Worlds & Time

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Racism

Sometimes the thing that scares me the most about racism is how abjectly people deny racism. And then they ten times more strongly deny their own racism.

If you can't see the issue of race when an unarmed black teenager is shot after being chased by a neighborhood watch, then you are denying the existence of racism.

If you can't see the issue of race when saying that making a character black instead of white makes her death less emotional, you are denying your own racism.

I'm racist sometimes. It sucks to say that, but it's true. And instead of trying to deny that, I try to realize when it happens so that I can correct myself.

Were I to pretend to not be racist though, I would have to actively pretend not to care when I slipped up or white-washed a character (I thought Cinna was white. I also think that Lenny Kravitz did a great job in the role). And that's the most harmful bit about all the racism that's floating around right now. If you're denying it, you're actively making racism worse, not better.

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