#racial slurs/

[bonefall]

Anyway. Bi and Mspec Lesbians aren't a hotly "debated" topic or even new to queer culture, it's just the newest thing that bullies who REALLY want to be homophobic and even racist use to justify harassing gay people they don't like.

It's the thinnest possible veneer of progressive language wrapped around TERF and reactionary rhetoric so that they can feel righteous for forming an angry mob against vulnerable targets. If you're gullible enough to fall for the newest wave of bigotry within the queer community, and turn on your allies because they're "confusing" or "invading your spaces," the SAME way they turned on bi/pan labels, trans people, xenogenders, neopronouns, and aroace people before this, then get lost.

[junglejim4322]

Anons used to call u slurs now they send you shit like “ur a stupid silly Willy”. Get your ass up and work

[writingwithcolor]

Non-offensive Historical terms for Black people in historical fiction

@pleasespellchimerical asked:

So writing historical fiction, with a white POV character. I'm not sure how to address race in the narration. I do have a Black main character, and I feel like it'd feel out of place to have the narrator refer to her as 'Black', that being a more modern term. Not sure how to do this without dipping into common historical terms that are considered racist today. Thoughts on how to handle this delicately, not pull readers out of the narrative? (fwiw, the POV character has a lot of respect for the Black character. The narration should show this)

There are non-offensive terms you can use, even in historical fiction. We can absolutely refer to Black people without slurs, and if slurs is all one can come up with, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. I cannot say which terms are best for your piece without knowing the time period, but hopefully the list below helps.

Historical terms to use for Black people (non-offensive)

African American documented as early as 1782 (documented in an ad in the Pennsylvania Journal). Note the identity isn’t accurate for non-American Black people.

African could refer to African people or “from 1722 as ‘of or pertaining to black Americans.’”

The place of origin could also be used. For example, “a Nigerian woman”

Africo-American documented as early as 1788.

People of Color documented as early as 1796 (with specific contexts, usually mixed people)

Afro American documented as early as 1817, 1831 (depending on source)

Black American documented as early as 1831 

Black was used in Old English to refer to dark-skinned people. Black was not capitalized until recent years, so “She was a young black woman.” would make sense to say, though “She was a young Black woman.” is the better standard today, although not universally adopted. I personally prefer it capitalized. 

Moor was used as early as the late 1400s for North African people, but had a somewhat flexible use where anyone visibly Black / Of African descent or the Afro Diaspora might be referred to or assumed as a Moor. Note, it has other meanings too, such as referring to Muslim people, but that doesn’t mean the person using it is going by the dictionary definition. Not really the way to go today, but okay in a historical setting (in my opinion).

Biracial (1860s), mixed race (1872), multiracial (1903) and multicultural (1940s) are also terms to refer to people of two or more races.

Occupation + description. Throughout history, many people have been referred to as their occupation. For example, the Carpenter, The Baker, the Blacksmith. Here’s an example of how you might go about using occupation and traits to identify a Black character in history. Here’s an example I came up with on the fly.

“You should go by Jerry’s. He’s the best blacksmith this town’s ever seen. Ya know, the real tall, dark-skinned, curly haired fellow. Family’s come here from Liberia.”

Offensive and less-sensitive terms for Black people 

Blacks was used in plural more, but this is generally offensive today (Even writing it gives me **Thee ick*)

Colored was mostly used post-civil war until the mid 20th century, when it became unacceptable. This is not to be conflated with the South African Coloured ethnic group.

Negro/Negroes were also used as early as the 1550s. Capitalization became common in the early 20th century. I'm sure you know it is offensive today, though, admittedly, was not generally seen as such until around the 1960s, when Black replaced it. It does have its contexts, such as the trope “The Magical Negro” but going around using the term or calling someone that today is a lot different. 

Mulatto referred to mixed people, generally Black and white, and is offensive today. 

The N-word, in all its forms, is explicitly a slur, and there is absolutely no need to use it, especially in a casual manner, in your story. We’ve written about handling the N-word and alluding to it “if need be” but there are other ways to show racism and tension without dropping the word willy-nilly.

Deciding what to use, a modern perspective

I’m in favor of authors relying on the less offensive, more acceptable terms. Particularly, authors outside of the race. Seldom use the offensive terms except from actual direct quotes.

