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In retrospect, thoughts on RaceFail
Jan. 19th, 2010 12:05 pmI'm sure plenty of you have seen N.K. Jemisin (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nojojojo)'s post, "Why I Think RaceFail Was the Bestest Thing Evar for SFF, it's been pretty widely linked. If you haven't, drop everything and go read it.
Because the things she says are true and I agree with them. Especially the part where she says that RaceFail was downright necessary for SF/F if we expect to survive, grow, and continue to be worth anything. I'm certainly glad to hear her speak about changes that RaceFail brought about. While I don't go to cons and in some ways my interactions are limited and self-selected, I can say that I was changed by RaceFail, the way I think and the way I think about what I read and write were definitely changed.
These are all, I believe, Very Good Things. However, I also have to keep in mind whendeepad speaks about The Cost of Engaging (link takes you to her Dreamwidth account).
She is ESPECIALLY correct when she says:
I know that certainly what I got from RaceFail, the ways in which I have benefitted, have not been nearly what I put in, what I have contributed to the conversation. Yes, I made posts. Looking back a year removed from them, they seem rambling, well intentioned, clueless, useless. I certainly did not face the consequences that so many of those who spoke up did. I didn't get stalked, didn't get my name thrown around, didn't get 'outed'.
I suppose my fear is that those who put the fail in RaceFail will try to claim this as their victory, as their contribution. I fear that it will be used as an excuse by those who may talk a good game but would like things to go back to the way they were.
Because while things may have changed some, I believe we've still got a lot of ground to cover. When I see things like this, about yet another novel about a protagonist of color with a white person on the cover, I know we cannot stop talking about this, and that those of, like me, who have benefitted more than we've sacrificed have got to step up our game, step up our support of the people who, as Deepad said, were throwing themselves into the fray. A year after RaceFail began, I find myself wondering if it really is over, or should be over. I find myself thinking that this conversation is not nearly complete, especially since many people who need to listen still aren't.
nojojojo)'s post, "Why I Think RaceFail Was the Bestest Thing Evar for SFF, it's been pretty widely linked. If you haven't, drop everything and go read it. Because the things she says are true and I agree with them. Especially the part where she says that RaceFail was downright necessary for SF/F if we expect to survive, grow, and continue to be worth anything. I'm certainly glad to hear her speak about changes that RaceFail brought about. While I don't go to cons and in some ways my interactions are limited and self-selected, I can say that I was changed by RaceFail, the way I think and the way I think about what I read and write were definitely changed.
These are all, I believe, Very Good Things. However, I also have to keep in mind when
deepad speaks about The Cost of Engaging (link takes you to her Dreamwidth account). She is ESPECIALLY correct when she says:
I've felt unsafe because of it. I've lost friends because of it. I have felt uncomfortable stepping into a room because of it. I have had to withdraw from people, and communities because of it. I have lost the ability to watch and read many things I used to because of it. (I dropped out of academia because of it.)
I have seen people around me pay the costs of choosing to speak up, of choosing to engage, or choosing to fight. I do not consider them to be sacrificial martyrs - they will benefit from change, and they make their choices knowingly, as we all do, because of a self-determined standard of morality.
But the costs are not evenly split between the people who benefit.
I know that certainly what I got from RaceFail, the ways in which I have benefitted, have not been nearly what I put in, what I have contributed to the conversation. Yes, I made posts. Looking back a year removed from them, they seem rambling, well intentioned, clueless, useless. I certainly did not face the consequences that so many of those who spoke up did. I didn't get stalked, didn't get my name thrown around, didn't get 'outed'.
I suppose my fear is that those who put the fail in RaceFail will try to claim this as their victory, as their contribution. I fear that it will be used as an excuse by those who may talk a good game but would like things to go back to the way they were.
Because while things may have changed some, I believe we've still got a lot of ground to cover. When I see things like this, about yet another novel about a protagonist of color with a white person on the cover, I know we cannot stop talking about this, and that those of, like me, who have benefitted more than we've sacrificed have got to step up our game, step up our support of the people who, as Deepad said, were throwing themselves into the fray. A year after RaceFail began, I find myself wondering if it really is over, or should be over. I find myself thinking that this conversation is not nearly complete, especially since many people who need to listen still aren't.
