#actual culture even if that culture is one that belongs to a white skinned race. also I think films need to make original poc characters

[kierancaz]

I hate people who tell me “if you think you won’t like it just don’t watch it” like WOW you are a GENIUS how would the world go on without you and that glorious big brain of yours ???

Like SHUT THE FUCK UP SHUT UP SHUT UP if you tell me that after you just saw a whole rant I left talking about how live actions make it seem like animation is not a valid medium for telling adult stories and how they usually end up butchering the og material and you tell me “just don’t watch it” I am literally hoping that you burn in hell.

There was vid on tiktok, some guy updating us on the cast and what’s going on with the How To Train Your Dragon live action, so I left a string of comments talking about how I had been really hoping this movie was going to be cancelled because I’m tired of the live action remakes of already beautiful movies and that even with most of the voice acting cast returning to reprise their roles and the director who directed the 3 og films coming back, I still don’t have high hopes for this movie.

I said that I loved the og films since I was literally 5 and that this will never measure up. And with the track record we have for live action remakes I think that’s a valid feeling to have. I said that not everything needs to be live action and I hate that it’s such a big thing in the industry right now because it makes it look like they don’t appreciate animation as a important medium that can tell adult and children’s stories and the live actions are never able to recapture the magic that was the og movie and Disney has proved that to us over and over again.

AND THEN TWO FUCKING DUMBASSES REPLY TO ME TELLING ME TO JUST NOT WATCH IT ????

I know, that not everyone is on the same level. People have different interest, not everyone cares about the movies and shows and books they consume. Not everyone cares about whatever is going on in the film industry if it doesn’t pertain to their favorite actors. But how do you read my comments and then just tell me the solution is for me to just not watch the movie ???? Like of FUCKING COURSE I’m going to watch the movie when it comes out. And I’m going to watch it because I care about the series? I’m going to watch it because this series is important to me and even with my low expectations I’m still holding out a little bit hope that this movie will manage to pull a Cinderella and add something to the original that it didn’t have before (even though I think that will be really hard considering the og is amazing and I don’t really think you can add something to make it even better).

So yah. If you read this and decide to tell me “don’t watch the movie” just know I am going to snipe you after you lay down and discover that I put shit in your pillow.

[creatingblackcharacters]

“Across cultures, darker people suffer most. Why?” Multiethnic and Multicultural Blackness

“Across cultures, darker people suffer most. Why?”- Andre 3000

Tell me what's wrong with this picture.

Hint: This is Miles Morales- from the video game depiction- canonically an Afro-Puerto Rican. Jefferson is Black American; Rio is Puerto Rican.

So why is the Cuban flag on their wall?

This is what happens when no one (with any saying power) in the board room is representative of the group being depicted! And mind you, this was produced under SONY and MARVEL, for the PS5, a product under two brands that combined churn out hundreds of millions in profit! And… No one on any level corrected them until the beta came out and fans saw it. That's how pervasive this sort of ignorance of other cultures can be. How are you writing a story about a character, and you don't even know how he identifies?

Multiethnic & Multicultural Blackness

Realistically, you’ve probably walked past many a biracial, multicultural, or multiethnic Black person before and assumed they were “just Black”. One example: Rae Dawn Chong- known as Mama du Pointe du Lac- is Afro-Chinese, but that Chinese background did not play into the role she played. A more personal example: my recent loctician was also Afro-Chinese, with very dark skin (she made jokes about how her eyes reveal it, but we can’t make those jokes here). I would have never known.

Point is, we reacted to what we saw, and that’s not an accident. Blackness is treated as a monolith, and an indicator of social level whether you realize it or not. You see a ‘Black’ person, and without wondering any further about their identity, you will treat them as you’ve been socialized to treat ‘Black’ people! But every Black person is not the same!

You don't have to write an entire essay with citations mid-story about how you learned so much about the Afro-Chicana or Afro-Iraqi experience for your main character. We didn't ask. But, slipping natural things here and there into the story of a character’s culture helps cement that yes, this character has this multicultural identity and it matters to them; it is who they are, it has an effect on their life and character in some way. It is how you deepen the character and show respect for the culture you are depicting!

I love using Miles as an example, so here’s a good example. In Across The Spiderverse, he goes to a party to celebrate Jefferson’s new position. In that scene, Rio walks through a mix of all his family members. Even when he speaks with his parents in this scene, they managed to incorporate his Afro-Puerto Rican identity without shouting to the rooftops “HEY! HE’S BLACK AND LATINO! SEE HOW I’M TELLING YOU?”

Race vs Ethnicity

The Black experience stretches as far as the African diaspora- worldwide! It's why it's frustrating when people assume "Black people" means "United States" and the West's perception of "Third World Africa" (especially when it comes to existing in media that people have strongly claimed is just White). Latin and Central America? West Europe? East Europe? Southwest Asia and North Africa? The Mediterranean? East Asia? Australia? You will find Black people!! Just because we aren't the majority doesn't mean we aren't there!

But just because we're Black doesn't mean we're all "African-American". Ethnicity is "the quality or fact of belonging to a population group or subgroup made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent." Race is "a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society."

"But I thought you said Black is an identity!"

It is! Black does not only mean “Black American”. The reason Black Americans identify as just Black (which is why I demand that you show respect by capitalizing it) is due to the loss of our specific heritages from the enslavement meant to scourge us of them, to make us property. To call us by our actual names would be acknowledging our equivalent humanity and culture. In order to enforce slavery without qualm, they had to be violently removed. Black Africans of numerous ethnic groups, now violently forced into this amalgamation, had to come together and forge something new. We had to find a common connection- our Blackness (and that experience as defined by whiteness in this society) was it. It also functions as a reclamation of our identity, of our presence in this world. We are a culture, we are an entire group of people, and we should be acknowledged as such.

Again: all Black people are NOT the same!!! This is like… anti-racism 101, but so many people continue to fall for it, even those ‘well-meaning’. You cannot ask one Black person to represent the ENTIRETY of the world's Black experience. Many other factors will come into play, and this includes their culture.

Keep in mind how being multicultural and/or biracial and Black will put many people at a crossroads that is complex and difficult to traverse. There will always be parts of incomplete acceptance, an extra layer of code-switching based on where you are and who you're with. A Black Kenyan is not a Black American, who is not a Black Greek, who is not a Black Colombian, who is not a Black Filipino. They're different cultures, that will treat each other differently. Society- from strangers to your own family- may try to pull multiethnic Black people one direction or another- are you ‘Black’ enough, are you ‘technically Black’, are you ‘technically’ something else, are you that ethnicity enough?

(I will discuss Black biracial people with whiteness in the next lesson, because I felt like the interracial and biracial White & Black topic needed its own talk, but this is relevant there as well.)

Where- In the world- Is-

Coming back from the opening of this lesson: keep in mind that you need to know specifically WHERE your character is from! For example, just saying they're "Afro-Latino" reveals very little- there's an entire chunk of the planet that falls under the "Latin America" category (as defined by U.S. standards).

A follower of mine- they identify as Caribbean Latine- sent me this in discussion about the topic:

"I wish people actually thought about where their Afro-Latino characters are from. It’s always very vague and it’s so reductive because an Argentinian Afro-Latino is very different from a Puerto Rican Afro-Latino. This is very subjective but I think this issue is pretty blatant in The Owl House. They flash the Dominican flag a couple of times, but when it comes to actually making her Afro-Latino…I don’t think they did a very good job. They barely made her Black in the first place. I don’t want to dog on the voice actors too much because there are a million factors that might have affected this but. When they make a point to have the characters speak Spanish, it’s really noticeable when the accent/dialect doesn’t align with their ethnicity. Dominicans have a really identifiable dialect in Spanish. When the Afro-Latino characters speak in Spanish, it’s the most neutral accent I’ve ever heard. This is such a me-issue, but this is to say that people should actually research where their characters are from instead of vaguely painting them as Afro-Latino. We are all SOOO different. Our dialects vary so much that sometimes an Afro-Mexican and an Afro-Puerto Rican won’t understand each other even though we speak the same language.”

