Some Of Y'all Really Need To Re-examine What The Word Racist Means Because It's Not Always Just "loud

100% delusional (me)

I am going to be the one who will free Himemiya from you!

But it cuts so deep and it hurts so hard

and I cannot stop the stars that fall

@e-p-hart responded to this post:

What I'm hearing is that you want to know how to confront racism in fandom without hurting the feelings of predominantly white women who participate in patterns that negatively impact fans of color (especially Black fans, since MANY of the patterns involve antiblackness).

The answer to that is that you can't. There's no easy way to confront these patterns in fandom (or education, or tech, etc etc -- you're correct that racism isn't only a Kylo/Rey shipper issue, but there is a reason Kylo/Rey is being talked about regarding antiblackness in fandom) without people getting their feelings hurt. But here's the thing: these patterns have been harming people in the fandom for a long time. One of the major facets of the racial empathy gap is that the hurt feelings of white people matter more than harm done to Black people, unless those Black people agree with them. And that otherization of Black people talking about antiblackness causes more hurt, widens the gap, and causes intracommunal discord.

When we talk about racism in fandom, it's not about individuals being inherently bad people. Of course racism is bad, but that bad/good dichotomy is harmful, because it ignores that a lot of racism is socially acceptable. It's socially acceptable to shut down people of color when we talk about racism. It's socially acceptable to say "not all white people" as if the fact that exceptions exist reduces the actual harm caused by things like the empathy gap and otherization, which are also socially acceptable. Focusing on the exceptions and calling it a day does nothing to work against racism, and in fact allows it to flourish.

Why are people talking about Kylo and Rey shippers and racism? Because there has been a long pattern of erasing, demeaning and demonizing both Finn and John Boyega, which culminated into a clapback from Boyega himself. We've seen a steady Black Brute narrative attached to Boyega over the past few weeks where it has been suggested that he is a threat to Daisy Ridley and more broadly to "woman fans." Understand that is a very dangerous narrative that has caused harm and even death to Black men. Even if they don't know they're doing it, it's harmful. And yes, Kylo and Rey shippers are doing this, including influential women in the media. R/K shippers have also recently tried to aggressively silence a Black scholar who talks about racism in fandom. (I was directly involved in this incident and it is well documented).

Certainly, all R/K shippers aren't doing this, but the ones doing it are R/K shippers. You said you doubt women of color in fandom have gotten more racism from R/K shippers than anyone else. I urge you to listen to Black women who talk about antiblackness in fandom. Speaking for myself, your doubts are wrong, and I've been in various online fandoms since the '90s. I've never had smear campaigns against me from any other ship. I've never been harassed by a Kylo/Hux shipper, and it's also a ship that focuses on white characters. In fact, I get along with a lot of Kylo/Hux shippers and am mutuals with some, even though I've criticized patterns in white slash shipping. I get along with Kylo Ren fans (villain fans and self shippers). I get along with Finn/Poe shippers even though I've said I think Finn/Rey was set up in TFA and have criticized racist FinnPoe fics. But to Kylo/Rey shippers, I'm a demon who needs to be taken down. Believe me when I say they've tried.

i get annoyed when white people on this site act like tumblr is completely fine if you just 'avoid discourse', when discourse can literally mean calling out all the casual racism around you like its never 'peaceful' here for people of colour. Acting like tumblr is some special site where you can just get away from all the drama of other social media sites sure is a privilege i would like to have.

'Just curate your content!' doesnt work when its basically all the content thats the problem.

There’s no hope.