IBARW: Why blog about racism?

[sqbr]

So, one of the standards I try to hold myself to is to be open to criticism and other points of view. Two criticisms I've had people make of me (directly and indirectly) here and there are that
(a)This whole blogging about racism and feminism etc is pointless or otherwise a bad idea
(b)People who disagree with me (or don't feel as strongly) on these or related issues find this lj unwelcoming/intimidating

(EDIT: I'm paraphrasing, and I think I've accidentally created straw-critics who you are all defending me from when the actual things people said really weren't that bad, mostly. My plan for a "nice simple links post instead of a tricky thinky real post about race" seem to have been less than successful...)

Now I'm still feeling a bit too dumb to write a proper post on either issue, but looking through ibarw I came accross three posts which go into the first question really well:

• rilina: IBARW: Why I'm participating
  
• coffeeandink: Why I participate in IBARW
  
• The Angry Black Woman: Doing Something About Racism
  

And to be flip for a moment: Me getting all excited about a particular topic, ranting about it continuously for a few months/years until I get my head around it/find a new obsession (and then intermittently from then on) is in general part of the whole reason I got a blog(*). I'm not sure I see how racism is any worse than fanfiction meta or wire crochet :P

But I do understand that just because you may not write about this stuff on your blog doesn't mean you don't care, the same way that I still cared about it before I started posting about it so much, and will still care if I decide to tone it down. Heck, it's not like I stopped making wire crochet...(EDIT: Also, you're under no obligation to read all my posts. I'll admit now, I skim over anything you guys post resembling a travelogue, my brain just refuses to process them)

The second criticism is something I'm still pondering how to articulate my response to, since it's a complex issue, and I know how that sort of thing can feel (I spent several years too intimidated to go to Gynaecon since I had ambivalent feelings about feminism(**)) I have this big metaphor about how I want to behave the way I would like my vegetarian/vegan friends to behave towards me, but it's going to take a little more thought.

(*) Also with racism (but not so much sexism etc, for various reasons), I've spent much of my life avoiding speaking up a lot of the time because it was all too difficult and I felt underqualified, so I have a lot of repressed annoyance to work through.
(**)No offense to the people who run Gynaecon, btw, since you were all very welcoming when I did come, and I think the problem was mostly if not all in my head.

Comments

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

Your LJ, your rules, your interests. I would probably only start complaining if you were to, say, post fanfic without an lj-cut.

I read most of your *ism posts - I like reading the discussions that go on in the comments, too! They're interesting things to read about rather thank think about, for me.

[alias_sqbr]

Would it be ok if it was just a drabble? Or would that still scar your delicate brain? :)

(nb: I have no immediate plans to post any drabbles. But you Never Know)

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

It would make me pretty angry, like when some of my ex-friends tried to trick me into reading fanfiction. =(

YOU KNOW MY WEAKNESS NOW OH SHI-

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

sigh.

[alias_sqbr]

*amuses self with the concept of "fic-rolling'*

(Okay so it sounded better in my head okay)

[tattered-pinion.livejournal.com]

Never gonna give in to long-held-desires, never gonna do what always feels right but oh so wrong, never gonna uuuuuse purple prose and indulge you

LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

[alias_sqbr]

No, no, to be a fic-roll it has to be fic. Like so:

Sheppard's going to pick Cho up
Take her out to Hogsmead town
Buy her the best dinner around
and dessert too

(Though, strictly speaking, I guess this is a filk-roll)

Re: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

[tattered-pinion.livejournal.com]

I think the abyss is staring back into you!

Re: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

[alias_sqbr]

I'm not so much staring into it as plummeting...

Re: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

[out-fox.livejournal.com]

*sound of putting pride quietly aside*

Squee! An Astley drabble fic roll thingy! Bringing Smash Hits and fanfic together at last.

Re: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

[alias_sqbr]

Like Cho and Sheppard, they've been a too-long neglected OTP, and it makes me deeply ashamed proud to be the one to bring together :)

[tattered-pinion.livejournal.com]

(Oh yeah and I am interested in your feminism/anti-racism posts!)

[alias_sqbr]

But are you interested in my drabbles?

(I guess it's a bit late to ask now :D)

[tattered-pinion.livejournal.com]

I'm Trent by the way!