Kerfluffle!

[sapote]

Maybe it's being, you know, a Southern white girl descended from a slave owners (feel free to defriend me!), but I've never understood what's so traumatizing about people accusing you of racism. When someone accuses me of being racist I usually go, "Huh. Really? Oops!" and then say "Let me think about that and get back to you! I'm quite sorry!" and try to be less racist next time. None of us can claim to be a) raised outside of society or b) raised in a perfect society, so really, can't you be expected to pick up some mental detritus now and then?

Is it racist of me to say that finding out you're being a little racist is not the end of the world? I don't even think it's that much of a reflection on your character as long as you consistently try to improve your level of treating-everyone-as-well-as-possible.

I'm not trying to open the whole can of worms again, incidentally, it's just that every time there's a discussion on fannish ethics, all those worms seem to get out anyway, and I decided to take it to my own lj instead of getting it all over someone else's.

Comments

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

being identified as having racist beliefs/preconceptions but being unwilling to acknowledge it.

Yes, this.

I've seen so many, many people say this in fandom: if someone comes to you and says "look, X was questionable/problematic/whatever," they are giving you the benefit of the doubt. If they thought you were a crazy racist who was just going to be like "But I really do think X is true! You ARE all like that!" then they would just *avoid* you. So when someone comes to you like that, they clearly don't think you *are* an irretrievable racist.

What matters is what you do once the mistake is pointed out: whether you apologize and say "sorry, I'll try to to better," or whether you dig in your heels and say "you're just talking crazy talk, Crazy Person."

So, yes. It *is* totally uncomfortable, but it's probably going to happen at one point, especially if you're (like me, and like your students, probably) white and not really raised in a multicultural environment at all. But yeah, exactly, what matters is acknowledging that you're not actually perfect, you *can* make mistakes, and then you can apologize and try to do better.