Best thing I've seen so far this week (IBARW)...

[catherineldf]

starkeymonster International Blog Against Racism Week icon - "Racism Harshes My Squee," as indeed it should. And what a wonderful fannish way of putting it. :-)))

Apart from this, Diversicon was pretty swell. I got to meet and have dinner with Andrea Hairston, author of "Mindscape" and Ama Patterson who write the fabulous story "Hussy Strut," which appeared in "Dark Matter 1," a collection of sf/f by writers from the African diaspora. I picked up "Dark Matter 2" as well as a signed copy of "Mindscape" at the auction. I hit both of them up for stories for my new antho in progress, of course, as well as talking to fun and fabulous local Hmong American writer, Ka Vang. Ka had a good idea for a story too, so I'm quite excited about that.
Which sort of has me coming back around to IBARW. The world is full of people, most of whom range from somewhat different to very different from myself. Personally, I enjoy meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds and trying to find a way to communicate with them. I make terrific friends and it keeps my mind functioning and keeps me learning.
Why would anyone want to close themselves off to that?
Actually, I do have some ideas about it. My father (long since deceased) was virulently racist. He was also anti-Semitic, abusive and just an all around swell guy. I spent the first few years of my life in an environment where fear of the Other was almost, but not quite, eclipsed by fear of Us. My father was a brilliant man, apart from his other characteristics, as well as being a fearful one. He had a number of psychological problems including alcoholism, all of which contributed to his need to find scapegoats for being a failure in his own eyes.
And after he finished drinking himself to death, it took decades to attempt to uproot the evil little seeds he planted. It's not so much that I'm overtly, publicly racist but that kind of crap is insidious. We take it in through our pores: white is better, prettier, richer, superior. Black and brown are poor, dangerous, ugly, invisible. We get it in our entertainment, our books, our movies, our daily lives. We internalize it until it's cell-deep and just as hard to get rid of.
It's easy to say that I'm not a racist, that somehow I don't judge or treat people differently based on their heritage and background, and certainly I try not to. I like to think that most of the time I succeed. But if I'm not confronting it in the world around me, that's not enough.
And learning how to do that is one hell of a worthwhile project, in my opinion.
Happy Wednesday and happy IBARW.

Comments

beauty-ist?

[gypsy1969.livejournal.com]

I had a racist father. He also was an alcoholic, but although I'd say he was intelligent, he wasn't brilliant. He died last fall (the same day as John M. Ford) I fought not to be like my father ever since my mother separated from him when I was six years old.

I'm not a racist, but I do find myself prejudging folks sometimes by how they look. I'm attracted to very strong features, red haired Irish, very black Africans, very dark haired and very blond Europeans as well as mixed folks of all races. I guess I'm just attracted to good looking people and I know this is a thing to fight too.

Wow

[muneraven.livejournal.com]

"it took decades to attempt to uproot the evil little seeds he planted"

Isn't that awful? I mean, we do damage to one another. Most of the time we don't even mean to. And then we waste years on the damage that was done to us, either numbing the pain with booze or food or SOMETHING, or else trying to recognize and either heal or cope with our own broken places.

Bleah.

Kudos to you, though, for worrying about hurting others because you got damaged. I think that attitude makes a big difference in the world.

I have this quote on my bedroom door: "Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world." It is by Etty Hillesum.

[thaedeus.livejournal.com]

I am very racist. But the only race I am particularly against is one I call "AssholierThanThou-ians"

I was damaged in other ways. Not by my parents. It's a long story... detailed in my
disturbing music.

[evilroygato.livejournal.com]

great post, very well said. :) Noah was just here for this summer's visit, and one of the things we've been working on with him is learning to be critical of the media he consumes...which is pretty much a constant conversation since he consumes vast quantities of media. One recent conversation centered around why he is so fascinated by stories like LOTR and Harry Potter, and totally uninterested in stories like The Golden Compass--could it be because GC has a girl hero which he has been programmed to not respond to?

If nothing else, I hope he grows up able to question his own assumptions and explore his feelings honestly...and act accordingly. Which is a high hope, I realize, since it's something I'm still learning at 36. :)