Brief comment on cultural appropriation / racism discussion

[firecat]

bcholmes cut-tags an excellent post (go read it!) with the text ( My Privilege Looks Like This: I've Been Staying Silent in the Conversation ). That's what mine looks like too and that's what I am doing for the most part. I will talk about it if anyone asks me to, but so far I don't have anything to say that vito-excalibur and sparkymonster and badgerbag didn't say better.

Comments

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

Cultural appropriation conversations always make me cringe, both as a writer and as a person, because somebody I know and otherwise respect somewhere is going to say something really, really stupid, and I stay out of them because I don't want that someone to be me.

[firecat]

I don't worry about its being me (so far). And I don't mind when people say stupid things. But I really do mind when people say stupid things and then get too defensive to process what the people who are telling them it was a stupid thing to say are saying. Which is why I'm trying to limit my participation in this conversation.

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

Have you watched the ill doctrine video about how to tell someone that something they said was racist?

[firecat]

No, should I?

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

I think you would like it. But I need to chase up the link, which I can't do right now.

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

Ill Doctrine How to tell people they sound racist (http://www.illdoctrine.com/2008/07/how_to_tell_people_they_sound.html).

[firecat]

Thank you, that's a really excellent video explaining the difference between criticizing an action ("you said something that sounded racist") and speculating about a person's character ("you are racist").

A discussion that starts out as the first can still mutate into the second, and it's often the criticized person who takes it there because of feeling defensive.

But if you start out with the first sort of statement, there's at least a chance of having a meaningful conversation.