Tag: antiblackness

Meme-ing For A Reason #7 – You’re Out of Touch, Much

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The “Skinner, Out of Touch” meme where Principal Skinner represents people in fandom first asking “Is fandom racist?” before then deciding that “no it is the newer fans who are sensitive and out of touch. There’s no racism here, just weenies.”

The phenomenon of white people deciding that in fact there is zero racism in a space they inhabit, usually because they supposedly haven’t seen it, is bigger than fandom.

People of color experience this annoying micro-major aggression everywhere. We get to deal with it at work, in the grocery store, while watching the news – 

Basically, if you’re a person of color that has been in or around a racist place (digital or otherwise), chances are that you’ve had a run in with someone who thinks that there’s no racism anymore.

They’ve never seen racism and/or they’ve decided that what racism they have seen is too small to count and therefore, what you’re talking about is nonsense.

This is similar to how people deny that white privilege is even a thing in the first dang place. 

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Link Lineup – April 2021

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I Grew Up in a Majority-Minority Country. We Still Have a Problem with Anti-Blackness

I found my own Trinidadian upbringing confusing. On one hand, I was made to believe that race mattered very little, echoing sentiments of postraciality that surfaced after President Barack Obama was elected. My schoolbooks emphasized that Trinidad and Tobago was a rainbow utopia, evident by the shoehorning of as many creeds and races as could possibly fit into small, grayscale pictorial representations. I’d look at my face in the mirror—my light but definitely brown skin, my broad nose—clocking my features against the fact that my last name was confusingly Chinese (my great-grandfather on my dad’s side came from there) and wondering what the hell I was.

In the Caribbean, there are so many complex relationships with our Blackness, what Blackness could look like and who got to be Black in the first dang place. In islands like Trinidad where you have a more visible history of non-Black people of color (primarily Indian and Chinese) marrying and loving Black people, Blackness is complicated. And so is your understanding of where white supremacy fits in to the conversation. Because the people in power in Trinidad, in the Virgin Islands, in Jamaica… aren’t actually or typically white people. And yet, white supremacy thrives in these places to the point of harming people of color who live there.

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[Thread Collection] Sinking the Ship of Theseus in Fandom Harassment Disguised As Discourse (3/15/2021)

Stitch

Originally posted here and retweets would be appreciated especially if your friends in fandom are falling for the disinformation focused harassment campaigns I’m talking about here.

This video absolutely speaks to my ongoing harassment from supposedly “progressive” fandom spaces (for writing about racism).

Like how this tactic of substitution & disinformation is used to cut people off from their communities + turn people against them. 

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[Thread Collection] Your Priorities … Seem Seuss Skewed

Stitch

Still locked on main thanks to people who believe boundaries and fandom are a thing they get, but not me, but if you’re following me, you can see the original thread here.

if your talking point for why the biggest fic archive ever can’t (or ~shouldn’t~) do anything about dehumanizing racist fanworks or the racists posting them on the site sounds IDENTICAL to the weirdos screeching about Dr. Seuss’s most racist works being removed from HIS archives you have a deep RACIST problem and you should work on it

the first amendment protects freedom of speech, true. but if you’re using that to be adamant in protecting overtly racist fanworks along the lines of racists moaning about racist “children’s” books from decades ago…

holy fuck are your priorities scary (seriously, using the 1st amendment in fandom discourse is weird no matter what, but it becomes a PROBLEM if you’re using it to defend racists and NOT people of color who talk about racism here) and i hope you step on something very sharp!

😀

(also the 1st amendment protects freedom of speech from THE GOVERNMENT/CONGRESS making laws, not a TOS: referencing it to wield it against BIPOC in fandom talking about the racism here/in fanworks – who have no power in or out of fandom – is super fucking racist & needs to stop)

Fandom Racism 101: Basic Body Politics

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I love a tol and a smol and if you’re in fandom… chances are that you do too.

There’s something supremely thrilling about size differences in a pairing. I know people who’ve gotten into their ship of choice specifically because of the huge height difference between the pairings. Hell, I got into Devilish Joy specifically because the lead pairing has almost a foot difference in height between them when she’s not in heels. Even before you get into macro/micro content, a lot of fandoms and different internet subcultures are pretty positive towards size differences and body differences.

Now, what does that have to do with fandom racism?

Plenty.

Unfortunately.

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What Fandom Racism Looks Like: All The Pieces of Heroes of Color

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“[…] this problem of cannibalizing a hero of color to enhance a white character isn’t new.” – tumblr user thehollowprince in response to a tumblr message received July 16, 2020 (Archive link.)

I’ve never seen folks in fandom cut up aspects of a white hero to then give those characteristics to another white character. No one’s writing stories where Bucky was always Captain America and he went on to link up with the Avengers as a fandom norm. No one’s rewriting the Skywalker saga so that Luke is actually the (totally unrelated) rogue who falls in love with Leia while Han is shot into the icy vacuum of space.

White heroes are never stripped of their backstories, motivations, and the like to boost a minor white character or villain up to heroic status. The things that make heroes like Captain America, Luke Skywalker, or even Batman relatable are never stripped from them and handed to some other white hero. (And yes, that’s two superhero franchises and Star Wars, but I get to do that.)

What I have seen are plenty of instances where a hero of color has the things that make them unique in in their media not just stripped away, but then given to white characters in their show, film or comic franchise.

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Three Things About The Negative Backlash to Fan Service #2

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I have been harassed for writing about racism in fandom spaces since 2017.