WHO are we talking about? How does that factor into their identity, and the way the world- both in story, and how readers from around the world- will perceive them? Will an Afro-Dominican know that they're supposed to relate to your character if they're vaguely Latino?

Note:

While I was doing my research, I noticed that searching for “Afro-_” doesn’t always offer much, as it does the ubiquitous antiblack experience and roles in politics and resistance. And while I think that’s super cool and mandatory, I think another way to approach this would be to focus on the culture as a whole, and then go from there. So for example, if I wanted my character to be Afro-Mexican- maybe even from a specific location in Mexico, or their family is from that area- it would be easier to look up the cultures and activities of that area itself, and then inform with my knowledge of how Blackness is treated there.

As I am not a member of these groups, I thought it would be better for me to find resources that better explain, than to try to speak for them myself. Hell, just from doing this research, I learned that I have far more to educate myself on. There are so many good resources out there! People speak on these topics that y’all want to know about, and there are so many books and videos- find them and educate yourselves! This is a long section filled with links, so I'm going to put them under a readmore.

I also could not possibly sit here and name every single ethnic combo because that would be endless. So what I'm going to do is give some broad strokes of a few major groupings, that will hopefully start you on the path of how to conduct your own research!

The African Diaspora

This is such a good resource. There are short chapters going into the details and history of Black people in many regions, all around the globe. I’m honestly in love with how this is set up. It's a good starting point!

Black Africans

This one isn't specifically an example of multiethnicity; I just want to emphasize that there are many ethnicities and cultures within Africa itself! One is still multiethnic if they are Black American and Ivorian, for example! As the birthplace of humanity, there are plenty of ethnic groups in Africa with endlessly rich cultures, and all of them will come with different foods, fashions, languages!

Notable Figures: Nelson Mandela, Tobi Lou, Patrice Lumumba, Tems, Wizkid, Kwame Nkrumah, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Wangarĩ Maathai, Agnes Tirop, Chéri Samba, Sheikh Abdullah Ssekimwanyi

Internalized antiblackness in African countries is due to the long and violent history of western imperialism in Africa. “The Carving Up of Africa” by European nations has long worn on the continent, its resources, and its peoples, and that includes remnants of their beliefs. Another pervasive idea in media is that all African peoples are ‘poor’, ‘living in huts’, and ‘starving’. There are people doing that all over the world, it is not inherent to being Black African. But even if that were the case- and it is not, every African does not live that way- it would still be the fault of aforementioned imperialism. Please do your research, and do not EVER write that if someone is African, they ‘must not be used to food’ or ‘have never seen such magnificent things as [what white character offers]’.

Afro Latinos

Notable figures: Celia Cruz, Frantz Fanon, Zoe Saldaña, Colman Domingo, Lupita Nyongo, Gina Torres, Cardi B, MJ Rodriguez

Notable music styles- Reggaeton? Salsa? Rumba? A lot of the best music of the area has roots in Blackness.

Antiblackness in the Afro-Latino community

Colorism plays a huge role in perception, to the point of putting you into classes of people. From the same Caribbean Latine follower:

Also, they have to do research on racial groupings in LATAM. It’s unavoidable. A Latino that’s considered Black in the USA may not be considered Black in LATAM. This is because of Blanqueamiento. That is a LOT to explain, but TLDR: A big difference between racism in the USA and racism in LATAM is that white people aren’t focused on segregation. It’s racism through imposition. “Blanqueamiento” refers to whitening and it’s the belief that you can cleanse the bloodline by having children with white people. The lineage will get increasingly lighter. That is why whenever a child comes out lighter than their parents, people will praise the parents for “bettering the race” (mejorando la raza). So a light skinned Black person in the USA may have another racial classification in LATAM (prieto, moreno, mulato, etc)."

One example is 'pelo malo' (bad hair)- how afro-textures are deemed unwanted, as a holdover from Spanish colonization and ideas of whiteness being equivalent to purity. Another severe example is of the slur "mayate"- apparently, it means "f*ggot black bug". If you're Black, and someone ever calls you this, know that you are being severely insulted. If you are interested in more Afro-Mexican history, Colonial Blackness by Herman Bennett is a book that follows the stories of enslaved Africans and their descendants in 17th century Mexico, questioning the existing history told that often leaves out their presence.

Afro Indigenous

*Indigenous doesn't just mean "to America", though the links are to the Afro-indigenous experience in the U.S.

Notable Figures: Crispus Attucks, Lucy Parsons, George Henry White, Charlie Patton, Jimi Hendrix, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Ausben Jordan

What’s interesting is that it was much harder for me to find solid evidence of people who are Black Natives, mainly because it seems this history was lost and/or never recorded, or due to Blood Quantum and antiblackness, not acknowledged. That is something worth thinking about, if you are writing an Afro-Native character.

Blood quantum: A system developed by the United States federal government to determine how much “Indian blood” an Indigenous person has and if they are qualified for Tribal enrollment. Blood quantum limits accessibility to citizenship and is designed to decrease enrollment numbers. Today, some tribes still use blood quantum as criteria for Tribal enrollment. As part of their sovereign status, every federally recognized Tribe determines its own criteria for membership and enrollment.

Further reading:

Young, Black Native activists say it's time to appreciate Indigenous diversity

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage

Blood Politics: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma By Circe Sturm (2002)

We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power By Caleb Gayle (2023)

Afro-Arab/SWANA

Notable figures: Bilal ibn Rabah, Fatima Bernawi, Layla F. Saad, Samirah Srur Fadel, Ahmed Osman, Sara El Hassan (known as bsonblast), Ali Jiddah, Maryam Abu Khaled

Here's an amazing resource cataloguing the history of Afro-Palestinians, as well as a timeline of the solidarity between Black Americans, Afro-Palestinians, and Palestinians!

I sat here and tried very hard to come up with a way to summarize this, especially given current events in our world, and I found that at this moment, I lack the skill to do it. Not because there’s nothing to say- God knows there’s plenty- but unraveling the intersections that comes with the SWANA experience would take me far longer than a summary. I think Maryam Abu Khaled can speak on her experience far better than I, anyway:

Afro-AAPI

Notable figures: apl.de.ap, Michael Ealy, H.E.R., Karrueche, Rae Dawn Chong, Naomi Campbell, Naomi Osaka, Chanel Iman, Anderson Paak

Interview from famous R&B artist, guitarist, actress for Belle, and Afro-Filipina: H.E.R.

There is a strain between Black and Asian communities, in the United States and beyond, white supremacy playing a major role. But that does not mean that we cannot move forward together, or have not shown one another solidarity.

One of my biggest pet peeves that happens often in fandom spaces is fans who claim that Asians- East Asians in particular, but Asians in general- don't know what Black people are and what we look like. It's racist to every ethnicity and background involved. Yes, there are Black East Asian and Black South Asian people. Yes, these countries have access to the Internet to look up what we look like. There have been plenty of well-drawn Black people by those artists. Just like every white artist isn't going to draw a caricature, every Asian artist isn't going to. It all comes down to practice, their commitment to their craft, and their commitment to not being racist. Being from these areas is not an excuse for not drawing Black people accurately- the same amount of effort they can be put into depicting a white person (that would also be a minority in these places), can be put into depicting us as well. Knock it off.

Conclusion

Antiblackness is unfortunately ubiquitous, yes, but that doesn’t mean the rest of every Black person’s life experience is going to be. We are everywhere on this planet, which means there’s a planet’s worth of experiences to be had. If you decide that you want to create a Black character with a multiethnic or multicultural background, you need to commit to that! Even by mentioning their music, or their food, or- if you’re going to get into it- how others might treat them due to their Afro-identity. Something that lets us as the viewers know that you didn’t just write a white person and then claim they were “Afro-Blank” for clout. If you mean it, do it, because as always, it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

[doberbutts]

Genuine question: What do you think of the argument that very white-passing folks — even if they have black parents, grandparents, etc. — cannot call themselves black?