You do not have to use those offensive terms or could at least avoid using them in excess. I know quite famous stories do, but that doesn’t mean we have to so eagerly go that route today. Honestly, from teachers to school, and fellow non-Black students, it’s the modern day glee that people seem to get when they “get a chance to say it” that makes it worse and also makes me not want to give people the chance. 

It goes back to historical accuracy only counting the most for an “authentic experience” when it means being able to use offensive terms or exclude BIPOC from stories. We’ve got to ask ourselves why we want to plaster certain words everywhere for the sake of accuracy when there are other just as accurate, acceptable words to use that hurt less people. 

Disclaimer: Opinions may vary on these matters. But just because someone from the group cosigns something by stating they’re not offended by it, doesn’t mean a whole lot of others are okay with it and their perspectives are now invalid! Also, of course, how one handles the use of these words as a Black person has a different connotation and freedom on how they use them.

~Mod Colette

The colonial context

Since no country was mentioned, I’m going to add a bit about the vocabulary surrounding Black people during slavery, especially in the Caribbean. Although, Colette adds, if your Black characters are slaves, this begs the question why we always gotta be slaves.

At the time, there were words used to describe people based on the percentage of Black blood they had. Those are words you may find during your searches but I advise you not to use them. As you will realize if you dive a bit into this system, it looks like a classifying table. At the time, people were trying to lighten their descent and those words were used for some as a sort of rank. Louisiana being French for a time, those expressions were also seen there until the end of the 19th century.

The fractions I use were the number of Black ancestors someone had to have to be called accordingly.

Short-list here :

½ : mûlatre or mulatto

¼ or ⅛ : quarteron or métis (depending on the island, I’m thinking about Saint-Domingue, Martinique and Guadeloupe)

1/16 : mamelouk

¾ : griffe or capre

⅞ : sacatra

In Saint-Domingue, it could go down to 1/64, where people were considered sang-mêlé (mixed blood for literal translation, but “HP and the Half-Blood Prince” is translated “HP et le Prince de Sang-Mêlé” in French, so I guess this is another translation possibility).

-Lydie

Use the 3rd person narrative to your advantage

If you are intent on illustrating historical changes in terminology consider something as simple as showing the contrast between using “black” for first person character narration, but “Black” for 3rd person narrator omniscient.

-Marika

Add a disclaimer

I liked how this was addressed in the new American Girl books it’s set in Harlem in the 1920’s and there’s a paragraph at the beginning that says “this book uses the common language of the time period and it’s not appropriate to use now”

-SK

More reading:

NYT: Use of ‘African-American’ Dates to Nation’s Early Days

The Etymology dictionary - great resource for historical fiction

Wikipedia: Person of Color

[useless-englandfacts]

remembrance day seems like a good day to remember that in 1937 churchill rejected the arab wish to stop zionist jewish migration to palestine by saying:

I do not admit that the dog in the manger has the final right to the manger, though he may have lain there for a very long time I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been to those people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race or at any rate a more worldly-wise race, to put it that way, has come in and taken their place. I do not admit it. I do not think the Red Indians had any right to say, 'American continent belongs to us and we are not going to have any of these European settlers coming in here'. They had not the right, nor had they the power.

[penvisions]

I’m not new to this kind of stuff, but it does hurt still. Very much.

tw for racism and racial slurs under the cut

This was a comment left on the series I was so excited to write and share with y’all. I am excited to write and share. But this comment is not only extremely hateful, it’s also extremely unsettling with how casually they hurled a loaded insult at me.

“Spic” is a very serious thing to call someone. It’s a racial slur that I’ve heard before, had aimed at me before, and it’s not a good feeling.

I preface a lot of fics with detailed tags and warnings. From angst to the reader insert I’d written in more of an OC and formatted like an x reader. I’ve explained a few times while I use English a lot in my daily life, it is not my first language. Pronunciation and some nuances are lost on me but is more noticeable in my academic writing for university.

This is a hobby. This is something I indulge in because it makes me happy and telling stories is the most genuine human thing we do.

To be targeted like this and in the barrage of hateful anons lately really takes the fun out of it. And I hate that that’s my takeaway in an otherwise positive little corner I’ve found here.

I don’t really have anything else to say other than this type of behavior is not okay. It’s demeaning, it’s steeped in ignorance and malice. It makes me feel way too many things and my voice isn’t quite working on the matter beyond this.

