thuvia ptarth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thuviaptarth) wrote2007-10-18 05:37 pm
thuviaptarth) wrote2007-10-18 05:37 pm
This is not a pie-eating competition
Dear Fandom,
I'm glad we're all feeling full of peace and light because All Right-Minded People Agreed That "Miscegenation" Is An Offensive Term, but I would like to remind you that this happy agreement is, in fact, both unusual and the result of a lot of persistent efforts at education and protest from fans of color, over years if not decades of involvement in fandom. It was not a simple or an easy victory, if it was a victory at all; it did not come without cost; and, most of all, it didn't come without a hell of a lot of offensive personal and racial shit being flung at the fan who protested in the first place.
There's a myth--I don't think it's limited to the US, but feel free to tell me if I am inappropriately universalizing!--that progress is inevitable, that with the passage of time more and more of the oppressed will be granted equal rights as their oppressors come to realize the true extent of humanity. This is a pretty horrible myth because of the way all the power rests with the oppressors (note how they're granting power instead of the oppressed taking it?), but it's also pretty horrible because it's a lie. It's a lie that erases all the work people have to put into making social, cultural, political, and legal changes. The Montgomery Bus Boycott didn't spontaneously spring up because a woman spontaneously decided not to go to the back of the bus; Rosa Parks, activist, and the other activists in the Civil Rights Movement worked to get to the Boycott, worked to make the Boycott liveable for the black families who wouldn't use public transportation but still needed to get around, and worked to make sure that the steps after the Boycott happened, too. Change doesn't happen without work, it doesn't always happen fast (and most of the time when it looks fast, it's because it's been building a long, long time and you just didn't notice it), and it doesn't last until we work to make it last.
So, look, anti-Semitism is a problem, it's a real problem, we should address it, but addressing it in ways that state or imply that "Yay! We've fixed racism!" or "You wouldn't act like this if the issue were race instead of religion"--stop it. Please. First of all, it's not true. One debate in which the majority of white fandom actually agreed with fans of color (and wow are there problems with the way that gets defined as a victory, but I don't feel up to elaborating them right now) doesn't mean racism in fandom is over and doesn't mean white fans aren't still saying and doing stupid and racist shit. Second of all, you are playing the Master's game. The point is not to fight other oppressed groups for a bigger piece of the slice of pie the Master has allotted us. The point is to go, "Hey! This is taking place in our fucking kitchen! We are the ones baking the goddamn pie! And we will make whatever pie we please, and we will not stop until nobody has to leave this room hungry."
Love, ambivalence, and best wishes,
Thuvia Ptarth
P.S. Please have some pie. If the pie we have does not suit your dietary restrictions, let us know and we will make a different pie.
I'm glad we're all feeling full of peace and light because All Right-Minded People Agreed That "Miscegenation" Is An Offensive Term, but I would like to remind you that this happy agreement is, in fact, both unusual and the result of a lot of persistent efforts at education and protest from fans of color, over years if not decades of involvement in fandom. It was not a simple or an easy victory, if it was a victory at all; it did not come without cost; and, most of all, it didn't come without a hell of a lot of offensive personal and racial shit being flung at the fan who protested in the first place.
There's a myth--I don't think it's limited to the US, but feel free to tell me if I am inappropriately universalizing!--that progress is inevitable, that with the passage of time more and more of the oppressed will be granted equal rights as their oppressors come to realize the true extent of humanity. This is a pretty horrible myth because of the way all the power rests with the oppressors (note how they're granting power instead of the oppressed taking it?), but it's also pretty horrible because it's a lie. It's a lie that erases all the work people have to put into making social, cultural, political, and legal changes. The Montgomery Bus Boycott didn't spontaneously spring up because a woman spontaneously decided not to go to the back of the bus; Rosa Parks, activist, and the other activists in the Civil Rights Movement worked to get to the Boycott, worked to make the Boycott liveable for the black families who wouldn't use public transportation but still needed to get around, and worked to make sure that the steps after the Boycott happened, too. Change doesn't happen without work, it doesn't always happen fast (and most of the time when it looks fast, it's because it's been building a long, long time and you just didn't notice it), and it doesn't last until we work to make it last.
So, look, anti-Semitism is a problem, it's a real problem, we should address it, but addressing it in ways that state or imply that "Yay! We've fixed racism!" or "You wouldn't act like this if the issue were race instead of religion"--stop it. Please. First of all, it's not true. One debate in which the majority of white fandom actually agreed with fans of color (and wow are there problems with the way that gets defined as a victory, but I don't feel up to elaborating them right now) doesn't mean racism in fandom is over and doesn't mean white fans aren't still saying and doing stupid and racist shit. Second of all, you are playing the Master's game. The point is not to fight other oppressed groups for a bigger piece of the slice of pie the Master has allotted us. The point is to go, "Hey! This is taking place in our fucking kitchen! We are the ones baking the goddamn pie! And we will make whatever pie we please, and we will not stop until nobody has to leave this room hungry."
Love, ambivalence, and best wishes,
Thuvia Ptarth
P.S. Please have some pie. If the pie we have does not suit your dietary restrictions, let us know and we will make a different pie.
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Also, pie. Mmmmmm, pie.
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(Not that I don't love you at other times, too!)
I like strawberry-rhubarb with a side of More Asians in Sf/f Fandom, Too, Please.
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Much love to you.
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Also, you rock. But you knew that, right?
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Whut.
P.S. Have cuisinart, will help make pie.
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I feel like I see a lot of white fans assuming that fandom is now a safely antiracist space, and I don't see any fans of color joining in that particular tickertape parade.
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Though sometimes you have to bake it yourself.