Personally I think whether or not you're black depends on your actual lived reality. My nephew is white passing. He's from the sister who is about the same tone as me, just a little lighter, and the same racial mixture of Irish and afronative, and his very German father. He's got white skin and blonde hair and blue eyes and genuinely if you didn't know that little boy was technically black you would not guess it.

However. He lives with his visibly black mother, his visibly black sister (same racial mix as him, she just got the darker genes), and their visibly black stepfather and visibly black stepsiblings. He's the odd man out, the lightest of the group, and the one that looks like he doesn't belong. And, when you see him next to his family... suddenly the white skin and blonde hair and blue eyes don't cut it for determining his whiteness, because you start to notice that he shares a whole lot of features with the darker skinned members of his family.

Like me, he's put his foot down about his blackness. If asked at school why he's white but his family is black, he will outright state that he's mixed race and that he is actually black and white just like his sister and mother. He's not wrong. He IS black and white and no small part Native, though I think the complexity of the last part is hard for him to grasp at his elementary school level understanding of race politics.

But what is his reality? Well, when he's with his white father, or my white (passing) mother, he's white. Until he opens his mouth to defend his sister or his mother or a friend of his from racism, at which point said racist's eyes laser-focus on every minute detail of his face to pick out the non-European features covered in pale skin.

This is honestly pretty similar to how a Jewish friend of mine describes her experience, how she is white until she opens her mouth to say something positive about Judiasm or negative about antisemitism, at which point every possible Jewish feature on her face comes under intense scrutiny and her white status is revoked immediately. It's also why I'm always on this "antisemitism 🤝 antiblackness" thing.

I also have a Hungarian friend who is equally peeved at the flattening of racial nuance, as he and his family consider themselves mixed race and Eurasian and not just white, however he has had equal amount of people hurting him for his more blatantly Asian features as he's had people telling him he never experiences racism because he's a white European. Similarly, his reality is that he's white until he says something that doesn't align with white supremacy's rules on white opinion and white behavior, at which point every single Asian feature he has is used as punishment against him.

It's not to say that my nephew, my Jewish friend, or my Hungarian friend don't benefit from their perceived whiteness. They do, in fact! My nephew again is a bit young to have this conversation, but my friends have also discussed with me how they have seen that perception occasionally give them a boost as they move through life. And how, if they would want to keep that boost, they'd have to lean into the concept of whiteness and erase a significant portion of their identities in the process.

This is also spoken about at length by Natives forced to assimilate and intermarry with white people to "breed out the savage", as it were. And I know of lightskinned, though imo not white passing, black people who have discussed the same thing. This even is discussed by people in the Irish, Italian, Greek, and Polish diaspora here in the US- how their current status of "white" came at the cost of not only erasing huge portions of their own culture and history but also practically requires them to lean into white supremacy in order to continue to reap the benefits of white privilege, and how the cost is so much higher than the gain especially when you understand that it doesn't work. You can be One Of The Good Ones all you like and someone dedicated to racism is still going to hate you even once you've gotten rid of all the obvious poc.

To put it simply, these aren't new conversations and I'm never going to be anywhere remotely close to "white-passing" so it's sort of a moot point for me. It's not my reality. But I think listening to those who have lived it is better for gaining a more solid understanding. I don't think that my nephew is wrong to call himself black or mixed black. It's technically true, he came out of a black woman. I also think he is going to have a very different life from his sister, from his mother, from his stepfather and stepsiblings, from his black extended family.

I think rejection from the black community would only hurt him, because he is growing up surrounded by black people in a black family learning black culture, so someone telling him that he shares the same features and DNA but his skin is too light to find community there is just hurtful. Who does it help? Who does it protect? To tell a little kid that he can't call himself part of his own family?

[nicosraf]

The weird thing about the debate on Israeli's indigenousness is that "indigenous" doesn't mean... you're From somewhere. You can stop being indigenous; you can stop being indigenous while still existing in the place your ancestors were born. "Indigenous" isn't that you have the memory of belonging to a place or notice little cultural things in your family that tie into your ancestral homeland. I mean, there's a reason we don't call British people in Britan indigenous.

Indigenousness is about perpetual opposition to settler colonialism, which is about the complete uprooting of a pre-existing culture and forcing that land to accommodate an extractivist, export economy. That's what it is. It's not about being from a place or even having a """tie to the land.""" (The "tie to the land" is definitely an element of indigenousness but it's really just a romanticized simplification of indigenousness — a simple answer for why indigenous people are at the frontline of environmental movements.)

When the Spanish came to Mexico, they worked with the noble Nahua people to de-indigenize them. They did this by converting them to Catholicism, teaching them European writing (Latin) and academics, and relying on the Nahua nobility to help enforce the new political system. Fransicans are usually credited with converting Mexico to Christianity, but the ones who did most of the work were the young, Nahua "niños del monasterio" who marched into the villages and burned the idols of the gods — of both their own and other indigenous communities. (Nahua soldiers are credited with being the ones who helped the Spanish conquer the rest of Mexico's native people).

Indigenous/mestizo scholar Chimalpahin wrote about the history of the "Aztecs" by calling every Nahua god a demon, by positioning the Spanish like a good development and by arguing his specific Nahua city was better than the other by appealing to Spanish sentiments. ("But maybe he was just speaking to the Spanish!!!" He wrote in Nahuatl for presumably a Nahua audience.) (Academics don't agree on whether to call him indigenous).

"Chimalpahin and the noble Nahuas were violently forced into assimilating into Spanish nobility; you are sick for trying to argue that they weren't indigenous anymore." I'm not arguing that they weren't, but they were players in de-indigenizing Mexico, and it's important that it was forced.

De-tribalization and de-indigenization are always violent and ugly; you don't lose your indigenousness, usually, because you're evil. Chimalpahin and the noble Nahuas were still victims and horribly traumatized. They were also enforcers of de-indigenization.

Anyway, I'm mestizo and have ties to central Mexico and feel a sense of belonging there, at times. I'm not indigenous to it though. The memory of any indigenousness in my family is just a memory now. We visit, and I eat so so many poblano peppers. But we've detribalized, become borderline settlers by participating in capitalism, lightened our skin through generations, probably intentionally (many Mexicans have heard the phrase that we have to "better our race"). If I wanted to actually reconnect, it would be a lot of work; any reconnecting indigenous person can tell you how much work it is.

I know people get really prissy about how "You can't compare Israelis to white European settlers in America because we actually have a connection to the land!!!! We are actually from there!! >:/ some of us are not even white!"

Well let's think of the majority brown mestizo (mixed) population of Mexico. Are they indigenous because they might have "ties to the land" and because they have lineage from it?? Maybe they were once, but for the majority now — no. Without a mass effort to oppose settler colonialism and reconnect, mestizos are not indigenous and might never be again, no matter how much of their pre-colombian culture persists in our quieter traditions and language. And the Mexican state is happy to co-opt aesthetic representations of indigenousness, to talk about our glorious "Aztec" ancestry, while actively hurting indigenous populations.

So assume some, or lets say all!, Israelis have every possible connection to the land (lets say they love the olive trees and cry over the murder of all the Nile crocodiles), maybe they're visibly non-white, maybe they can trace their lineage to the exact spot where they stand. But if they're on the side of a settler colonial, capitalist state (say it was even forced on them!! say they were even made to move there!!! say they are like the Nahua nobles) — how indigenous are you?

How much longer will you remain " indigenous " ???

[kafkaoftherubble]

Actually to add onto what I said: we as poc are too mean to white people. "White women" followed by the most horribly misogynistic string of words you could imagine, "white men" and then something men of all races do, "white people are so annoying" like poc are perfect angels just because we're oppressed.

We gain nothing by making white people feel guilty for existing. My white friends say "white woman" as an insult or "basic white boy". Dude that is literally your sibling, your mother, father, friend, neighbor and Lord knows what else that you are talking about, stop using it as an insult! It is a descriptor!

Honestly the most infuriating one is "white women" because it's used only as an insult. You can say whatever you want as long as it's by "white women" because white women are all rude, middle class, middle aged transphobic Karens.

