Because I said I would give more context

[netmouse]

a post explaining the context of a couple other posts recently...

There was this thing. At least, most of us are hoping it is accurate to use the word "was" because it seemed a rather toxic thing, such that it was easy to look at from the outside and dismiss as LJ Drama, or "a bag full of angry cats" or some other thing that apparently made various people who did not read it choose not to read it and some people congratulate themselves on the wisdom of staying far, far, away.

There are a couple names for it, but the one I've heard most often is RaceFail '09. There is a short summary here, and a linkety guide here including a link to a timeline and another summary of events (she calls it "Writing The Other/Great Cultural Appropriation Debate of DOOM '09" which is more descriptive in some ways, but doesn't have the short quick impression of total morass 'o doom that "RaceFail '09" does). Another comment people should read before diving in, with a lightly shorter link list, is here.

And yes, somewhere in there is evidence that there are certainly people who believe SF (as a written industry, and as a fandom) is not a safe place for people of color. Now, of course, many people will just point at RaceFail '09 itself to prove that point. I don't know how many people will listen to them. I know fandom is certainly both wider and deeper than this particular debate. I also know it is distinctly lacking in characters of color in writing by white people, authors and editors of color in the industry, and fans of color at literary sf cons. There are a few, but not enough.

(apparently there was another discussion last year that was slightly more sane. I remember reading Bear's post on it at the time, but otherwise didn't see much of it. )

If you are going to read any of it, I also recommend you read this essay on the definition of racism and also google "race theory" or "critical race theory" so as to avoid having the "what the heck are you people talking about and why are you mangling this corner of English so no one can talk to each other sensibly on this subject?" reaction in public the first time (like I did).

I have not read it all yet, but I plan to explore further, since the short summary (and other comments I've received) indicate "there have been many interesting and thoughtful posts by fans of color" and those are of interest to me. I hope to post a guide pointing to those later.

In the meantime, one thing some people point to as a positive !fail coming out of this is the creation of a new small press called Verb Noire. They are taking donations now to help them get started.

Comments

[rachelann1977.livejournal.com]

it's all in how you define racism. I think it's a huge pile of crap, personally. You should read Spider Robinson's "Night of Power." If an old white dude could ever understand racism, he does, in my estimation.

Just an opinion, though, and I really do believe that opinions are like assholes..... :-p
Still, that book is a pretty good read, too bad he can't come to Penguicon.

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

Your first link is now locked, apparently.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

I assume you saw Scalzi's comment on this when someone tried to drag it over there. In my case, I blew up on it a few days ago for the same reason; serious 'you have to join the fray or else' crapola that Just Set My Teeth On Edge that I got from a regular on my area, who I seriously told off in a private email.

I agree that there's serious and worthwhile discussion material in the middle of all this, somewhere. The vitriol, however, overwhelms it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

I keep hearing about this, and i keep wondering what it was all about, and i keep hearing that to really find out what it was all about i had to go out and read a shite-ton of stuff that would probably make me angry, so i've been holding off.

My curiosity is piqued, tho. I keep wondering how an activity that is based in creativity, requires (relative to the overall pool of possible activities and vocations in life) little physical interaction, and is largely populated by people who understand what it means to be socially excluded at some level could potentially be so rife with something like racism.

I don't want to just assume that, like many of the useless debates in our culture, it's a bunch of generally good and compassionate people on both sides merely suffering from normal communications limitations and then emotionally set off by a few rabid extremists on both sides... but i think i do. Of course i wont act on that assumption without doing the research.