I admit outright that I'm not nearly as familiar with the discourse on racism in Britain as I am with the American versions. Thanks again for letting me know about these different conceptions of race/racism -- it also really helps explain why it felt like everyone was talking at cross-purposes. I'm pretty sure that there must be discussions of race and racism from the British perspective, but I can't remember offhand which, if any, of the RaceFail posts are. I'll let you know if I remember/find anything like that.
I'm sorry someone did end up calling you racist. I hope I've made it clear that's uncalled-for. It's also a great way to shut down discussion, so whoever's batting that label around isn't doing any sides any favours here.
I understand you're really busy right now, and I appreciate you taking the time to come here and read and respond and try to help me understand what happened. (It's exam/essay time for me, too, of the "if I don't get this shit done I'm not graduating in two weeks" variety.) I hope when you do have time you go through the links people gave you-- they included a lot of good reading that's becoming pretty basic/standard background material for discussing race on the internet. (Of course, it gets fun when we have run-ins between people who assume a basic familiarity with these readings and people who weren't aware of such standards. Awesome.)
I know that you're a reader of SF in particular, though. That's mostly what I read, too. With that in mind, if you have time anytime soon to read just one thing, I really, really recommend that you read deepad's I Didn't Dream of Dragons (http://deepad.livejournal.com/29656.html) (which if I recall at least one other person linked you to as well). It's a powerful, eye-opening piece that pretty much gut-punches you with how white-centric the content of most SF is. Not just white authors or white characters. White-culture tropes, white-culture story structures. Plus, it's only a little over 2,000 words long, so hopefully it wouldn't take too much time.
no subject
I admit outright that I'm not nearly as familiar with the discourse on racism in Britain as I am with the American versions. Thanks again for letting me know about these different conceptions of race/racism -- it also really helps explain why it felt like everyone was talking at cross-purposes. I'm pretty sure that there must be discussions of race and racism from the British perspective, but I can't remember offhand which, if any, of the RaceFail posts are. I'll let you know if I remember/find anything like that.
I'm sorry someone did end up calling you racist. I hope I've made it clear that's uncalled-for. It's also a great way to shut down discussion, so whoever's batting that label around isn't doing any sides any favours here.
I understand you're really busy right now, and I appreciate you taking the time to come here and read and respond and try to help me understand what happened. (It's exam/essay time for me, too, of the "if I don't get this shit done I'm not graduating in two weeks" variety.) I hope when you do have time you go through the links people gave you-- they included a lot of good reading that's becoming pretty basic/standard background material for discussing race on the internet. (Of course, it gets fun when we have run-ins between people who assume a basic familiarity with these readings and people who weren't aware of such standards. Awesome.)
I know that you're a reader of SF in particular, though. That's mostly what I read, too. With that in mind, if you have time anytime soon to read just one thing, I really, really recommend that you read
Good luck on your exams and essays!