clevermanka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clevermanka) wrote2021-10-23 07:37 am
clevermanka) wrote2021-10-23 07:37 am
Entry tags:
Racism in Fandom
If you, a white person, are tired of hearing about racism in fandom imagine how tired non-white fans are of the abuse they continually suffer in our fan spaces. I know we are all tired and we want to enjoy our things, but what about the other people who want to enjoy those things, too? We need to accommodate for their needs. We need to provide them a safe space and it's beyond insulting, not to mention hurtful and rude, to suggest if they don't like it, they can just go elsewhere. Don't people notice how similar that sounds to "America? Don't love it? LEAVE!" Do you really want to be associated with that mentality?
Posts like this (Tumblr) are heartbreaking. How can we look at that creator and tell them to go away? That we're not willing to protect them?
We now know that AO3 has the resources to improve, they are aware there are issues, and there are lots of people out there with suggestions on how to begin the work. Yet people in the OTW, people on my DW read list, people everywhere, cry censorship and refuse action because it's not their job to make the call on what's allowed. The attitude discouraging for me, a white person. The emotional weight that puts on fans of color must be awful.
We've got to do better, and silence is complicit. Neutrality places us on the side of the oppressor. If we don't believe it's the responsibility of AO3 to protect its users from exposure to hateful, hurtful content, we are part of the problem.
I'm not asking my mutuals to make the decisions on what must be done--pretty sure none of y'all are on the OTW board. But I expect the people I'm mutuals with to support reform in fandom spaces. I expect my white mutuals to voice their support for anti-racist actions in fandom spaces. I'm done being friendly with white fans who don't engage with even the minimal point of agreeing we need change. I get being tired! I'm tired as fuck y'all, but I guarantee I'm not as tired (or at risk) as fans of color.
naye put together a truckload of anti-racism resources and links if you'd like to acquaint yourself with them. Let me see your voices. Let me see you asking for change.
Posts like this (Tumblr) are heartbreaking. How can we look at that creator and tell them to go away? That we're not willing to protect them?
We now know that AO3 has the resources to improve, they are aware there are issues, and there are lots of people out there with suggestions on how to begin the work. Yet people in the OTW, people on my DW read list, people everywhere, cry censorship and refuse action because it's not their job to make the call on what's allowed. The attitude discouraging for me, a white person. The emotional weight that puts on fans of color must be awful.
We've got to do better, and silence is complicit. Neutrality places us on the side of the oppressor. If we don't believe it's the responsibility of AO3 to protect its users from exposure to hateful, hurtful content, we are part of the problem.
I'm not asking my mutuals to make the decisions on what must be done--pretty sure none of y'all are on the OTW board. But I expect the people I'm mutuals with to support reform in fandom spaces. I expect my white mutuals to voice their support for anti-racist actions in fandom spaces. I'm done being friendly with white fans who don't engage with even the minimal point of agreeing we need change. I get being tired! I'm tired as fuck y'all, but I guarantee I'm not as tired (or at risk) as fans of color.
naye put together a truckload of anti-racism resources and links if you'd like to acquaint yourself with them. Let me see your voices. Let me see you asking for change.