My Thoughts on the Latest Race Wank

[lierdumoa]

Regarding the J2 Big Bang Haiti-fail, and specifically the subject addressed in whynot's reaction post.


I don't feel there's anything I need to say about gatorgrrrl that hasn't already been said, but I would like to put my two cents towards certain responders to the wank, specifically those who said:

"If this has taught me anything, you shouldn't even try to write POC."
"Yup. This is definitely what I've taken away from the whole clusterfuck."

...and similar comments in that vein.

People don't find themselves at the center of epic race wanks by accident. Racist people find themselves at the center of epic race wanks because they did something preposterously racist.

People who are not racist are not afraid of being called racist. They are not afraid 1) because it is very unlikely to happen and 2) because on the off chance they are wrongly accused of being racist, they can remain secure in the knowledge that hardly anyone is taking their accuser(s) seriously.



Men do not find themselves a the center of epic rape scandals by accident. Rapists find themselves at the center of epic race scandals because they treat women heinously.

Men who do not have a rape mentality are not afraid of being called rapists. They are not afraid 1) because it is very unlikely to happen and 2) because on the off chance they are wrongly accused of being rapists, they can remain secure in the knowledge that even genuine rape victims are often not taken seriously.



People cannot catch homosexuality as though it were a contagion. Closeted homophobes are afraid of "catching gay" because they are themselves gay and hope to suppress their gay urges with obvious overcompensation.

People who are not closeted homophobes are not afraid of being called/becoming gay. They are not afraid 1) because it is very unlikely to happen and 2) because on the off chance they are wrongly assumed to be gay/discover heretofore latent homosexual urges, they are and shall remain secure in their own identity and masculinity.


No seriously. Give me another. I can do this all night.


ETA: And as amazonziti wisely points out in my comment thread: "They are not afraid 3) because if it turns out it's true that they have said or done something hurtful, they will be more interested in assuaging the hurt and changing their behavior than in indulging their own feelings."

Because of course we all say/do stupid hurtful shit from time to time, but (I like to believe) most of us are willing to admit to our mistakes and apologize for and learn from them, and thus manage to avoid doing anything so offensive/heinous/appalling as to start a browser crashing internet wank.

Comments

[amazonziti.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking me!

People who are not racist are not afraid of being called racist.

They are not afraid 3) because if it turns out it's true that they have said or done something hurtful, they will be more interested in assuaging the hurt and changing their behavior than in indulging their own feelings.

I point this out mostly because I don't think racism is an either/or thing -- I don't think you (meaning the greater "you") stop being racist once you've learned some stuff and talked to some people. I think being truly anti-racist requires constant growth, thoughtfulness, and self-awareness. It's something you do more than something that you are.

[permetaform]

::cracks the hell up::

trufax.

[erinptah]

People who are not closeted homophobes are not afraid of being called/becoming gay.

...seriously? Because in that case, I don't think there was a single straight person at my middle school.

(I'm also twitching at (a) the implication that all closeted homophobes are male/masculine and (b) the way your analogy puts "being called gay" in the same slot as "being called a rapist.")

Look, I know the scales are tipped in favor of privileged people on any given spectrum, but they aren't tipped so deeply that fear is automatic proof of guilt.

Especially in the case of racism, where so much of the stuff fandom calls out is unconsciously ingrained in society, there are plenty of people who fit the prevailing anti-racist movement's definition of "saying something racist" without realizing it. The fear isn't necessarily "I'd better not do this because someone will falsely accuse me"; it could just as easily be "I'd better not do this because I don't trust myself not to say something hurtful unintentionally."

Which is not to say wrong accusations don't happen, or are some kind of mysterious once-in-a-lifetime sighting. On the contrary, every extended race debate I've seen has had at least one or two fans of color getting told they're being racist - which under this particular theoretical framework is a wrong accusation by definition, to say nothing of the identity erasure that comes along with it.