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IBARW: listening between the lines
Aug. 1st, 2009 11:43 pmThis is not the post I was planning to make. Well, okay, it isn't any of several posts I was planning to make- my anxieties about Guy Gavriel Kay's forthcoming novel (see the entry dated July 27th) are more than a little nebulous, not to mention hard to articulate about a man whose works I adore and respect, and that body image post I've yet to make? So much more emotionally-loaded than I expected it to be. I don't have the reserves (of energy, of strength, of words) to deal yet, so I'll say the following instead.
Note: This post is not meant to be directed at anyone in particular; it is the result of the massive buttload of tired I'm feeling right now. Just to put the "fine print" in boldface, right up front.
Lots of my fellow chromatic folks have already brought up this point- multiple times, even!- but it bears repeating: All this talk about race and racism? It's draining for POCs. I say this with a lot of love for the white allies who are speaking up, but please, please, keep it in mind.
- If I walk away from a discussion, it is not necessarily a marker that I have nothing constructive/of value/of validity/of relevance/at all to say. It may well be, and this depends of course on the discussion at hand, a sign that I have nothing left to say to you.
- If I do not comment on a discussion, it is not an automatic sign of agreement or approval.
- If I do not comment on a discussion, it does not necessarily mean that I have not read it. Do not assume that I don't know about it because I haven't said anything- or, if I have said something, because I haven't cited it.
-- I was going to continue, but like I said, I am tired, and I think these three points cover a decent amount of territory.
Sometimes we speak. Sometimes our silences speak for us. I wish more people would pay attention to what we are and aren't saying. I wish more people would consider our reasons for both.
--
Previously, on IBARW:
- people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones (Beijing Olympics commentary)
- petition against Lou Dobbs
Note: This post is not meant to be directed at anyone in particular; it is the result of the massive buttload of tired I'm feeling right now. Just to put the "fine print" in boldface, right up front.
Lots of my fellow chromatic folks have already brought up this point- multiple times, even!- but it bears repeating: All this talk about race and racism? It's draining for POCs. I say this with a lot of love for the white allies who are speaking up, but please, please, keep it in mind.
- If I walk away from a discussion, it is not necessarily a marker that I have nothing constructive/of value/of validity/of relevance/at all to say. It may well be, and this depends of course on the discussion at hand, a sign that I have nothing left to say to you.
- If I do not comment on a discussion, it is not an automatic sign of agreement or approval.
- If I do not comment on a discussion, it does not necessarily mean that I have not read it. Do not assume that I don't know about it because I haven't said anything- or, if I have said something, because I haven't cited it.
-- I was going to continue, but like I said, I am tired, and I think these three points cover a decent amount of territory.
Sometimes we speak. Sometimes our silences speak for us. I wish more people would pay attention to what we are and aren't saying. I wish more people would consider our reasons for both.
--
Previously, on IBARW:
- people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones (Beijing Olympics commentary)
- petition against Lou Dobbs
