I think many of the issues here are like feminist issues, in which all discussions seem to go back to the men and femininsts must continue to argue why feminism is still relevant.
Yes, exactly. And the whole "but white people are oppressed too/I suffer from pink-hair discrimination/etc. etc." thing! *bangs head*
I'm really shocked @ how people @ the panel (judging from what you've said) didn't seem to get that minority cultures taking from dominant cultures is not @ all the same as the reverse. It's not that hard to figure out. Augh. Especially given that the level of critical understanding of "-isms" seems generally high @ WisCon.
Re: you feeling like you're calling people out & being nervous b/c most people you talk to on LJ are white--meh. I totally understand your nerves (I don't write about race on my LJ as much as I'd like because I get tired of the white defensive knee-jerk reaction), but... in my (admittedly limited!) experience, I see a lot more POCs getting apologetic/nervous for bringing up race than I see women (for example) getting apologetic/nervous for bringing up gender. And that... kinda sucks.
(& I too am boggling about the Asian=white experience--I've never had that in my life. Mind you I'm half-Asian, half-white, so most people give me the "WTF are you?" thing anyway...)
Anyway--so glad this conversation is happening, & big kudos to you for steering people away from shifting the focus back to whiteness over & over. I'll sit back & read & think about the rest of the posts now. Thanks!
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Thu, Jun. 1st, 2006 10:47 pm (UTC)Yes, exactly. And the whole "but white people are oppressed too/I suffer from pink-hair discrimination/etc. etc." thing! *bangs head*
I'm really shocked @ how people @ the panel (judging from what you've said) didn't seem to get that minority cultures taking from dominant cultures is not @ all the same as the reverse. It's not that hard to figure out. Augh. Especially given that the level of critical understanding of "-isms" seems generally high @ WisCon.
Re: you feeling like you're calling people out & being nervous b/c most people you talk to on LJ are white--meh. I totally understand your nerves (I don't write about race on my LJ as much as I'd like because I get tired of the white defensive knee-jerk reaction), but... in my (admittedly limited!) experience, I see a lot more POCs getting apologetic/nervous for bringing up race than I see women (for example) getting apologetic/nervous for bringing up gender. And that... kinda sucks.
(& I too am boggling about the Asian=white experience--I've never had that in my life. Mind you I'm half-Asian, half-white, so most people give me the "WTF are you?" thing anyway...)
Anyway--so glad this conversation is happening, & big kudos to you for steering people away from shifting the focus back to whiteness over & over. I'll sit back & read & think about the rest of the posts now. Thanks!