What should I have done?

[Black Tulip]

A few days ago I stumbled across a story here at Lit that had me a bit puzzled at first:

...I never would involve myself with him. .... he was black.

I thought, well maybe this is going to be something like hey, he's black but so what.
Then I read:

...he was quite intelligent for a black guy...

There were more belchings like that, but I don't remember them all. What I do remember is that it was most definitely a story with a racist undertone.

I did not finish the story but gave it a very low vote. That's all I did. The next day I went back and tried to find the story because it kept nagging at me that I did not speak up to say I think you are a racist. I could not find the story again so I left it at that.

It still feels not quite right. Should I search harder?
I'd like to hear other people's opinion on the proper course of action.

I must say at first I thought: I'm not really reading this. Never before have I actually seen something like this as a serious opinion.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

That is rather disturbing, do you remember the story catagory?

 

[raphy]

BT, not to be confrontational or anything, but does the possibility exist that you're falling into the same trap we accuse *our* critics of falling into.

The author may not be a racist, even if the narrator of the 1st person PoV piece is.

 

[Black Tulip]

Raphy,

That is exactly why I did not do anything about it right away. But it keeps floating around in my mind. That is a sign for me that it is not "kosher".

 

[destinie21]

BT, not to be confrontational or anything, but does the possibility exist that you're falling into the same trap we accuse *our* critics of falling into.

The author may not be a racist, even if the narrator of the 1st person PoV piece is.

I might agree with you if the narrator had not said he was inteligent for a black guy. That wording makes me take pause.

 

[cloudy]

If it was part of the story for the narrator to feel that way, then I wouldn't worry about it.

On the other hand, if you feel that its the Author's feelings that are being presented, then yes, I'd say something. If you find it, hell, let me know, and I'll join you.

 

[raphy]

Raphy,

That is exactly why I did not do anything about it right away. But it keeps floating around in my mind. That is a sign for me that it is not "kosher".

*nods*

I guess it's hard to truly divine what the author's own feelings are on the matter. I think I could probably write a very convincing and authentic racism-based story, where the protagonist was a narrow-minded bigot. I've had to deal with enough of them in my time, after all.

If you ever find the story again, I'd love to glance over it, see what my own conclusions are.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

It is a pretty common device to make the person a victim is having sex with in a N/C piece abhorent to him/her in some way. It heightens the forced nature of the story.

Similarly, in many stories in the interracial category it is a common enough device to have the woman an overt or covert racist, who ends up having a far more satisfying sexual experience with someone from the race she thinks of as "inferior" than she ever imagined possible.

If it bothers you, by all means make every effort to find it and speak your mind, but if you do feel moved to speak, I would suggest reading it through, no matter how distasteful, to make sure what you are seeing is racisim in the author and not a plot device for charictarization of a character.

-Colly

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I came across a story posted in the Story Feedback board a couple months back that I felt was anti-semitic. It involved raping Jewish women while their men looked on, and was written very crudely but with obviously a lot of glee and a lot of ethnic stereotypes.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure what I should do about it. Maybe this guy just has a fetish. Should ethnic/racial stereotypes be covered by freedom of expression?

I decided they should be. If we're serious about freedom of expression, then we shouldn't start picking and choosing what's okay and what's not. But I also decided that I should tell this guy that I thought his story was a piece of offensive racist shit, and I did. I never heard back from him.

---dr.M.

 

[minsue]

I came across a story posted in the Story Feedback board a couple months back that I felt was anti-semitic. It involved raping Jewish women while their men looked on, and was written very crudely but with obviously a lot of glee and a lot of ethnic stereotypes.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure what I should do about it. Maybe this guy just has a fetish. Should ethnic/racial stereotypes be covered by freedom of expression?

I decided they should be. If we're serious about freedom of expression, then we shouldn't start picking and choosing what's okay and what's not. But I also decided that I should tell this guy that I thought his story was a piece of offensive racist shit, and I did. I never heard back from him.

---dr.M.

Perfect. Yes, all assholes, even racist ones, have the right to express themselves. And, yes, all assholes should be told that they have *surprise* produced a piece of shit.

As usual, Doc, you're my hero.

 

[Black Tulip]

Thanks to you all for thinking along with me. I did a more serious search and found the story back. It were actually more stories.

I did not finish the whole series but I think maybe the author wanted to throw in a little interracial. That still does not make it ok in my eyes, so I'll follow the example of Dr. M.

Since I do not feel justified to nail the author in public I'll refrain from naming names. If you want to see for yourself, you can always PM me.

 

[Guest]

.....

 

[Black Tulip]

Dranoel,

That is exactly what makes me suspicious. The remarks about the black person in the story are all derogatory.

I do not object to the taboo factor. Although that has no meaning for me I can understand it will be exciting for other people. Same as with incest or non-consent. A lot of stories here are not politically correct. That's not my point.