So it's International Blog Against Racism Week again. I'm not planning anything specific for it, but here's a reposted comment and some links, via 
ibarw:
Inspired by dhobikikutti's post and in response to this comment from John Rogers, creator of Leverage ('ware spoilers for S2 Episode 2, "The Tap Out Job"),
But listen: my hacker's a hip person of color, my sex symbol isn't an anorexic in her 20's, and my badass uber-thief is a blonde we put in a dress precisely once a season. Even I, on the vanguard of the socialist Hollywood liberal homosexualist agenda, can only punch so many holes on my liberal cred ticket per season.
Can I ask that you punch just one more, please?
Stop having Hardison play the race card.
The only time race gets mentioned in the show is when he falsely plays the race card.
Hardison is never actually the victim of racism. And so even though it's a joke, even though you have good intentions--I assure you that I notice and appreciate that the guest characters are a wide mix of races and ethnicities--the result is that it reinforces the false belief that people of color benefit when they make accusations of racism, and moreover that racism doesn't actually exist because the only time it's alleged is to get ahead.
And because you all seem generally clueful, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that as a person of color, this is just wrong, that racism is real and that calling something out as racist is opening yourself up for a huge shitstorm and, often, much more trouble than benefit.
So can you please ditch that joke? Or perhaps you've already ditched it this season, the same way that Sophie got two whole shows in a row where she wasn't being a seductress.
(And yes, I expect a shitstorm here, from people who will go right past the parts where I say that you have good intentions and are generally clueful and say "OMG SHE'S CALLING THEM KKK MEMBERS!!eleventy-one!" I still think it was important to say.)
No shitstorm yet, to my surprise. I don't really expect a response, as I think from reading the blog for a while that he responds to comments in the post-episode question posts and not others, but at least I've said it, and saw an LJ acquaintance in the comments too. *waves to 
asim*
And now, for other people's writings:
Three links not specifically written for IBARW but relevant:
- …My heart’s in Accra » Jonathan Lyons on the Islamic resolution of science and monotheism
- The Republic of T. » Sotomayor & The Vulcan Standard, Pt. 2 :: Long essay on American assimilation & "becoming white."
- Tolerance.org: Parenting
And some IBARW posts that I found powerful:
marny_h96: IBARW 4: Genocide? What Genocide? :: The Herero and Namaqua Genocide: "It seems that three decades before WW II and the Holocaust, people were killed in German South-West Africa (now Namibia). Enough people to call it a genocide."
- glass_icarus: IBARW: people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. :: "even though I didn't agree with China's decisions with respect to their women's gymnastics team and the Opening Ceremonies voice-over, I was and am extremely offended by the way the western (US/European) media handled these topics."
- evilprodigy: [IBARW] Yellow Fever: It's Not Just A Man Thing :: "The systematic undermining of Asian masculinity is an old pastime, and by doing this you are partaking in it. Stop it. Stop it all. Shut down everything. East Asia does not exist to mass-produce your China dolls. East Asia does not exist to mass-produce your bishonen."
- peri_peteia: now that we've got that clear, and you know that i'm not here... :: An illuminating perspection on Uhura in the new _Star Trek_ movie (which I haven't seen, but have heard a lot about). "Simply put: Nyota Uhura is not a white girl. // While women of color are not necessarily embroiled in an entirely different feminist struggle than white women, they sure as fuck are not in the same place."
- karnythia: Internalized racism (the silent face of bigotry)
- evilprodigy: [IBARW] It's Not The Same Thing (Or, Leave Your Irish Ancestors In Their Graves) :: "So I think I speak from a position of layman's authority when I say that I've noticed that the United States of America, when it comes to discussions of race, is plagued by a damned unfortunate disease -- and that disease happens to be white Americans of Irish descent who feel the ceaseless urge to chip in to any discussion of racism with, "my great-great-grandfather was persecuted by the English!" Or "The Irish didn't used to be white!" Or, shudderingly, "It used to be worse to be Irish than to be black!" Irish, Irish, Irish. Irish Irish Irish. // From one American of Irish descent to other Americans of Irish descent, let me say this loud and clear: _shut up. It's not the same thing._"
And now, back to WorldCon race-panel prep.