Wow. How did I miss that?

[mousme]

I appear to have missed the boat on what is being called RaceFail09.

Having now glanced at the ten gazillion posts on the matter, I am SO GLAD that I missed the boat.

I don't have the energy to get into that. I wouldn't have had the energy when it started, back in January. Egads.

I am well aware that the issues of racism and cultural appropriation and what have you need to be addressed and called out when the need arises. As it happens, many, many, MANY people are involved in the fray, and I don't see the need to add that much more to the verbiage.

For those of you who, like me, have no idea what this is about, rydra_wong has been collecting links under the tag gcadod 09. Be prepared, there are hundreds of links in there, going back all the way to January. Some of it is good, some of it is cringe-worthy and hair-tearingly awful. You have been warned.

That's all I'm going to say on the topic.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Stay tuned for everyone on your flist posting their obligatory "I am aware of my white privilege" post. It's great fun.

(also quite silly and non-productive, and yes, I have already been flamed for expressing that opinion.)

[mousme.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me briefly to make that post myself, and then I decided not to. I am already a bleeding-heart tree-hugging goddamned leftist commie, and no longer feel the need to publicly flagellate myself in the name of being politically correct.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Me, too!

Oops. I meant to say "that means you are a racist".

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Oh noes! Will you ever speak to me again?

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Here, you need this icon :)

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Hee! It's awesome. :D

[luvenditti.livejournal.com]

hear hear!

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

I may get pilloried at some point for this, but that comment? Love.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Agreed. :D

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Yeeeeah. Saw some of the periphery on my flist and stayed far, far away from engaging, only to run into a post this morning about how anyone who was a writer and didn't say something about it was a coward, no matter what their race.

No, we're just sensible enough not to get drawn into an online flame war.

People said some stuff, others tried to build on it, lots of it was misconstrued unintentionally or deliberately, people hijacked what could have been a sensible discussion for their own uses, others tried to pull out or atone, people said stuff they shouldn't have said or phrased it poorly and got hung for it. Wow, disaster all round. And the truly awful thing is that even through the falling-down and making-mistakes parts it could have been a truly valuable, sensible discussion instead of drama.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

No, we're just sensible enough not to get drawn into an online flame war.

Yes, this. Holy cats, but it's insulting to be told that I am morally bankrupt just because I choose not to engage in what is already a mud-slinging fest. Sheesh. No one needs my opinion, here.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[tcaptain.livejournal.com]

To paraphrase an old saw:

Arguing in a flame war is like wrestling a pig. Sure you might win, but you'll get very dirty and the pig will enjoy it.

[meallanmouse.livejournal.com]

That. Right there.

[sorceror.livejournal.com]

Wow. In terms of sheer material, it's like the MsScribe story!

In dark times like this,

[ajpursell.livejournal.com]

I turn to 30 Rock's Jack Donaghey for spiritual guidance:
"I'll tell you who has it the hardest: White Men. We make the unpopular, difficult decisions - the tough choices. We land on the moon and Normandy Beach and they resent us"

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

I assume that this would not benefit from my trying to pull some sort of "I'm a white, male, country-livin', whiskey-drinkin', gun ownin', huntin', fishin' gay positive feminist anti-racist progressive tree-hugging privilege-conscious Green and as such feel no need to apologize to anybody about anything" stereotypefuck schtick?

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Nah, probably not. :D

To be honest, I wouldn't even know in which direction to point you, the clusterf*ck is so giant.

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Yeah, on further research, the problem appears to be this massive epidemic of memetic constipation...

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Hee!

That about sums it up, yes.

RaceFail

[ankhorite.livejournal.com]

Someone on my flist whom I do not know that well wrote that she wasn't sure whether she should point me over there or not...

I told her she can point all she wants, I ain't going. I've done my time. I can do more for this cause if I don't waste my energy throwing water or oil on the Flaming Righteous.

As owldaughter said above, it's not cowardice: No, we're just sensible enough not to get drawn into an online flame war.

Conversations about race need to be held. US Attorney General Eric Holder was right, in the US, we as a nation have been cowards about this discussion. But not all of us, and those of us who've done the whole admit-internalized-racism-and-strive-to-do-better thing already generally don't need to do it twice, if it took the first time. And by "discussion," I don't think he meant an online shoutfest. Well, maybe, but as one of many arenas.

Fears, you're probably too little and too far away to remember when the Black Panthers decided to take advantage of California's open-carry laws in the 1960's... ;) Hoo boy, that was a conversation starter.