Saying Karen is a mean women's name is misogynistic too! Both Karens I know are angels and don't deserve to be treated so horribly just because they have perfectly normal names for their age range and ethnic group.

Tldr: singling out white people just makes them feel bad for existing and it's often used as a shield to be misogynistic.

I agree wholeheartedly!

Humans are humans. I know it sounds pretty damn cliche and I run the risk of sounding like those people who have never had to endure any discrimination in my life, but at the end of the day, people are people.

I don't mean to say a white person is the "exact same" as a minority. A white person today isn't born in a vacuum where their skin color is completely unrelated to the history that color presents. There is a continuity of history that every one of us is born from and into, including "white" people.

But, well, racialism isn't real. It's pseudoscience. Every concept of race was invented; our genome is literally too similar to one another that you cannot actually tell whose genome belongs to which "group "race" (hereditary tests and all aren't actually telling you this, either. It simply tells you how many genes you share with people within the database that specific company has collected from "natives" of a certain area).

Also, whiteness is an invented category that unites people not even by culture or region.

That means that a white person is really, at their core, not significantly, biologically, or cognitively different from a human being like me. What makes them different is the historicity they are born into—which they don't actually have a hand in choosing, like how I didn't have a hand in choosing which country to be born in, or to which parents, or to what sorta brain I might possess, etc.

To take it out to someone because they are white by random birth lottery just doesn't make sense to me. Because I'm punishing someone for their score on an RNG.

-----

There is an institution, built up from history, that favors the majority, that's for sure. That majority turns out to be White for quite a lot of countries, and internationally, the most well-off countries are countries with the same institutions that favor White people. It's a product of history, and it does come at a lot of expense to minorities. All that is the sort of historicity a White person of today is born into; all that is real.

But I don't think a White person should be made to feel guilty of being born white. I don't think they should be proud, either—hard to be proud of being deposited at a good place that was built at the cost of other long-suffering, bedeviled people, innit?

If it's hard to see why White people should just be seen as "the people the system favors" instead of "white = inherently bad because of what their skin color represents," then look at countries where the majority isn't White. My country's majority is the Malay people, and the system is terribly biased for them. Someone like you, who has no history in this country, will (correctly) not think Malays are bad by default; in fact, a Malay would be a minority in your country and therefore seen as "not (as) bad (as a White person)."

But an angry minority in my country could easily see them as bad (or lazy, or stupid, or untalented, etc.) to the core just by being Malay. Malay are not White, but the resentment is the same.

What some people don't recognize, I think, is that their resentment is actually toward the system and not the skin color or ethnicity this system favors. When one confuses the latter for the first, one starts to think the problems are all tied to one specific group's "inherent quality." And then we get the whole idea of making this group a slur or something to look down on. As if being White is a karmic punishment, and they should atone for their "past," even if it's beyond their actual births, by suffering our get-back form of discrimination.

--------

The individual born into this historicity is not the guilty one, I think. The system that arises from that history, the one that oppresses minorities, is.

I think a modern-day White person isn't guilty by default; they are only problematic if they contribute to that system or defend it.

I mean, a POC could unabashedly defend a terrible, discriminatory system even if the historicity they were born to wasn't favored or lifted by this system. Sure, the historicity of a group will skew the probability—a White person may more likely defend this system, and a minority may more likely oppose it.

But a person is more than the group it's born into. It's also the experience and the genes and the society and the resources and the friends and the education and the narratives and so many things.

They didn't choose to be White. They are not responsible for being born white. But! They could be responsible for choosing to protect that system or help dismantle it.

And in that lens, they really are just people choosing to either protect or dismantle, like the rest of us do. They are just people.

Thank you for reading my ramble (written while having a headache owww)

(I rarely talk about this sorta thing here, huh?)

[rubin-therubix-loverofblorbos]

Hi, thanks for answering my ask, If it's not too hard can you tell me your race head canons for all the Mercs?

You're the best.

Engie: BLACK. He is not white. no. no don't look at the game. or the comics. or anything else related to engineer tf2. you cannot see that man at night. he's too much of a southern-black-mother-haver to be white. who cares about his dad, his MOM was BLACK. Polite, mildly violent when he needs to be, intelligent? His momma not white you can't change me.

Soldier: Native/Black. Mother Inuit and father African, OG last name Domoraud, got shortened to Doe through Immigration; OG first name was Amaqjuaq, but his parents had to choose a name on the spot. He has many identity issues, don't ask. Never takes off his helmet 'cause he doesn't like his monolids.Very touchy about the subject of race because where he lived was probably nearly as bad as Texas in terms of racism, feels he needs to devote every waking second to America or else he doesn't belong there. Yeah. He needs a bit of help. Has a weird accent but he hides it pretty well. Wow I rambled there...

Spy: Black/asian. Wow I really just dipped Tf2 into charcoal, didn't I? Didn't realize how many of them I Poc-ified until I put it down on paper. His mom was an asian woman, very stern, but she had a soft spot for her gender-weird kid. Dad was a black man, sweetheart, but he wasn't good at caring for people. Mother was a ballet star and taught him, he fucking mastered it. Broke his hip and disabled himself for life, but mastered it. Somehow he dramatizes it even more that it already was, and what actually happened was already halfway out a soap opera.

Sniper: Native. Māroi biological and Aboriginal Aussie Adoptive. He's Native on top of Native. Family spoke Antakarinya at home and he taught himself Māroi. Like Soldier, he has identity issues because languages and cultures get jumbled up in his head sometimes. Hates getting told he can't participate in Aboriginal activities because he isn't actually related to his parents. "BITCH? I WAS RAISED DOING THIS SHIT?" Is very passionate about his culture, especially his Antakarinya, because that is a language two breaths from death.

Scout: Black/white. LIGHTSKIN. CHEERIO-LOOKIN' MOTHERFUCKER. LITTLE E-FUCK-FEMBOY ASS. Soon as he pull out that fried chicken he's in a chick's panties. No explanation because you don't need one.

Pyro: Black. Heavy Nigerian accent, even when their speech isn't muffled people can barely understand them at times. Doesn't have the best english pronunciation, but their voice is jacked up anyways, so it doesn't matter. Fluent in American and British ASL despite this. Big person, bigger heart. 6'7'' 265 LB person with a voice deep enough to hit the Earth's core skipping around in Kidcore Aesthetic™️ and putting stickers on everything.

Demo: Black. we all know buddy. Although I feel like the Scottish are so on a different plane of being that they should be their own race. Black/Scottish. Very smart and has multiple degrees in chemistry and he drinks so much his blood has turned into pure alcohol. Scottish behavior. He wears kilts often, but sadly wears pants under his most times because they're. yknow. on a battle ground. But I think it's a shame. Can you tell I am getting tired.

Medic: I don't fuckin know. German. His race is Germany. The whole country. You ask him his race because his skin is very swarthy so you can't tell whether he's a really tan white guy or a weirdly light black guy. He's a pacific islander/white mix, but he actually barely knows. He'll remember his mother was Polynesian and go Oh. I forgor [Insert skull emoji and a facebook minion meme about mortality}.

Heavy: Black/white mix. He got his mother's beauty marks and his dad's bulkiness. Weird genes, very light but he has very pronounced black facial features. Big nose, big lips, high cheekbones. He gets asked if he's albino more than you would think. People actually don't expect him to have such a heavy Siberian accent because you expect white Vodka twink or white vodka dad that sneezes real fucking hard to have that much of a accent, not the guy that looks like he came out of a Nella Larsen book.

OH MY FUCK I'M DONE.

