Blogging Against Racism, better late than never

[adiva_calandia]

It's easy to identify prejudices in another's work, though -- that's why we have editors, because it's too hard to find our own problems in our own work. Which is why, I think, the representation problems in Milliways go largely unnoticed. It's our work. Last night, Coalhouse Walker from Ragtime entered and summed it up: You travel beyond the reach of the sun, to whatever world lies beyond, and it's full of white people.

I'm as guilty of it as everyone else. I was thinking this morning as I walked back from getting coffee, composing this in my head, Why didn't I cast Epimetheus as Greek? Well, because I'm playing off Prometheus' PB, who's white, and whose music partner is white. So why is Prometheus white?

For that matter, why are all of the mythical, seperate-from-general reality characters in Milliways white? The only exceptions I can come up with off the top of my head are Coyote and, on occasion, Raven (varadia talked about that a lot). Why are these pups that are half personal canon white? Why did I assume Tom would be white? Why are none of my pups in The Wasteland non-white?

I don't feel that I can use the excuse that I'm white, and that I therefore can't write a non-white perspective. I'm female and I write guys fine. I'm straight and I write lesbian okay. I'm young and I write middle-aged or immortal okay.

And to be fair to myself, I play two non-white characters: Carmela Rodriguez and Nirupam Singh. But I still come back to that question -- why are the characters I create white?

Not like I'm going to change my PB selection on Epimetheus and Tom and Russ and Journey all of a sudden, but it's worth keeping in mind when I write.

Comments

[adiva_calandia]

When you mentioned finding a PB for Medusa, I though about suggesting Ani DiFranco because she has dreadlocks, and then I went "Wait, one, she's white and not Greek, and two, Ashie's pup, Ashie's PB choice."

I totally understand why N. American pups would be more difficult for you -- when I was poking at Zoe Bell in mixed_muses, I actually was a lot more intimidated by her being Australian than I am by, say, Valerie being British.

I'm not good with going 'well, I have to play this because'.

Just curious -- is the tone of this post coming off that way? If so, erk, I didn't mean it to at all. I don't feel like I have to play more non-white pups (--and only just now, after using that term time after time after time in this post, do I remember that that's a marking term in and of itself, since it's the whole "there's white and there's everyone else" thing. Dammit. Well, not currently having a better term, I'll stick with it). I'm not going to change Epimetheus' PB, and I'm not going to go around shaking my finger at people with white PBs. Just . . . personally, if I continue to choose white PBs, fine, but I want to be conscious of why I'm doing it.

If I stuck to playing what I know, well, I'd be playing Corrie and that'd be it.

*snickers* Word. There are no good Alaskan characters out there. Though I suppose I could app someone from 30 Days of Night or Northern Exposure . . .

[ashen_key]

Ooh. I didn't think of her. But...as superficial as this is? I don't find her attractive. And Medusa is supposed to be beautiful. BUT. I really, really, really am up for suggestions. I really, really am. Because I SEE her as olive-skinned and dark-eyed and dark-haired, and I can't find someone. Just. Ignore the hair. It's snakes, unless/until I bring her in dead, and then logically the curse would be gone and it just have to beautiful hair.

North American (which I've started saying a lot more than just 'American' thanks to playing Ajedrez and reading up)...stresses me out. So much.

*thinks* Not so much you as the debate, I think, and the feeling of guilt that we as a general entity don't play those from other cultures or backgrounds means that we should concentrate on broadening things deliberately, which as an argument grates me but I always seem to have it in the back of my head, so I find myself trying to debate it even when it doesn't come up, if that makes sense? So, um, sorry about that.

You understand! thank you! *glomps*

[adiva_calandia]

Is fair! I have no other ideas, at the moment, alas.

Hm. 'kay. I wish I could alleviate that feeling somehow. :\ I do not want to stir up wank with my personal strictures!

I don't think anyone advocates some kind of affirmative action to pup apping, with a quota of differently raced characters to be met by a player or a game. Just, again, it's something we should be conscious of. Raising awareness is the goal. Milliways is just a very personal case study for many of us. If we're aware of it in our own writing -- if we can go "Hey, how come Milliways has so many Europeans/European descendants/European rip-offs, and so few Africans or Australians or South Americans?" -- then we can go "Hey, wait. Why does Heroes talk about Japan and India and South America and not Australia or the Philippines or Africa?" And then we can go "Hey, why does Western culture let this go by unnoticed?"

And then we can fix it. :)

[ashen_key]

Of course, when/if I bring her in dead (*eyes self* IF I APP HER) and she's dead and has no snakes, there will be lots of woe because she loves her snakes. But, ugh, main thing is...if you have any ideas? Do let me know. PB comms and groups and things tend to be very, very white-centric, and trying to find someone Middle Eastern/Greek is...hard. Of course as soon as I wake up and get dressed, I'm going hunting again.

*nods* Yeah, I know. And fixing/awareness is all very good! Although, I hardly need to point that out, really.