#because 1) I'm awful at visualizing anything that isn't people anyway; 2) I really don't know how things worked or looked like Back Then

[antique-symbolism]

DO I have to be insane about my history and science research for the second draft, or can that be a third draft problem?

[maychorian]

Hey, I'm sorry to bother you, especially because you said you didn't want to talk about it, so please feel free to complete ignore this ask. But you are the only one who won't get me totally wrong and be upset, so I still wanted to ask. About the white-washing thing. Even if the artist had pictured Lance and Hunk as 'white' (I didn't even see the art) or a writer wrote about, I don't know, Shiro being African, or Pidge as Asian, it's still their headcanon isn't it? Why would that be racist?(1/2)

I mean, it’s not denying that Lance is Cuban in canon or implying it would be better if he was white and being Cuban is a bad thing(isn’t this what racism is about) why would it be okay to draw him as Altean but not as as ‘white’ or something else? (I really don’t want to offend anyone, I just want to understand the problem, and sorry if I’m too stupid to figure it on my own) thanks, and have a nice day!

Hey, it’s not stupid to ask questions! It’s good to think about these things and try to understand them. I’ve spent some time thinking about this so I’ll try to put my thoughts in order.

It IS funny how no one seems to have a problem with Lance being Altean, haha, given how awful this fandom is about racial issues. Then again, maybe someone IS upset and quietly seething over it. I have no idea.

But anyway. The reason changing Lance from being Cuban or Hunk from being Samoan and making them actually white or something is actually hurtful to real people is because it feels like something is being stolen. It’s about representation. The English-speaking world is definitely white-dominated, even in our entertainment, and though there have been some attempts to change it, that is still true and probably will be for as long as America (producer of a large portion of the world’s movies and tv shows and popular music) is majority white. So it’s hard for black people and brown people to find fictional characters who look and feel like themselves. And that’s a problem. Good representation isn’t just about having role models in media, like Uhura in Star Trek, but also just ordinary folks. Non-criminals. Non-majority race characters who have strengths and weaknesses and story arcs, who are funny and heroic and smart and interesting, who are more than tropes and stereotypes and object lessons.

Hunk and Lance are both fantastic characters. Say all you want about how Season 2 treated them, but they both have PERSONALITY. They are well-rounded. They are interesting. They have strengths and weaknesses and backgrounds and relationships. And that’s relatively rare for people with their skin color in visual media.

So changing their skin color and their race to match the majority of Americans (and no, not just playing with a piece of art or using a pastel palette), feels like erasure. It feels like something has been taken away, and that HURTS. I absolutely understand, and I would never, ever do something like that. I don’t want to hurt anyone.

I think there should be room for creativity. You should be able to imagine and write and draw whatever you want, even if it might be hurtful to someone. That’s freedom of speech, and no one should take that away. But we still want to be thoughtful and kind. We still don’t want to take away anything that’s important to other people. So yes, do whatever you want. But think about how it might affect someone else.

For some reason, white folks don’t seem to mind it when you turn white characters into different races. I certainly don’t care. Playing is fun. Probably because we have so many white characters we won’t miss a few. It’s an embarrassment of riches, really. We can deal with a few changes, or we should be. It’s harder for other folks, because they have less to lose.

That’s why I told my one nonny that if they had ACTUALLY hurt someone, they should apologize and do their best to do better in the future. Race is a tricky issue, and we need to be kind and sensitive. What I object to is the moral hysteria and lynch mobs ginned up by folks who were not personally wounded by some mistake or error, but are just looking for something to be outraged about because it feels good to have what they think is the high ground.

This feels like a subtle difference, but I hope my answer makes sense.