#poc erasure

[felixxthefrog]

the thing about going to a christian school that whitewashes everything and puts everything from a western/christian/european/american centric viewpoint is that when you take art class and and learn about mummy brown paint, they tell you it's wrong because it's wrong to destroy dead people. they also don't tell you that mummy brown also used the corpses of enslaved people and prisoners.

[bixels]

I'm not explaining why re-imagining characters as POC is not the same as white-washing, here of all places should fucking understand.

[ohara-n-brown]

The way people talk over Black Autistic people is... Mind-Boggling. Truly.

There are so many people in the autistic community that genuinely believe that them and Black Autistic people have the same experience, and that everything Black Autistic people go through they go through as well.

That's NOT TRUE.

Black Autistics face more questioning and doubt than White Autistics do.

Yes, all Autistics face doubt.

But when White Autistics face doubt they're often told 'You aren't autistic' - as in YOU in specific are not Autistic.

Meanwhile when Black Autistics face doubt we're often told 'You CAN'T be autistic'. Not just 'You aren't', but you can't.

As in 'You physically, biologically CANNOT be autistic because you are black'.

Do you see the difference?

I've had multiple people say to me 'I didn't know you can be black and autistic', or 'I didn't know black autistic people existed.'

Our mere existence as an entire GROUP is called into question. Because of our race.

No one will ever say 'I didn't know you can be white and autistic' because Autistic Representation revolves around Whiteness.

-

And yes, 99% of people with autism had communication issues.

But if you're a white autistic person you have never had to decode micoagressive racism through the lens of your autism.

- Especially at risk of your safety or life.

Allistic black people already have to carefully choose our behavior and wording with law enforcement under threat of imprisonment or outright on-the-spot execution.

Now imagine having to navigate conversations with law enforcement while also autistic.

Especially knowing that most of the time when a mentally disabled person is killed by law enforcement - they are usually also black.

Elijah McClain and Ryan Gainer - both autistic AND BLACK. Osaze Osagie - also black.

So even if you say that all autistic people experience this, it's very clear that Black Autistic people face it to a higher, more dangerous degree.

We are not 1:1. We are not the same.

This doesn't even factor in things like having to learn to codeswitch or speak AAVE. Or how predominately black schools have less resources for their autistic students.

Or how many professionals in mental health DON'T diagnose black people because they've never studied the Black Autistic experience, and thus cannot spot it.

Or how many Black people that ARE identified to be neurodivergent are instead labeled with ODD or BPD instead.

There are so many layers and factors to this that cannot be ignored.

The autism community needs to get better at understanding intersectionality. We need to get better at representing Autistics of color for ALL levels.

And y'all need to stop talking over Black Autistics. Our experiences are not the same. And that's okay.

[goosebasedcryptid]

No, he's not perfect for the role, imo, and here's why...

Honestly, my problem isn't with him, but with whoever in the casting process decided to make Baelor white. Like I'm sure the guy is a really good actor and will probably give a great performance as his own version of Baelor, but there's legitimate criticism to be had regarding the fact that he was even considered for it. (Doesn't mean he should personally get hate. He's an actor doing the job he was hired for. He's not the decision maker here.)

Baelor being Daeron II's heir while having the physical appearance of his Dornish mother Queen Myriah, therefore being largely regarded as more Martell than Targaryen, is an integral part of the narrative leading up to the First Blackfyre rebellion. While said 1st BR was based on the claim that Daeron II was not Aegon V's legitimate son and heir, it is not to be ignored that the idea that he was too friendly with Dorne and its population, who are regarded as inherently untrustworthy, grasping, and enemies by the nobles who wanted to put Daemon on the throne for their own gain, played a significant part as well. In short, they did not want a half Dornish (aka non white) king on the throne.

And if you've read even half of Dunk&Egg you know how much the Blackfyre Rebellions are woven into the story and the political climate, there are constant references to them and the perceived threat that still looms overseas. The 3rd novella literally takes place during the 2nd BR!

So while yes, a white actor may do a fantastic job at portraying the charisma, chivalry and overall character of Baelor Breakspear, it will most probably come at the expense of an enormous part of the political climate the story takes place in. Which is a shame, given that GRRM writes *political* fantasy.

Also, regardless of the importance a character's ethnicity bears on the story, it just sucks that a canon POC character is being erased in a genre that is vastly white dominated and lacks positive representation. We could have had the epitome of knighthood, courage, and honour be someone other than a white guy for once, but no, we're not getting that, I guess.

[phatkochi]

I love Steven and Mclooy and I'm glad that they're getting popular but it's so sad that they frequently get whitewashed 🥲

[arsonisticscholar]

So a big nose on a brown girl is pretty and ethnic and aesthetic and cultural but a big nose on a white girl is ugly,,,

[thatastrobae]

They think it’s such a flex when in reality, it’s protocol for black/poc main characters to have a white love interest. Almost to say that without the white love interest, the story isn’t worth telling. I hate it here.

the way a lot of these gwi/les shippers move you would think interracial or no, white person/black person relationships are some rare never-before seen phenomenons that hardly ever get representation in media and that their relationship is just oh so unique and somehow groundbreaking which is why they cling so desperately to it and vehemently oppose any and everything that goes against it

[j-a-m-e-s-s-i-l-v-e-r]

dear Fallen London fandom.

