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Sooo, let's talk about Anti-Blackness in Romance (Dun dun dun) I've seen little talks about this spring up and disappear over time, and maybe it's just me, but I don't think our community has unpacked all this and my mama used to say don't put off tomorrow what you can do today.
We can't have this discussion without some community agreement. If we're gonna come together to talk about some real shit, we need to align on how to be productive. If you've been in any of my workshops, here's the common requests:
Use "I" statements. Speak only for yourself and own your thoughts and ideas. No one represents an entire group and nor should they. No group is a monolith.
No tone policing. Emotions may be running high, but don't let tone distract you from the message being communicated. If everything critical in life had to be delivered to us with buttery words and pleasantries, we'd be dead by now.
Let's also be clear that tone policing and name-calling are TWO different things. Name-calling is personal and shifts the focus from criticizing the idea to criticizing the person. Then, the convo gets lost and wastes time. Don't know about you but my time is precious.
Alright. So, I made a list around Anti-Blackness in Romance and broke it down my content, professional interaction, and anti-Black beliefs and tropes in Romance fiction. This isn't comprehensive by any means. Just a starting point https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NzIsUBpWuDLeJ_BzkW8HPU-pykn7z-sn/view?usp=sharing
What I want people to understand is that anyone is capable of Anti-Black racism and behaviors. Yes, Blacks and POC too. White supremacy forces communities to feel they have to fight for valuable resources. And the only way to win it is proximity to whiteness and white acceptance.
We're talking centuries of indoctrination that the closer one is to whiteness the better off they'll be. This, in turn, sends the message that the more distanced you are from Blackness the better off you'll be. That shit is toxic af and seeps into everything.
When you look through the list, ask yourself those questions and answer them honestly Romancelandia. If you discover you have some Anti-Black beliefs and/or behaviors, it's time to dig into those beliefs and do some discovery. Start addressing these or else it'll never change.
Oh, there's two items that need to be added to the list I forgot to update: (1) The visibility and acceptance of IR romance over Black romance. I, an IR romance author, see this in our spaces and want to call this out. And (2) AAVE being a problem in editing.