Before, people had one off “lol that’s d*mb” and “fandom isn’t racist” responses, but it wasn’t until people started taking me seriously that the harassment amped up to the point where I found myself leaving Tumblr as a result. Sustained direct harassment – insults, impersonations, aggressive pushback, dogpiling, brigading and lying – have marked a large amount of my time in fandom since 2017.

It started with white dude slash shippers when I talked about the laser focus on Hux/Kylo and other white dude slash ships at the direct expense of characters of color in their media. Then Rey/Kylo shippers got in on it when I pointed out how their early Ben Solo characterization was given Finn’s backstory and interactions with Rey. Then people who identify as “proshippers” in and out of the Hannibal fandom and various anime fandoms that I’m also not in got in on the game.

And that’s what it is to them: a game.

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Urban Fantasy 101: Magical Negros in the Genre

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One of the most infuriating things about urban fantasy as a genre is that one of the most familiar representations for Black readers (and of Black people) comes in the form of the magical Negro figure.

In his article “The School for Magical Negros”, Michael Harriot writes that:

The Magical Negro is the white man’s idealized version of black people—a cross between faithful slave servant who walks with his head down and a superhero too conservatively demure to wear a cape and too grateful for the benevolence of white people to slit their throats for past atrocities. He may drop his “r’s” and use incorrect subject-verb agreement (because a literal incarnation of the perfect black stereotype, by definition, can’t be smart), but he is the incarnation of the friendliest, most loving, loyal dream of a human being.

And that’s the heart of it: magical negro characters literally exist to serve (usually, but not always) white characters on their quest to great magical power.

They exist to use their magical talent (which sometimes isn’t even actual magic but uncanny ability to be exactly what the white protagonist needs to fix themselves) and provide education to prepare the naïve non-black protagonist for magical success. Unless you’re lucky, there’s rarely any attempt at fleshing out the magical negro character or acknowledging either his talent or blackness beyond what those things can bring the hero.

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Black People in Fandom: Cassandras in Action

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In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a princess who got the god Apollo to give her the gift of prophecy but, when she refused to sleep with him (her end of the “deal” according to multiple sources), she was cursed to utter true prophecies that were never believed as that came through with devastating consequences.

Over the years, I’ve realized that many Black people in fandom (including performers and showrunners, not just fans) are treated similarly where they signal or even shout about a problem in fandom or with the source media… but no one listens until it’s too late and they can’t continue to ignore us… or it becomes somewhat profitable to pay attention to what’s been bothering or harming us for years.

The morning that John Boyega’s September 2020 feature in GQ magazine with Jimi Famurewa went up, I lost track of how many people messaged me about or tagged me in tweets related to the piece.

The tweets and DMs I got were from both Black fans and non-Black fans, all shouting because finally we had further explicit confirmation of somethings that I and other Black people had been talking about years: the way that the Sequel Trilogy put Finn’s arc on the back burner on purpose to focus on Kylo/Rey AND the antiblackness aimed at John from fandom (as a whole) harmed him.

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Thread Collection: Like With Meghan, Coded Antiblackness Comes (1/11/2020)

Stitch

Originally posted on Twitter January 11, 2020.

This trash article about Meghan and Harry is actually super relevant to what’s been going on with @JohnBoyega, the Rey/Kylo fandom, and coded racism from people in fandom/media that think we can’t see what they’re doing.

At no point in this article does the writer mention Megan’s actual race or mention her Blackness.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s not racist? Look at the second screenshot and how it continues the condescending attitude towards her.

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Thread Collection: When Talking Heads Need to STFU (6/5/2020)

Stitch

This was originally posted on June 5, 2020 and in that version I did use he/him pronouns for Juwon Park by mistake and have corrected my pronoun usage here.

Look at this antiblack ass

Also, this is a thing these Korean bloggers (her and TK Park aren’t the only ones) do repeatedly when people are talking about antiblackness: they bring up violence against migrants and women in Korea. But only ever to dismiss antiblackness.

Never organically.

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Thread Collection: Escapism Would Be Great (1/18/2019)

Stitch

Originally posted as a thread on Twitter January 18, 2019.

I saw a tweet that I’m… not gonna touch but:

Escapism in fic and fandom is great, but as a Black person, I find it impossible to escape into fandoms and fanworks that treat Black people (fictional and real) as burdens to be left on the side of the road and complained about.

I’d love for fandom to be a space where I can leave isms behind and just focus on the squee but as a Black person?

FANDOM WON’T LET ME.

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[Flashback Friday] My Original Fandom Racism Bingo

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This was originally posted on my Tumblr in 2018 shortly before the Black Panther film came out and three years into my time running Stitch’s Media Mix!

This is totally for funsies thanks to a darling pal on twitter, so here’s me trying my hand at a type of fandom racism bingo.

The different bingo bits read (in no particular order):

  • “You’re the real racist”
  • Sizekink featuring Big Black Cocks
  • “I’m Black and I don’t think this is racist”
  • Slavefic
  • “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like [Black character]”
  • “[Minor white character] is just… more interesting than [Black character]”
  • Uppity
  • “I’m not racist, but – ”
  • Black character as convenient wingman for white slash ship
  • “I’d like [White character] even if they were Black”
  • Civil Rights Movement replaced by Mutant/Omega rights
  • “darkwashing/blackwashing”
  • “What if [Black character] was evil/died?”
  • White ruler of Wakanda
  • Black character exists only to do emotional labor
  • “You’re why people don’t like to write/draw Black characters in fandom.”

This lowkey makes me want to do a “fandom racism drinking game” too but I think we’d all die of alcohol poisoning within a few minutes of scrolling through ao3.

2020 Index:

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