1. please, please stop erasing a canonically Chinese character by saying that the King with a Hundred Hearts is 100% Enkidu

2. for y'all who complain that May doesn't look middle eastern enough in Mask of the Rose cuz something something NO BEARD and BRIGHT EYES and SMOOTH HAIR and that he simply must be Black cuz in fact you don't care where Mesopotamia or any other foreign land is...... behold:

indigenous Assyrians whose hair is even straighter than his indigenous Chaldeans, no mandatory beards Kourosh Sadeghi - Iran Farhad Mosaffa - Iran Alexander Uloom - Iraq Omar Borkan Al Gala - Iraq Madiha Knyvany - Syria Enas Taleb - Iraq and some Insta dude

and anyway how dare his authors decide how to design their own character? unthinkable! /s

[queenimmadolla]

How do you feel/what do you do about poc that are in the sunken place? I’ve seen poc admit they can’t imagine a poc as reader and only imagine white people, then defend white washing in all fandom mediums(fics, art, headers etc). It annoys the fuck out of me, esp since white creators use those poc to hide behind. Like ok if you’re cool with the white supremacy in your head good for you, but it doesn’t work for me and I want to imagine reader as pic and flr people to work towards and create a more welcoming environment for everyone.

The sunken place, that made me laugh out loud!!! But you’re right, they never fail to show up when a white person is doing their best to make sure a reader is white. But let’s talk about it, cause I been DYING to give my piece.

I can always hear them coming, the loud ass tuba that makes up their Uncle Ruckus theme song starts playing right before they post their “I can excuse racism” ass reply so they can shove their head up white writers’ asses.

The most common statement I see is something like “tbh I just ignore those words, they barely even register to me now, and sometimes I don’t even wanna imagine myself so it doesn’t bother me” like congrats on admitting that the white coding has been SO common of a practice that you’ve adapted to purposely imaging a white person in your place because the white writers you worship made it difficult for you to ever imagine yourself or at least an oc with the same shade of skin as you in a READER insert.

and if they don’t wanna imagine themselves in the reader tag but feel inclined to speak up about people who do being upset? GET THE FUCK OUTTA THE READER TAG! This doesn’t involve you then, bitch. Go read some OC fanfiction, and take your house slave mindset with you. They’re not better than us by agreeing with details that do encourage and up hold white supremacy (we’re not calling you members of the kkk, we’re saying if you want to imply Reader is white, you’re implying we should because my black ass does not have straight blonde hair, blue eyes and cream colored skin)

‘Oh, but vivi it’s not that deep, I just like to write certain─’ with disrespect, shut the fuck up. if you’re white, you do not encounter these racist people on here the way we do because they’re most likely your friends and followers while they’re OUR antagonists.

You do not get to decide whether you only wanting white people to be able to see themselves in Reader (an insert meant to let literally ANYONE see themselves in the place of) is racist or not—just like business owners who refuse to allow POC to shop/dine/sit in their establishments don’t get to say they’re not racist.

ANYWAYS, if they’re a POC and they excuse this shit, here’s a perfect character for them to insert themselves in the place of:

[faithisland]

why is everything always Marsha vs Stormé??? why the hell can't we respect the fact that it was a complex night with multiple things happening, and respect and honor the legacy of BOTH Black trans people

[johnwicklover1999]

i think one thing that anti-theists like.. do wrong (?) is treat religions like they're monoliths, which is impossible. you might find that one denomination is larger than another, but there will pretty much always be other denominations, and varying interpretations within each denomination.

no religion is a monolith, and no religion ever will be one. that's because religion is a personal experience to the individual, who will have their own thoughts and feelings about their faith. that is how people are in regards to everything, because humans aren't a monolith of a species.

i understand it might be confusing, or even frustrating when a religion has many denominations and interpretations, but that doesn't work super well as a reason for wanting to rid of religion. in fact, just yesterday i was told by an anti-theist that 'ideally' the belief of magic would be rid of and traditional religion wouldn't change. i know for a fact that other anti-theists would disagree with that and present their own ideal outcome of anti-theism, because i often browse anti-theism tags to get an understanding of anti-theist beliefs (it's good practice to read up on some opposing opinions to get some standing ground! my dad taught me that.)

it is perfectly okay to be critical of religion, i myself am critical of some religious ideas from varying religions! but when you don't fully understand the religion you're criticizing, and you're getting your information from biased sources, or only reading about limited ideas then you don't have the information to accurately criticize any religion. the idea that all religions are strict monoliths is entirely false, and if someone believes that then their criticism isn't totally credible, especially when they can't acknowledge the good of religion.

in the end, individual religions can not be treated as if they are massive groups of people who all share the same ideas and the same beliefs, harmful or not. because that's literally just not true. if you want to improve religion then actually go forth and try to understand it and listen to different people discuss their religion and it's flaws, trying to get rid of religion will only hurt people. (and i very strongly believe that getting rid of religion will in turn hurt spiritually, and by extension culture.)

[angelellipsis-devilofdots]

the witcher subreddit is the funniest shit i've seen in a while

[briankang]

do some of u guys think problems only exist in america and not in other western countries and the us is the only country guilty of shit? genuinely?

[usaigi]

some of y'all need to learn the difference between whitewashing and colorism

[ancient-healer]

[floralovebot]

I'm probably gonna word this a little weirdly but taking a character of color and changing their race isn't cool ever, even if they're still Not White. If I take Aisha and make her South Asian instead of black, that's not adding representation, it's erasing black representation.

If I take Musa and make her anything but Asian, that's not representation for someone else, it's erasure. Same thing for Flora, Nabu, and every other character of color in winx.

I understand that some of the characters are more ambiguous than others - I'm not mad that a child would see Flora as asian or Nabu as a black man - but if you're an adult? Fully aware of their intentional coding? And Still deciding to change their races? Like?? Please have some self awareness. We already have to fight hard for representation. You don't get to take it away.