From Margin to Center: Writing Characters of Color
Likewise, when people throw racial slurs like “Paki” toward South Asians, or derogatory terms toward women, or equally denigrating terms toward lesbians and gay men, anything these same groups hurl back cannot possibly have the same impact. It might hurt feelings, but that is NOT the same as the lasting shame, humiliation, and fear that hearing an insult from someone with power to follow it up with action, invokes.
As authors of literature for children and teens, these power imbalances are at the crux of what we explore. Some of the best books for children and teens that I’ve ever had the joy of reading were about feisty children questioning their world and challenging authority head on. The way we explore these issues as authors and resolve them in the worlds we create in our books is critical. And the ways we deal with the world around us—the context for our art—is just as critical.
The first step is understanding the complexity of the issues. Then, we move on to realizing that there isn’t ONE solution. We all have to do something, but it isn’t the same thing—this is NOT a level playing field. We must all work together to bring about a more equitable, just, and sane world for our children, and the children of others. But we must each recognize and own the privilege we have, and use that privilege to help us all move forward. It is a collaborative effort where we must each do our part, search deep within for answers, listen carefully to the quieter voices around us, raise the voices of the silenced, and remain stead fast in our commitment to the young people in our lives.
Update: Whoa, getting a lot of angry responses from whites to this essay. Do me a favor, to make my moderation easier – make sure that your comment shows a critical enagagement with issues of race, not just a reaction to whites being represented as one group. That, as of now, is the difference between an approved comment and a deleted one. Also, our friends over at Resist Racism have a good primer on Racism 101. Please pay special attention to #7. – LDP
Update 2: So apparently, the same conversation dynamic happened on Justine’s blog. Neesha posted a response on her own blog, I’ll grab a segment to reproduce here:
If simply reading about race upsets you, this may not be the time for frank and open dialogue on the subject. This is not bad. For real healing to take place, we have to be prepared to *actively* listen — this includes the willingness to hear/read things that might upset us. Knowing where we are in our process indicates how helpful it will be for us, and we for it. If you are not ready, you will not be able to hear without feeling attacked; you will not be able to speak without getting defensive; and you will not be able to support the efforts of others without drawing all of the energy in the room to your own personal pain. This does not mean “don’t ask questions.” It just means, “do more listening.”
Race is a difficult subject for all of us to broach. There is pain and anger on all sides. But taking things personally derails the conversation so that we are not moving forward. The issue at hand, that Janni captured so succinctly in comment #35, is that power imbalances work differently for those who benefit from the imbalance and those who do not. As such, the things we each need to do to stop the imbalance of power are different.
One of my favorite quotes of all time is one that I am sure I will badly paraphrase, but you’ll get the idea:
“The only way to get someone off your back is to stand up.”
What I’m suggesting in my post is that the people who are standing on the backs of others recognize that there is someone underneath them–upon whose labor, sacrifice, or oppression we are able to build our comfortable homes and lives–and that we begin the process, immediately, of stepping off.
(Image by tome213 via stock.xchng)
Page 3 of 3 | Previous page