That sure is an attention grabbing title, isn't it? However don't be alarmed, this post is not bashing or stereotyping white people. It's more of a counter-post for Stori Tori's post, which is a counter-post for this post, which you could say is a counter-post for society in general.
It won't come as a surprise to anyone that diversity is a huge topic in today's book world. With organizations like We Need Diverse Books trying to change the publishing landscape from the all-white, heterosexual, cisgendered, etc, it's quickly catching the attention of others. Of course, when any new thing starts making waves, some people feel left out or upset. With diversity, there are some writers, mostly all the things I listed before, who feel as though they are being pressured to write diversity. If they don't, they're racist or something else-ist.
What I'm about to say might sound a little callous, but here it goes:
This isn't about you, white people.
Of course, diversity is relevant to everyone. Everyone gets something out of the push for diversity, not just minorities. So it is about you, in a sense, but not in the way you think it is.
Diversity is not a contest. It is not a game. You do not write diversity and get diversity points. Not writing diversity doesn't mean you move back two spaces in Diversity Monopoly. You shouldn't feel some enormous pressure to write about characters unlike yourself. It is however encouraged.
When you see a post featuring minorities sharing their stories, your first reaction should not be, "Hey, not all white people are like that!" You should think, "Wow, sucks they had to deal with that. Can't believe there are still assholes like that out there." If you've suddenly gotten the feeling that you've become the representative of your race, or that people have a certain view about you , well . . . welcome to what it's like being a minority.
This doesn't mean that we should fight racism with racism. Being mean to white people because they're white is just as bad as being mean to a black person because they're black. If you see someone doing that, call them out on it! However, it's important to note that the oppressed sharing in a joke about their oppressors is completely different!
But Anah, why are only white people being targeted? I don't see anyone telling minorities to be more diverse and include white people?
Well actually, white people aren't being targeted, but let's continue with this thought. Who do you think controls the power in the publishing industry? Answer: White people. It's not a secret that there are more white authors, white agents, and white editors than minorities. A lot of the times, if change is to truly to happen, than we have to change the majority too. We have to get them to care about our causes. It's why a straight men has to pretend to be gay and tell other homophobes about how awful it is before anyone gets it.Also, I think it would be pretty salty to tell people who are already underrepresented in every form of media that they need to include more of the majority.
The reason people would think an editor is racist because they told a minorities author to include a white person in their story, and not vice versa, is because there are many different forms of whitewashing that minority authors are subjected to: being told to whitewash their characters, to stop making it so ethnic, how are the white readers supposed to understand? Cue white tears.
I do agree that author's shouldn't write diversity for the sake of some political agenda, but again no one is talking about forcing diversity everywhere, only in places where it's realistic in possible. No one's going to send an author hate mail because there are no black people in 1492 China.
When it comes to fantasy, I find the lack of diversity to be more alarming. You're telling me you can create entire worlds, religions, species, and magic, but you can't create non-whites? Why is everyone in a made up world still European based. The comment argument I see is that their world isn't based on ours, therefore it wouldn't be realistic to have other races. Problem: These worlds are often based on specific European mythology and medieval culture, which is, guess what, from our world. Second problem: You're pretty much saying that white is the default race and anything else is unrealistic.
But, Anah, I don't see any white people being upset-
I think we all know that minorities and white people have completely different experiences. Trying to justify something by saying that the oppressors don't get mad about that is counterproductive. There is no point to this argument. So what, that white people don't get upset about being stereotyped? One of the reasons for this is that they don't have to live their entire lives being the butt of someone's fried chicken or ching chong jokes.
People get upset about the one black guy getting killed because it happens far too often. Writers are basically saying, "We need someone to die to up the stakes, but we can't kill any of these important white people, so let's just kill the black guy who served no additional purpose other than being that one black guy."
I think it's important for people to realize that connotation and history is everything. There is a reason some things are awful, but when the reserve happens, no one cares. That doesn't make it right, but it answers many of the questions I see people asking about why x is okay and z is bad.
I'm not even sure if I've managed to articulately explain my points. It's so hard to politely explain my feelings on the subject of diversity, because I get so passionate about it. The intent of this post wasn't to target anyone, or make them feel bad about their opinions. I just wanted to finally share mine on a subject I haven't written about.
Also, I'm sorry that this post was mostly about skin color. All diversity is important, whether it's sexuality, gender, religion, race/ethnicity, disability, economic status, or anything else. I focused on skin color, though, because the post I was responding to focused on that as well.
Now, to end on a more positive note, here's a cute picture of a cat:
People get upset about the one black guy getting killed because it happens far too often. Writers are basically saying, "We need someone to die to up the stakes, but we can't kill any of these important white people, so let's just kill the black guy who served no additional purpose other than being that one black guy."
I think it's important for people to realize that connotation and history is everything. There is a reason some things are awful, but when the reserve happens, no one cares. That doesn't make it right, but it answers many of the questions I see people asking about why x is okay and z is bad.
I'm not even sure if I've managed to articulately explain my points. It's so hard to politely explain my feelings on the subject of diversity, because I get so passionate about it. The intent of this post wasn't to target anyone, or make them feel bad about their opinions. I just wanted to finally share mine on a subject I haven't written about.
Also, I'm sorry that this post was mostly about skin color. All diversity is important, whether it's sexuality, gender, religion, race/ethnicity, disability, economic status, or anything else. I focused on skin color, though, because the post I was responding to focused on that as well.
Now, to end on a more positive note, here's a cute picture of a cat:
CONVERSATION