From sparkymonster: A lesson in good vs. bad irony thanks to Amanda Palmer.

Quote:

Amanda Palmer of the "Dresden Dolls" and "Evelyn/Evelyn" fame decided to talk about her dislike of Lady Gaga last night on twitter. Among other things, Gaga is a sell out, is just like Justin Bieber, and Palmer really dislikes the product placement in "Telephone".

Then Amanda Palmer shared this:
ironic product placement is only ok if you take no money & beyond that give all the income to something ironic. like the Klan.

Let me just repeat. Something ironic. like the Klan.

*****This might be potentially triggering for violence, as sparkymonster illustrates her point with pictures of actual lynchings of African Americans in the US.*****

Amanda Parmer's bizarre feats of self-promotion have been questionable at best and plain offensive at worst before now, but this is--I keep erasing what I was going to say here. I don't know what to say that encompasses how revolting this is, how lightly she takes a horrific and destructive part of both our past and our present, the systematic murder of African Americans because they demanded equality, the deliberate attempt to use murder as both a method of silencing and a warning.

Okay, just--what the fuck was that? I can't even tell how the hell that train of thought starts.

Go read sparkymonster for more information, links, and commentary.

skatergurljb has an awesome essay here with a different view on the 'great white hope' remark made by Lynn Jenkins and my entry here.

It's really interesting with a very differnet perspective, and I've been rethinking my own assumptions in light of the fact that it's not just that I'm white, though obviously, yeah, but also because of my reasoning when I first read it.

( context )

Just in case anyone out there hasn't finished breakfast and wants a good case of heartburn:

Texas lawmaker: Asians should change their names to make them ‘easier for Americans to deal with.’ from Terrel county's Republican state rep, Betty Brown. (No, really. That's her actual name. Which makes me want to email her a link to snopes.)

...it's like Bush wasn't enough or something.

However, her logic is impeccable:

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?”

Just to make sure this fail is understood to be part of a context of fail (because nothing is so bad it cannot look even worse), this speech came while she was addressing Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans during testimony regarding that utterly brilliant and revolutionary piece of legislation to finally end this huge problem of non-white people voting in public elections in Texas like they are, y'know, equals or something.

...I mean, non-white non-citizens voting in public elections. You see how it's really hard to tell those apart. Betty seems to have that problem, too.

“Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Charming.

More here.

So I read about some--disagreements--with insanejournal user bridgetmkennitt's Author List that lists some of the authors that have contributed to RaceFail's failure parts and links to the reason why.

Links to these posts via rydra_wong in this post and this post regarding the above.

( cut because I want to avoid derailment of the issues here, but seriously, i had to boggle )

Mary Anne Mohanraj Gets You Up to Speed, Part I

As a condensed guide to the language being used in a lot of the RaceFail posts, this is one of the best I've seen so far, and I'd highly recommend this if at any time, you came to the conclusion that you (in general) and the poster were at some point speaking the same words and it still felt like there were entire different meanings behind it. Understanding both the terminology and intent behind what's being said will, I promise you, clear up over fifty percent of any lingering confusion (possibly more if you hit the graduate-level posts about this). It's also in a neat, outlined, easy to read format, with examples. The comments are mostly insightful and interesting, and you know, some of the other kind, but some excellent discussion is also going on in there.

Also, after checking back in my tag, apparently I somehow hallucinated I linked up to this.

verb_noire has been opened. I'll cut and paste from the profile to explain.

The mission:

To celebrate the works of talented, underrepresented authors and deliver them to a readership that demands more.

What does that mean? That if you're a talented writer with an awesome, original story about a POC girl/guy/transgendered character, there is a place for you. And that if you're a sci-fi/fantasy fan who has grown tired of the constant whitewashing of these genres, there is a place for you, too.

Now that isn't to say that we will accept ANY ol' manuscript as long as it features a POC protagonist, because we will NOT. What we're looking for is quality, soul and PASSION, something that will resonate with readers for years to come.

"Everyone has a story." These words are the driving force behind this project, because we believe that EVERYONE has at least one good story in them, and that story demands to be shared with the world.

As start-up costs can be enormous, we're relying on the generosity of strangers to help us launch. So far, you guys have been absolutely fabulous in donating your money, time and effort, and we hope you will continue to do so as we grow. Even if you can't volunteer at this time, feel free to spread the word (and the widget) around.

Still reading comments in the Mohanraj post. That's some rapidly commenting commentors over there.