[silver-wield]

it pisses me off when people say is A is the fantastical girl and Tifa is the normal/ordinary one, in that A supposedly represent the fantasy aspect of the game like fuck off lmao

first of all, aside from her limit breaks, all the magic she uses comes from materia which every character from cloud to tifa to even nanaki can use to do magic so the most she is is a white mage. the only thing that set cetra apart from the humans that descended from them is their supposed connection to the planet in that they sometimes know when people die lol good job you're so special, here's your medal. (they exaggerated the shit out of cetras and what A can do as a half in the remakes, it's all so bullshit i want to disregard it as official fanfiction) this makes A nothing but creepy in my eyes.

there are many playable characters in the game that are fantastical in concept (vincent, nanaki, reeve/cait sith) but if any one of them were to be chosen to supposedly "represent" the fantasy aspect it would be nanaki who ACTUALLY belongs to a fantasy race 🙄

second of all. have you ever seen any real human do what tifa can with her martial arts prowess even though she didn't even get any mako enhancement or something. can normal people easily lift things as hard as real life equivalents of dragons? I have to have a laugh. can any of us fight as lethally as her?

and to support this fantasy girl claim some say A has an ""otherworldly beauty"" to her in comparison to Tifa and Yuffie who are in their opinion "ordinary". is this not the most racist shit you've heard about game characters? yuffie is explicitly designed to look and feel east asian and although there's no "confirmation" for it Tifa's character design (and many aspects of her personality) is the ideal Japanese beauty. Beautiful long black hair, clear pale skin, beautiful eyes and a well proportioned body. they even gave her two EA cultures inspired alternative costumes in remake. when people say that we are supposed to be "in awe of" A's light colored hair and eyes and her feminine coquettish way of dressing I see this as nothing but racism and misogyny. from the way they look to the way they dress and to their skill in battle both tifa and yuffie are amazing and beautiful and there's nothing "ordinary" about them

I do like A's hair and outift design, nomura is a good character designer I have to give it to him, but if you take those things out A herself is not even as pretty as some of the npcs in remake let alone yuffie and tifa lmaooo 😒 the ugliest face and let-down-hair model in game if you ask me

another thing I've seen people use to support this idea is their theme songs. they say A's theme song is the more fantastical sounding one and to that I'll just say go and read what uematsu said about how he wrote the song for a scene in which A waits for Zack's return in the train station. L. M. A. O.

Literally nothing about her is magical girl aside from wearing pink and her limit breaks. People really think all those spells she does in Remake, (basic fire and thunder aoe) are something she does without materia. They're not.

Nobody can use magic without materia. Her only spells are the limit breaks and we haven't seen her use them at all outside of player control. Everybody else was seen using their limit breaks in the final battle of rebirth as a group attack. She never does.

That's why I always say she gets credit for doing fuck all.

Idky people keep calling her gorgeous. Maybe they haven't looked closely at her model. She has a massive forehead, big ears, a large jaw, big chin, huge hands and feet. She's like if you took a mop and gave it limbs.

And this is what Nomura sees as western aesthetics.

Also, he literally recycled a monster as her base.

But sure, she gorgy.

What's funny about her model is they can't give her any other hairstyle because she's so generic anime looking that she isn't recognisable as herself if you change it.

Meanwhile Tifa gets every hairstyle going and you still know it's Tifa because Tifa's model is based on an actual person and that means she has proper facial structure so changing hairstyles doesn't lose her basic appearance.

[symeona]

Hi! I was wondering if you knew where the post (I think it was replying to an ask) that you made about how Heracles is black was? I mentioned it off hand to a friend, and I'd love to be able send your post to her! Also, if you have any extra tidbits or resources about people of color in Greek mythology, I'd love to hear them! It's all so interesting, thank you for talking about it!

Okay lemme start with,

Greek people aren't a race. We've never been that, I don't care how much the Renaissance has whitewashed our history. Greek people have never looked one way or the other. I just like to debunk white supremacists and their theories because

1. I'm not a mulatto nor a g*psy

2. My cousin is a black Greek man and this whole thing started because I wanted to show him that his heritage is his: success.

3. Greek culture does not belong to the Romans nor white Europe, die mad. Sami ppl can have it if they want, cause I said so.

4. I like to piss off Nazis

Going as far back as Homer, dark skin was regarded as healthy and beautiful amongst us. White skin was associated with weakness. Λευκώλενος for example, means white-armed which meant weak.

Pharos is a good source that I think talks about the dark skin part of it all

Now

Heracles is painted in most cases with dark skin. So, it's safe to say that he was seen as a dark skinned man. (Look up paintings on amphoras, look up the terracotta statue of him and Apollo, etc.) Dark skin is associated with strength because, to put it bluntly... White people would faint and die if they ran around ancient Greece without sunscreen. Rip.

I went the extra mile and said he was probably a black Greek man because of Andromeda, who was the daughter of the king and queen of Ethiopia. Andromeda was Heracles's great-something grandma. And Zeus, well.. I'll get there in a bit.

A little about Ethiopia, most sources will say it's just Africa. But in some ancient texts it's described as the East and West. This might be a wonderful little hint, that said Hey. Black people were just living life all around us. I can't prove it but hey.

Memnon is another character who is either dark skinned or black. He's been portrayed as both in antiquity. Here's an article.

Achilles is a funny story. Most fanart will portay himst as a blond man.

Now. Allow me to go off a bit.

Achilles has never been described as white nor blond in the actual texts. Ξανθός doesn't mean blond. I call my sister that, she's absolutely not blonde. But she does have lighter hair and skin than me. Do with that what you will. His hair was also described as pyrros (red). Idk how to tell white people this... But your concept of blond and red hair? Very different than ours. Ξανθός can even mean glistening, the ocean was described as that, I don't think the ocean is yellow, do you? Another source, Aristonicus, says that Ξανθος meant angry (ξανθοχολοι). It doesn't help that Achilles's hair is described like that only two times, at Patroclus' death and his funeral. Both times he was angry. Aha! A clue perhaps, Sherlock.

Idk what else to tell ppl, Achilles was not blond.

In fact, Achilles has more in common with Memnon than any other character in the history of Greek epics. Does that mean that my ancestors were like "Woaah look at the light-skinned man! He can actually run in the sun without dying!!" Or was he dark skinned. I can't say cause it's just a story.

Odysseus, when Athena made him look like a "god", darkened his beard and his skin (Od. 16.175: μελαγχροιής, melanchroiês, which is a compound of melan, “dark,” and chroiê, “flesh”).

Zeus was portrayed as a black man by Sophocles. Not just dark skinned. Black. (Read Inachus)

I focus on the black history of it all because had Europeans not been racist towards black people I would have never been racialized and experienced violence because I'm a "mulatto". It's personal vindication to look at the history of my people with a critical eye. Idk if that makes sense but

[tetsunabouquet]

I just heard that there are people planning to protest during 4 May against Israel. As a Dutch woman of Roma heritage, I AM FUMING. To those who don't know: 4 May is national memorial day in the Netherlands where we remember those who died during WWII. Whilst I find you anti-semitic fucks who are villifying every Jew in existence for what's currently happening in Israel to be awful - targeting 4 May when that day is for EVERY minority hunted down during WWII means you are targeting ALL of our communities. Remember how I mentioned that during my final year of elementary school I had a hag of a teacher? I literally remember arguing with her about how the history books barely talk about us. The REAL estimated number of deaths could have been as high as 1,5 MILLION Roma unlike the reported '400K' you'll find in your history pages. I have seen in YouTube videos from Americans and Canadians how they solely talk about the Jews and are trying to make it about black people with the unproven historic sentiment that Jewish people originally were black. I've even heard statements written out loud from American musea who only mentioned us like a footnote before talking about black people in length. Reported numbers of black people castrated/killed during WWII were a couple of thousand because that's how few black people there were in Europe. The Roma are the biggest racial group hunted down during WWII, stop trying to take that away from the potential million people that died! Give their souls the respect they deserve. How sick in the head do you have to be to be like, 'This major genocide has to be about MY race'- when the actual group hunted down for their skin and culture wasn't yours. My deadbeat dad and his sisters are more lily white looking as I always call it, but grandpa was a bit more Roma looking like me and my late grandma did make a few implied statements that it was his father who had a Romani mother. That was during WWII. My great-great grandmother likely was an elderly lady hunted down like a rat during this period. The fact my paternal family didn't had any pictures of my great-grandfather unlike his wife, worries me but it's too heavy of a subject to talk about with relatives that I have a strained relationship with. How can you make that about you? Tell me! Another one of my great-grandfathers wasn't a member of the Resistance but he did help out with food smuggling. Ever heard of the Dutch famine during WWII? My great-grandfather tried to keep regular Dutch citizens alive and was willing to stick his neck out as one of the richer families of the area to help the lesser priviliged and he was publically beaten for it by the Nazis as an example for the townsfolk. He's the only male relative I am proud of to be related to, because that was an act of bravery and generosity worthy of praise.

