1999, bizarre summer
hey. here’s a thought: why is following people who id outside their race still a thing? iding as characters outside of your race is racist. there really shouldn’t be any discourse about this but apparently some people need this to be explained to them
“why is it racist?” because when you identify as a character outside of your race you are effectively claiming you are that race!! esp for white people, it is important to understand that you will never be able to experience what it’s like to be that race. white people benefit from institutionalized racism and people of color are thrown under the bus in favor for white people every single day.
my specific experience growing up as a chinese person in america was that i got called a “chink”, was made fun of for my “slanty eyes”, constantly characterized with yellow skin, and made fun of for the taste and smell of my food. my parents are immigrants and their broken english was mocked as well. yet, this is my experience as a light skinned east asian person - i would never know what it’s like experiencing discrimination as a black person. if i ided as a black or black-coded character, it would be me claiming i do know what that’s like, which is racist.
“my friend is a person of color and they say it’s okay!” sure. that’s great for them but listen: not all people of color are a hivemind. i will say from experience i used to feel that way too and seeing people identify outside their race, especially for characters that are east asian (bc im east asian), has made me increasingly uncomfortable. that person is entitled to their opinion. it doesn’t change the fact that nonwhite people are harmed by it.
“i don’t claim to be the race of the character!” this is separating the character from the race and it’s… quite insulting really? it’s literally you saying “i don’t see color.”
“i’m mentally ill and i use it to cope.” you’re using mental illness as an excuse. i’m mentally ill too, but if someone told me i couldn’t id as one of my ids i would drop the id. ESPECIALLY for white people, there are tons of white characters in media. you could easily find another character to id as. mental illness isn’t an excuse.
let me know if anything i said here was bad or out of line and i will amend it.
