i see racefail is going into v2.0

[piranha]

and i'm moving away from it because otherwise it will eat my life. i made a comment on tor.com (even though i dislike even going there now); and a couple of posts elsewhere, about why i consider the thirteenth child's premise and world-building a failure. and that's that; i don't need to see more white SFF writers splatter themselves with defensive manure -- they might not be ashamed to hang their hairy white butts out in public, but i am ashamed for them.

juls -- well done. even if LMB didn't seem to get it. jo also rocks, for realizing when she has set foot in a quagmire and instantly shifting to listening and thinking about what she hears instead of lecturing the directly affected people about interrogating the text from the correct perspective.

and here's one post by rushthatspeaks white folks should read, about history in america, and what has been lost, and how creepily disconcerting that is even if one just likes to read a good escapist story. it's a slightly offset mirror from my own impressions when i arrived in north america and felt ungrounded, something i wrote about in my private journal. i never found the right words for it, because at the time i knew even less than i know now about first nations, but rushthatspeaks gives me the words. thank you.

Comments

the thirteenth racefail

[aquaeri]

You're in a very similar place to me by the sound of it, except I can't quite let it go because of some rasfc backstory. The problem is finding the balance between not letting this sort of thing take over my life, and yet being a clear voice for a less racist future for sf.

[kore]

I have written up and deleted unposted about 2-3 comments on that, because I just....can't. Which is awful of me, and I feel like I should do some white-ally educating of OTHER WHITE PEOPLE and be helpful, only it also feels like the inside of my head has been shredding itself for the past 3-4 weeks now and I am not sure I would be any good in the fight at all. But, just, that whole premise was horrifying. Gack.

....wasn't that a great post by rushthatspeaks though? So awesome. cpolk also left a great comment in jonquil's post that was amazing.

[jmtorres]

From what I've gathered from her later comments, LMB's thought process seems to be something like, "Talk is cheap, my writing is a form of talk, I am not actually doing anything significant or world-changing by talking/writing, therefore it is not necessary for me to consider the consequences as I am not actually committing an action." It's a weird... self-devaluation argument. But I think that's her logic? Perhaps the next quote lobbed at her should be "The pen is mightier than the sword." Because yes, damn it, writing matters, writing counts, writing affects people, writing is an action with consequences.

[crantz]

I currently own the Thirteenth Child, which is unhappy making. See, I'd ordered it from a small local bookstore before I even knew the premise, just that it was by Wrede and that I wanted to read more than the enchanted forest chronicles. And I never refuse what I've ordered, because such a small store. This same practice has made me end up with so many shitty marvel comics before I would remember to cancel.

I'm sort of wondering if I should read it. So far anyone I've told the problem of, though, in even a vague way has been pretty horrified though. Except my sister, but she seems to think she's a devil's advocate.

the thirteenth child

[piranha]

heck, i own it too, and i was looking forward to it. by all means, read it. i never discourage people from reading. i've read "mein kampf", you know. it was ... educational. and this isn't in the same category by any means; i don't believe for a second that wrede is in favour of what's been done to native peoples in north america. she's just... blind to what she did.

i think the thirteenth child has a nifty main character. but other than that it's a disappointment; the world-building is unbelievable, and it is not the book i thought it would be when i put it on my reading list.

if you give it away, maybe write a link to http://www.oyate.org inside. that way you can spread a little knowledge.

and yay, supporting small, local bookstores! (your sister is the devil, not his advocate. :)

Re: the thirteenth child

[crantz]

She means well, my sister. She really does. She's gone a long way from when she thought feminist was a dirty word. Now I have her taking on people in arguments about it. I figure, gimme another year and she'll stop this.