Ravenscroft
Banned
{A new thread, rather than further derail discussion of Kevin Patterson's Love's Not Color Blind.}
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About fifteen years ago (on PMM), someone raised the flag:
Usually, there's some spirited quacking, then interest slowly wanes, & eventually it starts all over again. Once in a while, though, the spark catches on with others, & various committees & discussions & town halls & working committees might appear.
And, again, after all the foofaraw, it all dies down & no widespread change remains.
I suspect that a common reason for that collapse is that, despite all the well-meaning activity, it remains fundamentally clueless, & people begin to realize that their lives aren't particularly diverse, so no wonder that their social groups reflect this.
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Dr Sheff has a blogpost about five things white people can do to make their poly communities more welcoming for people of color.
Recall the previous "well-intentioned clueless white person part." Okay, that's Sheff. She even manages to demote nonwhites -- in all their grand diversity -- right past the homogenized "people of color" but to POCs, & brags about presenting "How White People Can Be Allies to POC in AltSex Communities."
Anyway. So, what are Magickal Five Steps that whitefolk (especially those in the mythical "poly community") are supposed to learn?
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But let's go back to the root assumption here, & the beginning of this post.
When the idea appeared on PMM, my response was pretty much
It's highly unlikely that anyone reading this has a life with a balance of race & religion & ethnicity & language that reflects the national average, or even anything within spitting distance.
Most people, in fact, are surrounded by people approximately similar to themselves.
And few are willing (or able) to do ANYTHING significant that might change that.
As Sheff remains clueless, here are some of MY suggestions on how individuals could be more (blegh) welcoming. Mainly, they consist of letting go of "the usual" --
________________
About fifteen years ago (on PMM), someone raised the flag:
I've been a member of various deviant subcultures since maybe 1980, not least being Wicca & science fiction fandom. And in every one, there comes a point when some well-intentioned clueless white person floats the "radical" idea that their circle is made up almost entirely of people like themselves.The poly community needs to be more diverse!!
Usually, there's some spirited quacking, then interest slowly wanes, & eventually it starts all over again. Once in a while, though, the spark catches on with others, & various committees & discussions & town halls & working committees might appear.
And, again, after all the foofaraw, it all dies down & no widespread change remains.
I suspect that a common reason for that collapse is that, despite all the well-meaning activity, it remains fundamentally clueless, & people begin to realize that their lives aren't particularly diverse, so no wonder that their social groups reflect this.
________________
Dr Sheff has a blogpost about five things white people can do to make their poly communities more welcoming for people of color.
Recall the previous "well-intentioned clueless white person part." Okay, that's Sheff. She even manages to demote nonwhites -- in all their grand diversity -- right past the homogenized "people of color" but to POCs, & brags about presenting "How White People Can Be Allies to POC in AltSex Communities."
Anyway. So, what are Magickal Five Steps that whitefolk (especially those in the mythical "poly community") are supposed to learn?
- set your defensiveness aside
- listen
- educate yourself
- acknowledge white privilege
- lean (learn?) to tolerate racial discomfort
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But let's go back to the root assumption here, & the beginning of this post.
When the idea appeared on PMM, my response was pretty much
I reiterate: most deviant subcultures are overwhelmingly white. And most of the people who are in them have astoundingly un-diverse lives.What are you proposing, luring them in with great marketing, or simply going out & kidnapping them?
It's highly unlikely that anyone reading this has a life with a balance of race & religion & ethnicity & language that reflects the national average, or even anything within spitting distance.
Most people, in fact, are surrounded by people approximately similar to themselves.
And few are willing (or able) to do ANYTHING significant that might change that.
As Sheff remains clueless, here are some of MY suggestions on how individuals could be more (blegh) welcoming. Mainly, they consist of letting go of "the usual" --
- garage your vehicles & start taking the bus
- change your religion, or at least your church
- move to a diverse neighborhood
- change your shopping habits
- stop going to restaurants with a nondiverse clientele
- travel back in time & attend diverse schools
- tomorrow, put your kids in diverse schools
- in general, stop hanging out with so many whitefolk