United States of America in late 1863, entitled "Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro". As the pamphlet noted, the term was coined from two words of the Latin language, miscere (to mix) and genus (race)." [1]
It was a word specifically coined to spread racial hate and fear. The "genus" is meant to emphasize and lend a scientific credence to the racist idea that there are "distinct biological differences between whites and non-whites". Offensive, yes?
Nor does it matter whether some/most of your members recognize the word as having racist connotations - this argument actually baffles me. If I refuse to recognize something, say gravity, I'm no less squashed like a bug when an ACME safe (a la Wyle E. Coyote) falls out a 10 story building onto my head. But I digress, and we can have a discussion about the racial/social make-up of fandom, and the implications thereof at some other time - what’s important is that a group of PoC are telling you, “hey! This word has racist connotations!” Accept the fact that in this case, by virtue of daily confrontation, the people pointing out racism might have more expertise in this area, and bow to their judgment.
Just take a step back and breathe. Racism is not a black and white issue, it’s a human rights issue. No one has “more” of a right to speak about racism based on their race - although some people WILL have more direct experience with racism because of the color of their skin. No one expects you to suddenly understand the nuances of injustices that are largely invisible as a person belonging to the socialogically/economically advantaged race. But once you start to realize thos injustices exist, it IS on you to recognize, change your behavior, and for God’s sake - when you do something that can be construed as racist, even if you didn’t mean to - Apologize!
Also, I’m trying really hard not to grind my teeth at this:
We are a community designed to push the boundaries of sex-themed fic and art, including engagement with many themes that are very likely to be offensive to people. We have warned our watchers of this. See "Warning: You may expect a wide range of pr0nish stories and erotic art. Slash, femmeslash, or het. You name it, we are going to give it to you. If not yet, then sooner or later. Consider yourself warned. All posts will be properly tagged with warnings, and no art or fic will be posted without an lj-cut. Don't like - don't look!" We give ample warnings for the possibility of being offended by the content, and that is the end of our responsibility, unless a post solicits real life illegal behavior - including racism - in which case our responsibility is to remove the post.
I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt, that you’re NOT implying that “racism” is on par with “kink” or worse, that racism IS a kink, but you’re making it very hard - particularly when you complain you’ve been slandered. Guys, you’re not helping yourselves here. Your entire reply is exactly the wrong tone to set, dismisses the concerns of now many, many people, and reads as condescending.
Look, I understand its horrible and hurtful to be accused of racism. But those first emails were NOT accusations. It was an objection to an offensive word Zvi thought you’d used accidentally. If her letter seemed angry and offensive to you, well - she was angry and offended. Rightfully so. Just because the offense was accidental does not mean people don’t have the right to be offended.
I don’t think anyone thinks you intentionally chose a word with so much negative history, but when it’s explained that you did? A better response is to explain that the offense was accidental and change it. Getting defensive, playing the victim, defining what “is” is and justifying yourselves under some half-baked banner of “artistic freedom” just makes you look like you’re exactly what you’ve been accused of being: racist.
No, really.
<3
Me
EDIT:
If you haven't been following this discussion:
This is the link metafandom got today (because of how we compile now, it will appear in tomorrows issue) outlining the original problem:
witchqueen - Dog Whistles and Insults
And liviapenn has a nice round-up of links here:
liviapenn - Have a nice day and fuck you very much.
On my flist I've seen
coffeeandink - Harry Potter and the Racist Deviant Daily Moderators Even aside from the loadedness of equating interracial and interspecies sex, the term "miscegenation" is generally considered offensive because it has historically been used to refer to PoC/white interracial sex and marriage, with the implication that the white partner was "polluted" by the "bestial nature" of the PoC.
bethbethbeth [untitled] I have to admit that I hadn't paid a great deal of attention to the posts on DD recently because it wasn't my assigned month to write and also because I was distracted by the release of the last HP book. However, to say that I didn't notice the word in question at all would be a lie.