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lagilmanon this International Blog Against Racism Week, some thoughts:
some of the most gorgeous children ever born have a white parent and a black parent.
some of the most fascinating ideas come out of dialogue between western and eastern schools of thought.
some of the most fabulous food in the world is fusion cuisine (French-Asian, mmmm).
some of the most evocative writing and music (jazz, anyone?) speaks in more than one dialect.
There's a message there, if you're paying attention. And if you're not, you're doing so willfully, and that makes you a schmuck.
The rest is randomness, because it's too damn hot to write an actual essay, or even a coherent commentary.
As per the week's guidelines, you're supposed to post specifically about racial issues personally experienced, about writing a character of a different race, etc. Hrm.
I was born in 1967, in the American Northeast, and I never really thought about color -- my friend N was Asian-American, K was Black, J was Scandy, and etc, and that mainly impacted how much sun they could stand at the beach. Seriously. I was either clueless or quite innocent, or both. Still am, to a certain extent. I don't think that's a bad thing at all.
That's not to say that I wasn't aware of racism, and the related forms of religious, sexual, and ideological bigotry. A friend who was Mormon -- the first Mormons in town! -- was the object of much hesitation and curiosity when I was in third grade. We fear Other, and we act on our fear. But how hard it is to get to know Other, and make it not so scary?
My own gentic background can kindly be described as 'ecclectic,' with a heavy dose of almond-eyed, broad-cheekboned, Afro-curl'd Semitics, and occasionally throwing a blue-eyed, blond-haired sport (waves at my dad). You might be able to guess my ancestery. But 7 times out of 10 you'd be wrong. I like being able to fu*k wth peoples' assumptions.
As to writing characters of a different culture... my very first story was about human/alien contact, and how it failed because they were not allowed to interact, but rather remained isolated as they studied each other. That pretty much sums it up right there. I write a lot about interpersonal relations between Us and Other, the choices we make, the discoveries and after-effects of those relations. The Dragon Virus series is entirely about the fear of Other, especially when it comes into our own family. Even now, the Retrievers books are set in a city that embraces its immigrant population -- be they European, Asian, or African, human or fatae.
The Statue of Liberty, I remind you, is green.
some of the most gorgeous children ever born have a white parent and a black parent.
some of the most fascinating ideas come out of dialogue between western and eastern schools of thought.
some of the most fabulous food in the world is fusion cuisine (French-Asian, mmmm).
some of the most evocative writing and music (jazz, anyone?) speaks in more than one dialect.
There's a message there, if you're paying attention. And if you're not, you're doing so willfully, and that makes you a schmuck.
The rest is randomness, because it's too damn hot to write an actual essay, or even a coherent commentary.
As per the week's guidelines, you're supposed to post specifically about racial issues personally experienced, about writing a character of a different race, etc. Hrm.
I was born in 1967, in the American Northeast, and I never really thought about color -- my friend N was Asian-American, K was Black, J was Scandy, and etc, and that mainly impacted how much sun they could stand at the beach. Seriously. I was either clueless or quite innocent, or both. Still am, to a certain extent. I don't think that's a bad thing at all.
That's not to say that I wasn't aware of racism, and the related forms of religious, sexual, and ideological bigotry. A friend who was Mormon -- the first Mormons in town! -- was the object of much hesitation and curiosity when I was in third grade. We fear Other, and we act on our fear. But how hard it is to get to know Other, and make it not so scary?
My own gentic background can kindly be described as 'ecclectic,' with a heavy dose of almond-eyed, broad-cheekboned, Afro-curl'd Semitics, and occasionally throwing a blue-eyed, blond-haired sport (waves at my dad). You might be able to guess my ancestery. But 7 times out of 10 you'd be wrong. I like being able to fu*k wth peoples' assumptions.
As to writing characters of a different culture... my very first story was about human/alien contact, and how it failed because they were not allowed to interact, but rather remained isolated as they studied each other. That pretty much sums it up right there. I write a lot about interpersonal relations between Us and Other, the choices we make, the discoveries and after-effects of those relations. The Dragon Virus series is entirely about the fear of Other, especially when it comes into our own family. Even now, the Retrievers books are set in a city that embraces its immigrant population -- be they European, Asian, or African, human or fatae.
The Statue of Liberty, I remind you, is green.
