Not helpful for pilots, either

[jlh]

I'm using my chibi icon—it's a chibi of me, drawn by bhanesidhe—because I'm going to talk about race for a moment, so it's fair to say, I identify as biracial, or in somewhat ironic moods a "tragic mulatto". (Great thanks, as KO would say, to Carrie for letting me use her as an example.)

So as some of you may know there was this whole race kerfuffle in the SGA fandom—go look through back issues of metafandom if you want to see it in action, as it went on too long and had too many feelers all over the place for me to recount here. But in the midst of all the debate, there were claims by some folks that they are "color blind."

You know who claims he's "color blind", or says, "I don't see color"? Stephen Colbert's character on The Colbert Report, who's a satire of far-right news hosts. So right there is an inkling that the term "color blind" isn't really the best "I'm not racist" statement.

Here's a parallel. My good friend wordplay grew up in Texas, lived there much of her life. She has a really great accent, too; go listen to her phone posts. Anyway, when I think about Carrie I don't think, "Oh, I don't think of her as southern." Of course I think of her as a southerner; it's part of who she is. If I see something that is saying something about the South that she might find interesting I send her a link. (And when she sees things about race in fandom, she'll send me the link—I was aware of the SGA thing from the start because she's in SGA and sent me the link to the original post that started the whole thing.) What I don't do is think of her necessarily as any of a bunch of loaded stereotypes about southerners, like, I don't know, that she's not well educated or backwards in her thinking or a big racist or whatever. Or, for that matter, think of her as any of the more positive stereotypes like that she's more ladylike or whatever. I don't have to think of her as not-southern in order to think of her as just, well, a person.

In plainer language, if you "just don't think of Clio as black" that's disrespectful, because I am, and you shouldn't have to deny my race in order to see me as a person just like you. In his famous speech Dr. King said he didn't want people to be judged by the color of their skin, but he didn't say that he wanted everyone to forget about it. You can move beyond being essentialist—thinking that all black folks, or whateverelse folks, are the same in certain ways—without leaving race behind. Race matters, in both good ways and bad ways, and deciding that it means nothing to you isn't actually moving the conversation forward.

And it's tough for everyone! It isn't about guilt, but about knowledge. We all have stereotypes in our heads, picked up from living in our culture, and we all have to fight against them. I definitely have my heteronormative moments, my times of forgetting about simple things I could do to be more understanding of people with disabilities, and hell, my own racist moments. When it's pointed out to me I stop and think, apologize if necessary, and move on with more knowledge than I had before. Oprah has this saying, that you do the best you can with what you know, and when you know better, you do better. So, now you know.

Comments

[ivyblossom.livejournal.com]

Colour blind: not noticing the colour of someone's skin is basically equating race with a pimple or crooked teeth, or some other undesirable blemish. Just pretend you don't notice, be polite about it, the person in question isn't happy about it either, but what can you do but move on. It's okay, I see that you're black, but I'm going to pretend you're normal. Like I am. Because I'm polite. Because I'm a good person.

Yeah. It presumes non-white skin is something to be ashamed of. It's way more insidious than people think.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Ashamed of, or risen above. It still posits "normal" as white. Or straight, or male, or middle class, or whatever. Totally a great analogy.

[longtimegone]

You know who claims he's "color blind", or says, "I don't see color"? Stephen Colbert's character on The Colbert Report, who's a satire of far-right news hosts. So right there is an inkling that the term "color blind" isn't really the best "I'm not racist" statement.

*snickers* Yes, that's not something to aspire to. :))

This is a very thought provoking post. There were echos of the race wank (though not on the same scale by any means that I saw) in Doctor Who fandom. The new companion, Martha Jones, is black, and seeing as how they travel around in time and space, the race issue does come up, and it's either "You mention it too much" or "you can't just sweep it under the rug!" and all that.

And you're absolutely right. Everyone has hangups and prejudices and it's up to US to learn and work through that. Ignoring it is silly. I say that with a bit of irony as I rarely discuss race (though you will NEVER EVER hear me say "OMG AM COLOR BLIND"), and probably because of that southern stereotype that we are racist. I overcompensate by just not discussing it at all.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I'm so of two minds on the BBC casting practices—they did it in Casonova too, and something else I was watching. On the one hand, the beeb certainly makes a LOT of costume dramas, so if you're a black working actor in England why should you have to play a slave all the time? It also heightens the effect that it's just a story, and leaves a lot of the messy reality of life out already. (For example, that the reason that there even is a non-titled gentry in Austen is the money being made in sugar and slaves in the West Indies. In a Morrison way, there are black folks all over Austen.) I understand the wish to force the show to confront race, but if our choices are to have an all-white cast that doesn't need to confront race and a mixed-race cast that doesn't bother to confront race, I'll take the latter. Because it's really just as essentialist to say that if I have a hoop skirt on I have to be a slave, as to say that only white people can play the roles in Shakespeare.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I remember having a conversation sort of about this once, about how on the 'net you don't automatically know anything about a person. I just remember thinking how I didn't always think that was a good thing--I liked it when people spoke about who they were in this situation where I didn't have to know. Meaning they said what race they were, or if they had a disability. Because otherwise I *know* I'm going to default to making the person the same as me because that's my default. The thing that was really better about the Internet was the way you could both separate the person and not separate them--meaning that maybe not *seeing* the person made it easier to not make whatever associations you might make to them if you were seeing them. (Like, if they had a disability you wouldn't unconsciously be focusing on that because on the 'net they're just as abled as you are.) But at the same time it also told you hey, this person you're interacting with equally? Is also not like you in this way. So you get used to those two things at once and are maybe less likely to think that, for instance, a world without racism is a world where everyone's white so you don't have to think about it etc. At times I've felt like it gives you a totally different perspective on what makes up an identity--for instance, if you're talking to someone in a medium in which not hearing is never an issue, and yet the person is still identifying and is still identified as deaf, showing that it goes beyond just the lack of hearing or stereotypes.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

And identity is so slippery anyway, so contingent really, and ever changing and all of that sort of thing. Like, how you might choose to identify yourself v how others identify you and what that means and etc. So then you wonder how much any of these things matter and I would say, they matter in that you don't forget them, and then that's sort of it. If that makes any sense!

