People Don’t Actually Know What Racism Is And It Infuriates Me · 3:11pm Jun 26th, 2021
The following I wrote in response to the “anniversary” of a single comment that to this day, still inspires discourse that does nothing but infuriate me. So, to draw the line in the sand and damn “Death of the Author”, I’m going to blog post it here as well.
The original line of contention: “You being both white and a pony, you wouldn’t know the first thing about how I would dress."
Let’s break this sentence down Piece. By. Piece.
“You being both white and a pony,” here is where the first part of the joke comes in. The white is in both reference to the color of her coat and then liking that to the term “White” a term often used to describe people of Caucasian or European descent. Also, helps that her voice actress too was white.
“You wouldn’t know the first thing about how I would dress.” Here’s the second part of the joke and the one that draws ire. The assertion is that because she’s white (in coat), she is the equivalent to a Caucasian-American white woman. As such, the character also asserts that a Caucasian-American white woman could not guess what he would wear. Now, here is where this has been bugging me every time I see notifications on this damn story: Where’s the racism?. The line solely asserts that Rarity cannot judge what Avon would wear. Even factoring in the white comment, what is that supposed to imply? “White people are too stupid to guess what shirt I’m going to wear”? Why are you reading it like that?
Looking at the historical history of the relations between black and white Americans, there has always been a cultural disconnect. For example, in white dominated media, a black thug is characterized by sagging jeans, do-rags, sneakers, and the sorts. Does that mean all black people, hell, all black thugs wear these kinds of clothes? No. Even taking away any human argument, by pure statistical logic, it is impossible for every black person to wear the same thing. Furthermore, there was and is a prevailing notion that black people do not dress professionally enough and this is a contributing factor in the belief that black people are “lazy” and “up to no good”. For a digestible reading on this, you can start by reading this article last year to begin to understand the complexity of this topic.
And this all assuming this line was meant to be taken seriously. Like, that this was an assertion of fact of behalf of the character, and apparently, the author. This assuming that this was a calculated effort on the part of me, the author, to belittle another for their race. Let me emphasize this point.
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to physical appearance and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another
Now, look at the line again: “You being both white and a pony, you wouldn’t know the first thing about how I would dress.”
Nowhere in the line doe is suggest Rarity possess different behavioral traits. It implies ignorance, but not different behavior. Yes, there’s a correlation between physical appearance and the implication drawn but 1) She isn’t a white human and 2) even if she were, here literal appearance would not have any bearing in her judgement. And lastly, nowhere in the line is there even a hint of an implication that Avon considers himself superior (at least in regards to his race as the point of his character is that he has an undeserved ego) or see Rarity as inferior for being a pony.
And what really fucks me up is that in the subsequent scene, Avon literally shows Rarity aspects of his black human culture and begins the process of bonding over fashion! That’s not something a racist does!
Now, why did I just write all of this? Why did I see it fit to stain my story with this blogpost? Truthfully, it’s because I’m sick of seeing this shit in my inbox every time I come here and casually see what has happened in the meantime on this profile. I see this argument come back up every couple months and it aggravates me because it shows what I hate the most about online discourse. No one wants to take the time to educate themselves on black history. No one wants to take the time to understand race relations, race theory, or even basic cultural differences. No one wants to research why things are they way they are. But, they always got something to fucking say.
To end this, I’ll reference the quote that started all this: “That white comment was rather racist. Turn it around and there would be a lot of but hurt people.”
Okay. “You, being black and a pony, you wouldn’t know the first thing about how I would dress.” The only thing provocative about this line is the fact that the term black is used. It also implies a negative connotation with being black specific to the situation and purpose. I can see someone having a knee jerk uncomfortable reaction to this statement. But it’s not racist. Not by definition. At worst, it’s a edged comment that by simply using that term, carries with it over 400 years of baggage.
And I don’t fucking care because it was said in a My Little Pony fanfic. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
welcome to the Age of Outrage, zig
nobody wants to actually learn about shit, they just wanna be mad about shit
learning requires effort, but being mad is easy
This. This shit right here. This is what irritates me the most. If I don’t understand something, I instantly google it. I try to take the time to educate myself. I don’t always succeed, but I at least make an attempt. I have a smartphone, a literal supercomputer in my hand, which gives me access to basically the sum total of all human knowledge, anytime, anywhere. I WANT to understand!
You ask where the racism is being seen, and so I'm going to assume for the moment that you are interested in actually hearing an answer. This line, right here, is the center of the problem. After spending a few paragraphs making broad allegations about what the supposed "average" white person thinks, you ultimately admit that her appearance has no bearing on her judgement... which in turn implies that the comment about her being white has no rational basis within the context of her judgement on what the person might wear. If there is no rational basis for a comment, then there must be an irrational basis for that comment, because comments don't just pop into existence at random. The irrational basis apparent in the comment is "you're white (or, I'm associating you with whiteness"), so you can't know a thing because whites are ignorant." In combination with the fact that the definition for racism you use is a secondary definition, where the primary one is more generally about antagonism based on membership in a racial or ethnic group... There's the racism.
You also attempt to bring up the defense of "why is it being taken seriously?" which is... a disturbing trend for people who say bad things. "We should bring back slavery! ...Oh, I was just joking!"
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You make a good point but you’re neglecting the context of the comment. She isn’t ignorant in general, she’s ignorant to what Anon would wear. The whole point of the comment is to draw a parallel between the disconnect between pony and human culture and the disconnect between black and white culture. There also too isn’t any antagonism, just a statement of either fact or assumption on the part of the character. Furthermore, for future analysis, never assume that just because an author wrote something, doesn’t mean they necessarily believe it.
And to your comment of “why is this being taken seriously?” I ask you this: What do you hope to gain in this debate? To enlighten the author about racism? If you’re willing to do that, why aren’t you putting that same effort and energy to supporting the NAACP? Why aren’t you protesting in the streets for racial injustice? You could very well be doing those things and I wouldn’t know, but those actions are infinitely more rewarding AND more valuable than even engaging me in this blogpost.
That’s where my frustration lies. I see racism in my daily life. I have to put up with it in meatspace. So coming on here and being lectured about racism when I have to worry about whether my apartment is fucking me over on rent because of the color of my skin or people I walk past clutch their belongings just a little tighter is infuriating. At least understand where I’m coming from.
Despite the aggravation it brings you, I’m still glad you are here and appreciate your contributions.