Not every wealthy white man is a greedy devil, my great-grandfather proved that. As much as I hate Frank Timmermans (Dutch politican), I do agree with his statement that you can protest on every fucking day of the year- just not memorial's day. This day belongs to so many non-Jews too and making this about Israel is just overshadowing the other victims once more. We haven't done anything to deserve to get erased. Yet the media, history books and non-Roma do that very thing. In my own personal experience, even the gays are mentioned more often then we are. The only group that might be more forgotten then we are, are the disabled. And as an autistic individual that also earns my ire.

I can bet my ass off that none of those sickening protesters would have been hunted down if we lived during WWII, unlike me. I have to live with that and the handful of people throughout my life who did call my blood impure. LEAVE 4 MAY ALONE!

[horizon-verizon]

Martell’s stans pretending that they’re representatives of Global South in ASOIAF where instead they’re a region who’s constantly in clash with their neighbours cause they can’t stop looting and raiding the Stormlands and the Reach.

*EDITED* (11/5/23)

I haven't come across a Martell stan yet, in all my 7-month life here on Tumblr. But I already wrote a post on why the Martells aren't exactly PoCs (because race, as Americans and modern peoples know the thing, doesn't exist in this fictional universe) so much as "Others" are seen as ethnically different but not enough for there to be concern over "miscegenation" or "dirtying the blood" or losing actual social privileges the Martells still had like other "white", nonDornish nobles.

Ethnicity doesn't equal race, and "people of color" denotes "non-white" people, and "white"/"PoC" are racial terms.

Nationality also does not equal race, nor does it equal ethnicity, though in some racial hierarchies it def gives whatever racial meaning of black/poc the society in question has. "Race"--as in just the practical applications of their real modern realities and economic and social structures as a result--is not accurate or a paltry thing the further you go back in time. There were definitely racializations, racial & ethnic biases, and ethnic & racial tensions/violence, but religion and/or language more often defined a person's belonging and identity within a different hegemony until maybe the late 14th to 15th centuries.

The Rhoynish would definitely be considered PoC in our modern American & British racial categorization; in the world itself, yes they were a "foreign" and literally foreign people and a different ethnicity from First Men and Andal.

However, ONE -- Dorne is not progressive in terms of class, not at all, and TWO -- these two are both Essosi in origin while several of their original cultural aspects [the Faith, the symbols, chivalry, court culture, oaths, the kin slaying taboo, the importance placed on swords, guest rights, etc.] still exist in the main events of ASoIaF right now. These didn't change or get lost upon their arrival to the Westerosi continent.

Dorne, by virtue of the fact that their succession customs are equal gender, will inevitably be Othered and thus they have that sense of "not white-ness" but this doesn't really pin them down as "PoC" bc the emphasis of why the Dornish are Othered is much more about there being less misogyny than religion, region, etc. and the Martells still independently/non-coercively share Andal cultural aspects then they do Rhoynish. Because, how can the whites (nonDornishmen) racialize a region based on skin color or principles of "purity" seen through the outside (as this has been used to create current racial categories) with people with different skin colors?

The First Men are not Andals, the Andals and FM fought several times in past history, come from different regions of Essos, have different religions and both typically have paler skin. Both have misogynist practices and are more stringent about male primogeniture and able-bodiedness mattering to leadership.

The "salty" Martells and other Dornish--even those who are "sandy" or "stony" as Daeron I categorized them--are more analogues of both Welsh vs. the Anglo-Saxons or Normans (all "racially white" ) because of their constant wars with Reach people and Stormlanders. AND Spaniards (European people, so racially white) because Spain has a history of Moor, Hebrew/Jew, and pre-Moor Spaniards having intermarriages and other types of exchange or interaction LONG before King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Jewish and Muslim peoples. Even then, she and her King husband were not at first the rulers of all of "Spain", but of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile freshly uniting these to develop and become what we know as "Spain". Like how England used to be Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, Wessex, the Welsh peoples (a Celtic people) before the Normans arrived (Northmen/Scandinavian/Swedish/Danish/Viking originated) and conquered the English islands.

Once again, do we consider Spain a "white" country, or not?

[oldcyberpunk2077truth]

One thing I hate is someone telling others how they can or can't create their characters. As a student of history lets go ahead and combat this "gatekeeping" of a hairstyle to a particular culture. Where did Dreadlocks or locs originate? Ancient Greece.. Crete to be exact. "Birthplace of the Minoan civilization, and in Thera (modern-day Santorini) show individuals with long braided hairstyles." Also some say in Ancient Egypt. There are depictions of Egyptians with long braided hairstyles, Mummies found with well preserved locs even in wigs. An easy search will tell you Ancient Egypt is largely considered a non-African culture. "Ancient Egyptian civilization was, in ways and to an extent usually not recognized, fundamentally African. The evidence of both language and culture reveals these African roots. The origins of Egyptian ethnicity lay in the areas south of Egypt". "Mainstream scholars reject the notion that Egypt was a white or black civilization; they maintain that applying modern notions of black or white races to ancient Egypt is anachronistic. In addition, scholars reject the notion, implicit in the notion of a black or white Egypt hypothesis, that Ancient Egypt was racially homogeneous; instead, skin color varied between the peoples of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Nubia, who in various eras rose to power in Ancient Egypt." Yes modern times shows that most examples we have are from Rastafarian's from Jamaica. There it is a religion and cultural practice not just a hairstyle. Jamaica is predominately black but not all Rastafarians are black. "The vast majority of Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African descent, with minorities of Europeans, East Indians, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and others of mixed ancestry.""Can only Jamaicans be Rastafarians? Everyone is a Rastafarian. The Rastafarian religion is not even the most popular religious affiliation on the island—it's actually a minority. According to the most recent census, less than one percent of the 2.7 million people living in Jamaica identify as Rastafarian." Many many cultures all over the world for centuries have worn locs. To claim it for only one culture is not right. "By culture: Locks have been worn for various reasons in each culture. Their use has also been raised in debates about cultural appropriation. Evidently, dreadlocks are seen in multiple cultures across the world."

"What's the difference between dreadlocks and locs? Major Differences A notable difference between locs and dreadlocks is that one is a hairstyle and the other is a lifestyle. Locs are cultivated, but dreadlocks aren't. Dreadlocks also often stem from Rastafarian beliefs, which use the style to separate believers from the rest of society."

"Today we see a worldwide trend of locs, which has sparked the debate on cultural appropriation, a term often misused. While it would be presumptuous to say that dreadlocks belong to one particular culture, as a quick research shows, it is certain that the cultural appropriation advocates respond in this way given the many times that hairstyles typically worn by African-Americans are seen “unprofessional” or “dirty” on them but are considered “cool” on others, whether it is worn as a political statement, due to spiritual conviction or simply as a fashion statement. If you have dreadlocks or are considering trying out this way of wearing your hair, the best thing you can do is know the reason why you are wearing them, so that the day someone asks you why you have them, you can say what they mean to you."

Something tells me you won't look at the facts even with quoting and not leaving you to do the research by yourself. So this isnt for you. This is for everyone you made upset over their character hair choices. https: //en. wikipedia.org/ wiki/Dreadlocks https: //theculturetrip.com/ europe/greece /articles/ does-the-origin-of-dreadlocks-stem-from-ancient-greece/ https: //en.wikipedia. org/wiki/ Ancient_Egyptian_ race_controversy

.