I try to keep it positive here, to interact with intention and kindness. With good words and compliments but I feel like something needed to be said about this.

Please block this user and please be kind to one another.

[queerslurheritageposts]

as a trans masc/man who doesn’t @ at all feel like his attraction to women is hetero normative (as my gender isn’t fully or solidly a man & i was raised a woman) would referring to myself as a dyke be like, evil or wtvr tf?? like, i know you’re not some slur expert but i wanted some kind of insight. i know slur discourse is stupid as shit & if you feel you identify with a slur it should be fine, but would i as a man be able to reclaim it?

taps the sign

[ID: toastpotent post that says "you can do whatever you want forever". unfortunately the screenshot is like 4 pixels total. end ID]

[timaeuslover001]

colonization wasn't started by the europeans in the 1500s.

so stop trying to demonize Europe and America for what they have don't that MANY cultures around the world have already done.

and yes using the term "colonizer" is a racial slur and stop suing it.

[mandareeboo]

I'm sure "fire toad" featured HEAVILY in that censor, you racist little prick

[hotvintagepoll]

was your goal this round to get jimmy and cary out bc as a philadelphia story truther this is my joker origin story

i swear that was not the goal but oh no oops what's this doing here

This is a poll on the characters—not the actors! If you haven't watched The Philadelphia Story, what are you doing here

[rebellum]

The whole transandrophobia discussion thing is weird bc it feels like it's a bunch of poc and jewish trans people being like "here are my experiences of how specifically being MASCULINE had affected me, and the discrimination and violence I experienced based on that. And here is how that relates to me being a racial/ethnic minority"

And then a few loud white trans people going "ohhh you wanna be oppressed so bad you *slur*. This is why there aren't any poc in your movement it's because REAL poc understand intersectionality"

[amberluvsbugs]

Hi Miss Amber! I usually don’t do stuff like this, but there’s someone pretending to be you and they’re harassing other members of the Poppy Playtime community. I just wanted to bring this to your attention because they have been harassing others community members before but this is the first time that they’ve pretended to be a huge member of the community. I will provide screenshots down below but be warned that they do include the N word and racist comments.

Thank you for your time, Miss Amber!

Please block and report the user found here: https://www.tumblr.com/professionalcatnapsimp He also has a twitter as well: https://x.com/HelluvaC3406

I've delt with several impersonators lately but this one is insane... Please stay cautious out there guys.

[llinnill]

[crow-caller]

This 1970s short story is about a black shelled lonely crab alien contending with human romance. I'm sure my enjoyment of it has no other factors...

(The Reality Trip by Robert Silverberg— i love my pulp short story collections, overall collection is quite eh so far, this story was a lot of fun, and then whoops, there's a sudden very racist one! I read a collection by Theodore Sturgeon before this so I'm still haunted by how much better he is than Silverberg at every turn.)

[f1wbb]

hi guys

[lastoneout]

I thought about growing my hair out again, to protect myself, you know? Cuz yeah I'm white and live in a pretty liberal area, but this is still Arizona and I've absolutely had people scream slurs at me just for having short hair and "god hates fags" is graffitied on a light post at my usual grocery store, so yeah. Nerves for sure. I picked a bad time to come out as bigender and butch.

But today I shaved it again. And I felt just as happy as I did the first time I did it. Comfortable in the knowledge that this, this is the real me. I got to look into the mirror again today and see myself. And it helped.

That's it really. I don't have a big message. I shaved my head again. I clipped my stupid carabiner to my belt loop. Wore my jeans and boots. I kept my "that's mr. dyke to you" button on my bag, right next to my "punch nazis" one.

I don't know what's going to happen to people like me. I still think I'm pretty safe, all things considered, I'm white and dating a cis man and live in a liberal city in an increasingly liberal state, and I can go full girl mode without it making me want to die too badly so if I have to hide I can, if I have to flee to a safer state California is literally right there, and I am thankful for that. But I'm still scared, too. Scared enough that I almost didn't cut my hair the way I like it. Scared enough I almost took the buttons off, kept my keys in my bag, switched my men's button-downs for girl-cut t-shirts, my boots for gender neutral sneakers.

But idk. I don't feel like letting the world win this one. I'm not a huge target, not by a long shot, but I won't stop being visibly queer. Not today.

[pharmaciacatholica]

lazy morning snow on the ground