my position on racism (inspired by wank currently located mostly in SGA, but not directly related)

[butterfly]

I don't naturally 'see' racism. Instead, I have to remind myself to look twice. I read the opinions of the people who live with racism every day and see what they have to say about a particular show or character. This doesn't mean blindly agreeing with them, but it does mean giving weight to the words of people who are familiar with the way racism feels in every day life (I have more than a few on my flist). I have to remind myself that I have white privilege and that means that I can afford to be 'colorblind' because I'm not the one who is being discriminated against. It isn't automatic to me. It isn't obvious to me, the way that homophobia and misogyny so often are. And that means, when I see someone saying, "hey, this feels kinda racist," I put myself under an obligation to question the issue. It would be wonderful if there were no racism in the world. But there is and it is still very much embedded into the fabric of American society, the society that most of the fans of SGA (and many fannish shows) belong to.

I'm a 'food service worker'. Fast-food (Burgerville, though, which means that I have health insurance and our company buys wind power and converts its used cooking oil into biodiesel, so it's cool). About half of the people I work with speak Spanish as their first language. And yet, someone else who worked there warned me about those 'Mexican bike thieves' when I started riding to work. That's racism and it's ugly and it exists. And to go from there to television -- Los Angeles County has over 4.6 million people of Hispanic origin. The city itself almost has a Hispanic majority (it's expected that they will by the time of the 2010 census). Angel had zero main cast Latino characters. Nada.

I love Joss Whedon for what he does with women. But he could do better with race (I do think that he's getting better over time, though! There's that.). Over on Stargate, I love Teyla and Ronon and Teal'c (oh, Teal'c!). But, when it comes to meaty stories, they tend to get the short straw more often than not. And it's important for people to point that out. Because we aren't there yet. I do not allow myself to ignore color, because I am aware that our society is still one where discrimination and prejudice are real. And I feel a personal, ethical need to be aware of it, and to try to combat it where I can.

Comments

[anoel.livejournal.com]

Seriously! After coming to LA, I'm amazed there aren't more Hispanics on TV when portrayed on TV. It's ridiculous. And I agree, I may not see it but if someone notices it, I'm definitely going to look more for it just because I'm sure it happens more than I'm aware of.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Lovely post. Thanks for sharing.

[starsprinkles.livejournal.com]

See, I always liked that, at least on Angel and Firefly, race was not even really an issue. There are interracial relationships (Fred/Gunn, Zoe/Wash) and minority characters in major roles whose arcs have absolutely nothing to do with their races at all. And of course on Buffy and occasionally Angel, they sometimes explored racism through demons. Especially on Buffy with the Initiative and Buffy calling Riley a bigot because of his blanket assumption all nonhumans are evil.

But yeah, I suppose they could have had more Latino and Asian characters on Angel. They had a couple Asian, at least.. you'd think sometime within 5 years they could have had some Latino.. I can't really think of any, hm.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

I had no idea there was race wank in SGA going on until someone on my flist mentioned it the other day. Still not exactly sure what it's all about, but from your post it sounds like it may have something to do with giving some characters less important stories.

Honestly, this is something that would never even cross my mind for me to pick up on. When I watch characters on TV, skin color doesn't really even register with me. (However, the hair is another matter. It's all about the hair.) Not just saying this so I can sound PC or cool - it just doesn't. But after reading your post, I'm realizing that I *do* need to be more aware of it. Because you're right, there is inequality out there.

[fannishnonsense]

You pretty much said what I wanted to say. It's like I was telling someone the other day: people can say that their shows are colorblind all they want, but the fact is, a character like Sheppard (for example) would never have been cast as anything other than a white male. Which is not to say anything against JF of course- I think he's lovely. Just that we all start with certain assumptions, and it'd be nice if people would acknowledge that once in a while.

[go-back-chief.livejournal.com]

This doesn't mean blindly agreeing with them, but it does mean giving weight to the words of people who are familiar with the way racism feels in every day life (I have more than a few on my flist). I have to remind myself that I have white privilege and that means that I can afford to be 'colorblind' because I'm not the one who is being discriminated against. It isn't automatic to me. It isn't obvious to me, the way that homophobia and misogyny so often are. And that means, when I see someone saying, "hey, this feels kinda racist," I put myself under an obligation to question the issue. It would be wonderful if there were no racism in the world. But there is and it is still very much embedded into the fabric of American society, the society that most of the fans of SGA (and many fannish shows) belong to.

Very well-said. I don't really have anything to add, because I think you've said it all, already. :)

[deifire]

Thank you so much for this. Nicely said.

[jic]

Word.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Also, the dearth of Hispanics is the racism that people don't seem to talk about much. Since I now live in a place where pretty much every piece of paper that gets sent out to people has Spanish on the back, it's really started to stand out to me how light their presence is on television. The only character that I can really think of in the shows that I watch is Sucre over on Prison Break.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thank you (and you're welcome)!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've loved many of the things that Joss has done. He just could do better.

Which I think he realized, what with Principal Wood arriving in seventh season and dating Buffy and ending up with Faith, and the Fred/Gunn relationship, and the lovely, lovely Zoe/Wash marriage (Firefly OTP!). It's something that he has worked on and improved at over time. Perhaps his next project will have some Latino actors in it.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Doctor Who actually has been pretty terrific about it, though, I must say. Mickey and now Martha and her whole family... they all feel just like people, as they should.

SG1 and SGA both do pretty good in concept and fall down a bit on execution. But I think that they're also getting a bit better, over time. Teal'c certainly got more depth and variety in the last few seasons than he did before that.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ha, yes, exactly. That's pretty much a perfect example.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I felt like I should make my position clear.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[starsprinkles.livejournal.com]

Ah yeah, I almost forgot Wood/Buffy and Wood/Faith. And Xander went on that date with demon!Ashanti, I forget her character's name. There's Kennedy, too. Actually, I don't know what Kennedy was supposed to be, but Iyari Limon is Mexican.

And yeah. He could do better, but there's always room for improvement.

[wychwood]

It isn't obvious to me, the way that homophobia and misogyny so often are. And that means, when I see someone saying, "hey, this feels kinda racist," I put myself under an obligation to question the issue.

Word.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

Thank you for getting it.