[darth-kittius.livejournal.com]

Great post. The last two paragraphs are concepts most people don't care to understand. And you said them in such a concise and fact forward manner!

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[bhanesidhe.livejournal.com]

I have an eloquent friend, Rev, you've met him. Sometimes, when he's around new people impressed by his insight he'd say on "I always forget I'm black until my first morning pee."

If people would nod and say they get it or they understand, we would all know this person was an idiot. Pure and simple. It was like a test thing he did that I never noticed at first, but afterward found hilarious... especially since I passed it, because when he tried to use the line on me I responded with "every morning I wake up forgetting I'm an asshole, until I open my mouth."

We are at our most brilliant when we embellish what we truly are, especially/even when its an asshole.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking since you commented about how I would react if he'd said that to me, though the real answer is that of course he didn't, but I probably would have just said, "What does that even mean?" I'm not sure that counts as passing the test though, at least, as well as you did. Perhaps I'd get a D+. But yeah, it's a good way to combat that whole, "Oh thank goodness you are one of the reasonable black people," because the answer to that is, "Yeah, I'm not that reasonable, bitch."

Also, as you say, it's good to remember we are ALL assholes, at one time or another.

[bhanesidhe.livejournal.com]

I think failing the test would be to except the statement in anyway whatsoever. Because anyone who would try and embrace that logic is an idiot.

Also, I don't think would ever put the question toward you because you are not the sort of person who would have set him up for its delivery. I, of course, being an idiot, am.

[piperki.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...well, I don't think of you as black, but I don't think of you as not-black either. Since I have never met you IRL, I have absolutely no notion of what you look like! When I think of you, physical description isn't part of it. I'd be more inclined to describe you as thoughtful, articulate, etc. I'm sure if I met you in person, that would be different. I don't have a lot of negative stereotypes that I'm conscious of. But if I say some dumb thing, feel free to call me on it!

I don't think of Carrie as southern, either, but that's because I've never met her IRL either and I don't believe I've ever heard one of her phone posts (if I have, I can't recall what the accent was like).

[kaalee.livejournal.com]

I've actually been thinking about a subsection of this recently because of something that is upcoming for us soon: creating our classes for next year.

We talk a lot about things when we put classes together: gender, race, behavior, social skills, academic ability, friendships, attitide toward change, and etc... The goal is always to create balanced classes that can build a strong learning and growing community together. (though those are my own words. I've never heard it put that way by anyone else. :)) Well, last year, the classes were shaping up well, but someone made the decision to separate two children of similar descent. They were the only ones in the group. I asked about it, and was told it was county policy. So, I asked what they meant by it being county policy and was told that we split children up (gender, race) so that classes are balanced, or mixed, or some sort of something like that. I thought, though, that it would be more beneficial for them to be in the same class. I always want children to have an academic peer, a social peer, or someone that they can identify with (because they look like each other, or any other reason), or better, all THREE, because it just helps add to their confidence and acceptance of themselves as someone worthwhile. So it meant a whole lot more to me to consider that than just making the classes 'look nice,' (as in, "look at our pretty multi-cultural classes" which is what I sense the county 'policy' is trying to do.

I fear I've got a bit off topic, but anyway, this post resonated with me. So, hi. ♥

[czar-child.livejournal.com]

+++In plainer language, if you "just don't think of Clio as black" that's disrespectful, because I am

I am sick of this way of seeing whites as the Absolute and non-whites as deviant.
I totally agree with the person who said that being black is too often seen as something like a “crooked teeth”. 4 years ago my best friend told me that her ex had asked her if I was well...and she was unable to remember who he was referring to because he had said “ you know, she is tall , black”.WOW.
I don’t know if you’ve been following French politics lately, but there is heated debate about whether or not affirmative action/quotas should be implemented in France , most of right wing politicians favour this implementation, one minister said a few years ago that “It was normal to help people who were born with a handicap”
A handicap.
And this man was elected president a month ago.
By the way, I found your LJ through ladyjaida/shoebox project. I am not a big fan of Harry Potter and fan fictions but it was the first one I tried to read. I see you are writing yourself and I really like the question you raise about characters, color blindness etc.

Hrm

[spookshow-girl.livejournal.com]

(Hey, just come in from f_w, and wanted to thank you for your posts and generally making an open forum. If I'm a jackass, and commenting where I shouldn't be, lemme know.)

I always figured people assumed that they were talking to a white. straight, American, male. An interesting example of what I mean, is that when I'm on 4ch, I, and others, are pretty much assumed to be so. On top of that, it's a largely anonymous forum. As such, I reset whenever I participate in a new thread. No matter how many times I, and others, pointed out that there is a greater variety of people on the internet, we all ended up back at square one come the next thread. It was actually extremely weird, and frustrating. Especially as people tried to push for the multi-language forum to be reopened.

I digress a little. The point of my comment was this:
It's hard for me to say what I tend to assume people are, but I know it's not a hispanic lesbian.

However, I'm wondering if that says something about me, as my cultural identity has been a wild ride over the years, for various reasons. Not the least of which being, I don't fit certain steriotypes, and I'm pale enough that I get asked if I'm "All Puerto Rican" far too often from both sides of the fence.

--Me