I've found, lost, saved, lost, and finally sat down with this link again, so for full context, Seeking Avalon: Timeline is where it all began with the epic Racefail that began with reaction to criticism of a book by Elizabeth Bear. For anyone who has been MIA to LJ and possibly most of the fandom-related internet for the last two to three months, that was the beginning.

[ETA: Correction: it began with Bear lecturing people on how to write POC. Thank you to cesperanza for the fix.]

Rydra-Wong's massive link list has the posts she's linked.

At some point, I think everyone thought that there would be an end to this particular string of slowly unwinding disasters*, and everyone was wrong. It's March, and this post by Elizabeth Bear thinks it is supposed to be the end.

There is an analogy regarding opening a feather pillow, tossing the feathers to the wind, and then going to find each one to make the pillow whole that I have tried to google, but none of the ones I read quite had the context I remember best. After opening the pillow and tossing the feathers, you do not get to go and snatch them back from everyone they fell on and say, lo, the pillow is fixed, look upon it with awe, and also, forget I tore the fucking pillow up. You see why I wanted the original, because I am butchering what was a really good analogy.

[ETA: The actual feather analogy contributed by kassrachel here who states it's a Hasidic folktale.

A man went about the community telling malicious lies about the rabbi. Later, he realized the wrong he had done, and began to feel remorse. He went to the rabbi and begged his forgiveness, saying he would do anything he could to make amends. The rabbi told the man, "Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the winds." The man thought this was a strange request, but it was a simple enough task, and he did it gladly. When he returned to tell the rabbi that he had done it, the rabbi said, "Now, go and gather the feathers. Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can recollect the feathers you scattered."]

To say, with any kind of assumption of authority, this ends now, isn't simply saying "I am tired of this and wish to forget the entire experience", though honestly, that's irritating in itself. It's an attempt to state "And you shouldn't think of it anymore either," with the idea behind it that at any point, you had control of what you unleashed, and for that matter, should have control of it. This is a common misinterpretation of what language actually does. As it is not feathers, and words never, ever come back the same way.

( this got very long )

An amazing response to Bear's post: Sees Fire by bossymarmalade.

RaceFail: Once More, with Misdirection by coffeeandink. Read. Every. Word.

In a twist I'm sure Kathryn Cramer finds righteous and deeply clever--maybe she'll talk about putting on airs next?--coffeeandink's RL name was outed in that woman's blog. I'm going to quote cofax7's reaction, since she says it best.

More RaceFail: This is what happens when you stick up for your principles. The fundamental law in online discourse, particularly in fandom, is that you do not out people. But Will Shetterly (whose writing I used to enjoy) and Kathryn Cramer (who has written meaningfully in the pursuit of government accountability) think it's more important to cast blame, to assert grudgewank, than to analyze arguments. I don't care what you think about RaceFail 09, or if you're tired of it or whatever. But this is the establishment striking back at the online community, this is the frenzy of disparagement by people tied to a failing model. And this is why pseudonymity is So Fucking Important.

Fuck you, Will Shetterly. And fuck you, too, Kathryn Cramer. I will not link to you. -- link

I think that encapsulates it nicely. Read coffeeandink's complete entry on what's happened so far, because at this point, God knows what is going to happen next.

The WTF on the Avatar casting choices continues to be WTF.

Links:

ciderpress - What We Talk About When We Talk About regarding the white default and frustration that a part tailor-made for non-white actors is basically going to white actors.

For reference, the current cast being used for the movie.

The comm deadbrowalking has both a bingo card and an excellent list of links here. Some excellent reading in there, and I haven't hit it yet, but there's a petition and letter writing somewhere in here that I'll add when I find it. But go, read, and look at the cast list blankly again for a second, because--I just don't get it.

( only if you are interested in how this becomes story hour at jenn's house )

Extremely good essay by poisontaster - And the fault is not in making the mistake and using the 'wrong' words. We all make mistakes. We all sometimes say less (or more) than we mean. No. The question—and any potential fault—is in what we do afterward.

To balance the fact I now have a tag for stupidity, I should create a tag for awesome. So it is done.

ETA:

An open letter to the mods of deviant_daily by oulangi - Look, I understand its horrible and hurtful to be accused of racism. But those first emails were NOT accusations. It was an objection to an offensive word Zvi thought you’d used accidentally. If her letter seemed angry and offensive to you, well – she was angry and offended. Rightfully so. Just because the offense was accidental does not mean people don’t have the right to be offended.


Winner of best title of a entry yet by coffeeandink - Harry Potter and the Racist Daily Deviant Moderators

(Yes, I know all of these will show up in metafandom, but they cheer me up immensely and control the urge to look for more award winning idiots.)