[lostmykeysie]

can i ask who are ur fave fancast/face claims for the marauders?? or how do you picture them in the horcrux hunt?

omg what a fantastic question okay prepare yourself for the most boring answer babes

i have no idea!!!!! i don’t think i’m very creative because i struggle to actually marry up how i think about them and how they look?? i also remember about 3 famous peoples names and when you think of me you should think of someone who lives in a hole somewhere so my knowledge of anything is CRAP

who do y’all picture???? help me get my brain juice flowing?? i want a fave fancast :( pls help me cure my depression this might be the only way

i have done a ramble (i’m really sorry i can’t figure out how to do the ‘read more’ thing on my phone????):

the only person (who isn’t even in THH for the love of god) that i have a fave fancast for is mary, who is duckie thot. she just is

i’m very much from the dev patel as james potter generation, and i think he might be the easiest one to fancast? south asian golden retriever man. that’s it. that’s all you need and you’ve got JP

i like to think of remus as mixed race with a mixed race parent (lyall). one of those people you look at and think hmmmm. he looks…. not fully white. a bit racially ambiguous. i like to think of him as an absolute mess hot pot of a person who’s grown up with a whole different confusing bunch of cultures, ethnically and muggle vs magic, and then throw in the werewolf… he’d have an interesting experience growing up but he’d struggle with the feeling of belonging you know??? a bit odd looking but in a nice way. an interesting looking guy (maybe this is why i can’t think of a faceclaim)

i love seeing east asian reg and sirius but i cannot claim C&TW black brothers are asian when i’ve done nothing to indicate the fact! THH black brothers give me french aristocrat vibes, pale but with olive toned skin. sirius defo has a broody face and a strong jaw and those lush brows that are thick with just a hint of an arch, and of course, grey eyes like his mama. reg i think of as having really dark eyes, ones that look black, and much more delicate features. one of those adorable noses that points up a little awwww

everyone else is generic descriptions :(

I DONT KNOW!!!!! give me INSPO, PLEASE

[mordcore]

(About your transrace tags) I also believe people should have the autonomy to look how they want! But sadly, when white people do this with race - they base their new looks off of racial stereotypes, and insist because they “look (enter race here)” then they deserve to be a part of closed cultures. And they’re also the folks to start throwing faking accusations around towards anyone who asks them to unpack all that, particularly towards people who ““Don’t look”” their race. :(

yeahh those kinds of behaviors are 100% bullshit and not okay

gonna be real for a second (bracing myself for the inevitable hatemail) if i was handed like a pill to make my skin a very specific darker shade i would take it in an instant.

that doesnt mean i have an opinion on wether or not "transrace" is a good word for this desire or that i don't have racist bias that i need to be aware of and keep examining to prevent hurting people or that it would make me a part of anything that i'm not a part of today. there is certainly a desire to belong in the place i grew up in and i don't think it would actually give me that but even if i knew for a fact it wouldn't do anything to heal that part of me i would still take it probably. just something about identity funkiness and constant dissociation and feeling like i'm meant to have a different skin color and that it maybe would make me recognize myself in the mirror a little better.

actually now that i type all of this out for the first time the parts where it's different from being transgender are obvious: it's the social component. transitioning made me part of the group of men (until i realized im just nonbinary). changing your skin color or facial features does not make you a part of any specific culture or ethnic group. tho maybe race also means culture and not just physical features and lineage? there is no translation for race to my languages (from the cultures i grew up in).

like. idk if that's part of it but i think i dont really have a concept of race in any meaningful way; i have a concept of skin color and i have a concept of ethnic groups and i have a concept of culture

so even if transracial was a correct word to use it probably wouldn't apply to me cause out of the concepts that i know i just wanna change my skin color..?

also anon you are probably right about people being terrible, i don't know how other people talk about this topic but i wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't in a good way. i often find myself with perspectives no one else seems to have and have to take a step back and realize that the discourse people are having is not about me but about like someone else doing worse things

[doberbutts]

HOWEVER I scrolled by an article the other day that was basically “adding POC to fantasy stories that don’t have POC is more racist than those fantasy stories not having POC whatsoever” and I have been chewing on this for a while because it Bothered Me.

The argument was that, by changing nothing about the story except the skin color of various characters, you make something more racist by forcing POC into “white cultures”. The examples used for this were, of course, Rings of Power and Netflix Witcher.

Except... There are black people in Europe. There are Asian people in Europe. There are African people in Europe. There are Arabic people in Europe. There are even Native American people and South American people and Caribbean people in Europe.

And... as said before Witcher is not happening in our world but in a different world which humans were unwillingly transported to during the Conjunction of the Spheres, and multiple races and cultures were transported considering there are actually POC that exist within the Witcher books, which have trade and slaves and war that stretches across multiple countries and continents. Tolkien’s universe also has POC that exist within the books- albeit they are almost entirely Bad Guys Only- and it has other evidence of non-European items existing within it such as tomatoes, tobacco, potatoes, tea, and various spices meaning trade would have to exist because these plants do not originate in Europe.

Before anyone gets on me about tea- Bilbo mentions tea in PJ’s Fellowship of the Ring and the dwarves, in Bilbo’s house, offers Gandalf a cup of chamomile in PJ’s An Unexpected Journey- with first recorded use in Egypt [yes I know chamomile also grows in Europe, however it was not used as tea that we’re aware of until after Egypt taught the Romans how to do it]. If we want to say that it could be really any type of tea, the first recorded use of tea in general was in China. Either way, that’s a non-European invention.

The argument is, in itself, a racist one. People of color exist in Europe and have existed in Europe for almost as long as Europe has been around. War and trade and slavery will do that. The Vikings did it. The Moors did it. The Romans did it. The Mongolians did it. And others throughout history have done it. Whether they succeeded in holding ground longterm or had to turn back quickly, whether it was a nobleman on some world tour to stroke his ego or a merchant travelling on the silk road or a ship blown off course seeking exotic spices and products, people have always shown up in unexpected places. There was a black samurai in Japan in the 1500s. There were Native Americans being imported en masse to England in the late 1400s to show off as trophy wives and zoo exhibits. We have always existed in these places. Us being people of color doesn’t mean we don’t belong there or that somehow it’s not “actually” the culture of those who live and were born and raised in these countries.

And, in complete honesty- while I would, obviously, like to see more POC-originating stories being adapted into multi-million dollar franchise... the fact of the matter is that the few times it does happen no one goes to see it except for the race that it pertains to, no one talks about it, no one advertises it, no one supports it. POC authors and directors and producers and writers fight tooth and nail to show their work and then are told by the industry that their stuff is garbage that no one wants to see because people are too busy touching themselves to Famous White Guy’s Books.

[opiatemasses]

Are Stricter Punishments on Racism The Answer?

A league which once belonged to Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho

When will FIFA, UEFA, and La Liga get a grip and impose stricter punishments!?

The extraordinary racism story of Vini Jr ‘a sport for all’ they say, came to a controversial twist with the whole footballing world coming together in support of the Real Madrid star.

A £50,000 fine, ‘temporary’ bans from sports venues and even a chance of an appeal from Valencia FC to such appalling activities. Really?! The second most watched league in the world with phenomenon stars, who have won multiple Ballon d’Or’s between them in the past and clubs are having the ‘minimal’ action against them?

A new law revised anti-discrimination law coming from the Spanish Government which ironically looks at protection of equal rights and treatment within employment, racism is still infested in the top 5 European leagues from the Koulibaly incident to the Mathys Tel incident, but it needs revising. Substantial change. Not just a reprimand.  Substantial Change…

Personal Vendetta

As I am writing this blog, I came to think about how this will make a richer impact than other commentators. I am a huge footballing fan and understand the passion of winning and losing.

Race is socio-political construct which categorises humans into different groups according to their skin colour and background. Racism, meanwhile, is a systemic construct of people’s beliefs to target members of diverse groups such as people who identify as 'BAME' on the basis of their cultural norms and values and the colour of their skin.

Racism can be manifest in different forms, including ideological (views and beliefs), institutional (policies and laws) and structural.

To expand, ideological racism has been described by Haslanger, (2017) as ‘biases or discriminatory thoughts’ towards a human. This form of racism may include unintended interactions (microaggressions) to other groups/individuals. For example, a BAME footballer constantly being asked “Where are you actually from?”

Institutional racism is referred to discrimination, bias and unequal treatment against racial or ethnic groups which is embedded in policies and institutions such as policies and law enforcement. Expressed by Verlot, pg.32, (2002) as being ‘institutional failure’s’ which prohibits discriminatory behaviour against groups and individuals.

Structural racism is a concept that paints how structures such as political, social and cultural systems are disadvantaged. This is combined with history, beliefs, and interconnections. One often cited example is the media coverage on specific players such as a headline to a black footballer with the title; “Campaigning football star Marcus Rashford has bought five luxury homes worth more than £2million” whereas a white footballer is presented as; “Phil Foden has set up a future in Manchester by buying his family a new home”.

I understand the love and passion fans have for their club and country but sometimes this is taken too far with crimes and violence during and occurring after games. For example, Victor Osimhen threating Napoli with legal action over a TikTok video as he was described as a ‘coconut’. Roberto Calenda who is Osimhen’s agent branded the post “unacceptable”. Research by Kilvington and Price, (2019) who looked at social media abuses and the response to online racism, found that players “don’t have the time” to report incidents as they “do not want the spotlight on them” as they want to get on with the game and put ‘that’ to one side. This suggests that the online abuses may not be pursued by players themselves as they do not have the time and effort especially if players are not educated on reporting procedures. This is an apposite perfect example of why stricter punishments should be imposed by football's hierarchy (UEFA & FIFA) on individuals as well as organisations such as clubs and leagues to combat racism off and on the pitch.

Vini Jr was subject to abuse by the Valencia fans in which the LaLiga President came out and ‘apologised’ to Vinicius about his comments to LaLiga needing to do more and the President referring to the abuse as manipulative. According to Bassam, (2020), La Liga is the second most watched league in the world bringing in 4.5m domestic views worldwide giving a solid position in the most viewed league. Several figures from the footballing world have come out such as Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Southgate and Mbappe raising their voices to tackle these disgusting acts.

Fandom and Morality

The notion of Sports washing is relevant when interrogating this incident. Governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA desire this ‘halo effect’ by combatting incidents of racism in the past with little to no implications on the player or club as they know that football is the most watched sport in the world with over ‘4 billion fans worldwide’, (Sportytell, 2023). Only getting a partial stadium closure as well as a reduced fine, Valencia FC still went for an appeal which morally some people would look with disgust. Fruh et al, (2023) looks at sportswashing as turning the ‘surface white’. The terminology describes that organisations only scratch the surface to make themselves look ‘golden’ while the construct persists in modern day. Valencia FC were fined and their main stand was shut for five games, which I would argue demonstrates that organisations like La Liga are doing the ‘bare minimum’ with ineffective punishments. Incidents from the past such as the Euro 2020, objects thrown at players, strongly implicate that deep rooted problems still exist.

On the other side of the spectrum, FIFA and UEFA support campaigns designed to combat racism such as Say No To Racism. UEFA’s report on their campaign quote that “2,876 matches monitored for racism with 17 incidents followed by sanctions” shows that racism is being looked at and strong actions during the last few seasons have been taken. The FIFA chief Gianni Infantino states “zero tolerance approach must be taken when racism happens in matches at all levels’ after hearing about Vinicius Junior”. UEFA have also held workshops to tackle racism in their road to the 2030 change. The statistic and the report show improvements to the socio-construct (racism) which highlights strong belief to individuals and fans that the fight is on to combat the issue.

Fandom is described by the sports philosopher Kadlac, (2022), as sports fans who love their teams and bring in a sense of togetherness – brings a “pitfall of objectifying”. Sports fans will stop counting their support for athletes’ weak performances” and change their opinion on the athletes. In the case of Vinicius Junior, the fans who were throwing racist insults about, suggests the notion of having too much love and passion for their club which they experience ‘blind faith’ to wrong doings and think it is okay. I do agree with this assertion as I feel that sometimes fans do get carried away, even from my own experiences I have seen the passion of wanting to win but also wanting a fair respectable game. I would rather lose a fair game and fans were annoyed with the result than winning and seeing fans being racist to opposition players to show mockery or abusiveness.

Evaluating the initiatives out there: Unarguably initiatives such as Kick It Out, No Room for Racism and Show Racism The Red Card are worthwhile campaigns which are being strongly pushed by FIFA and UEFA to combat racism.

The statistics below show improvements by these initiatives:

A 38% drop in social media reports, between the 2019/20 and 2021/22 season from Kick It Out.

‘Premier league clubs enhanced different programmes to promote inclusion and diversity across football as a whole’.

UEFA monitored 2,681 accounts and identified 3,057 abusive posts with the removal rate of 48%.

UEFA increased financial investments by 24% to 12.5 million euros to support off field in social domains.

Educational programming on online abuse and hate speech in development with 39.1 million views worldwide now.

Nonetheless, the never-ending conversation of racism needs to be dealt with more affirmative implications.

My viewpoint on stronger sanctions:

Organisations such as UEFA, FIFA and La Liga to push social media platforms and IT technologies to find culprits who endorse hate crimes via internet on fake accounts with the imprisonment sentence as well as ‘name and shame’. – this is slowly making an improvement as social media has become more reluctant to fake accounts by ‘verifying’ email addresses and phone numbers to access the accounts which can be traced. For example, X (Twitter) uses bots and blue check to verify people.

FIFA & UEFA to ban fans for life who are racist during matches as well as fine clubs millions of euros. If the fans supporting that club are found guilty, then ban fans from entering the stadium as a whole - hoping to bring a bigger picture of potential revenue lost by the club with no fans as well as losing out on merchandise on matchdays.

FIFA & UEFA to implicate rulings such as new laws to leagues to fine heavily on cooperate companies who sponsor the clubs and make them reconsider their position for sponsoring a certain club. – this will be done by getting involvement from the league, other clubs in that league, and the government in charge of that country themselves to seek action against the sponsors.

Fans & Non footballing fans to boycott cooperate companies and clubs who are in contractual agreements with footballing clubs.

Fans to promote/reshare posts via social media to call out racists and act – A massive improvement as recently, a Gillingham fan on Instagram was banned and shamed for being racist towards a Newport striker. A Manchester City fan being racist towards three Manchester United players. With the likes of promoting/resharing, stadiums and clubs can see more potential incidents from reoccurring and aid fans to unite as one to combat racism.

What is your take on these stronger sanctions?

Please feel free to comment and give your idea’s/views about combatting racism.

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[pollardimmigrantlit]

“Blond Girls in Cheongsams” Jenny Zhang

Primary themes: Race, Identity & Belonging

Zhang illustrates the societal pressure placed upon immigrants to assimilate to white dominated trends, even when they’re inaccurately appropriating Asian culture. Her experience of growing up in Queens and Long Island illustrates the juxtaposition of racial difference and in turn highlights the main issues we observe in white America. While living in Queens Zhang’s peers picked on the pale skinned Irish boy, not knowing that beyond the city people of color were the ones being targeted for their race. After moving to Long Island her perception of race shifted, ‘it hadn’t meant anything to not be a white girl until I was surrounded by them’ (p. 143). Normative whiteness transformed what she believed was desirable, she understood the “Chinese laundry shoes” and chopsticks in a white woman’s hair was appropriation but she was desperate to fit in at school. It can be so hard for people of color to feel as though they belong that many of them will whitewash themselves for the sake of feeling included. Zhang tried to convince herself the trend that was actually capitalizing on Asian culture was representation and acceptance. Her insatiable need to steal from the XOXO store solidified the necessity to conform in order to belong.

One of Zhang’s most illuminating quotes in this short story comes from her description of the country’s systemic racism, ‘what I wanted to say was how it felt to grow up in a country where the consensus seemed to be that Chinese culture looked best as an accessory on a white person’ (p. 151). These polyester garments of oppression brought Zhang to the conclusion that in order to belong she had to go against her moral code. After losing her beloved XOXO dragon skirt she went into a panic, her reaction to the loss of the skirt exemplifies the importance of the mask immigrants feel they need in order to survive in this country.