Duke Thomas Fan Page

The absolutely pervasive mentality that unwanted criticism or critique shouldn't be given and should be ignored is why fans of color don't stay in fan spaces.

And I am not going to mince words here:

A lot of you are racist. A lot of your fan works are racist.

That might have been difficult to hear. And if it was, you should probably reflect on why that was.

"Fandom etiquette" has created a space where fans of color either bite our tongues and eventually leave or say something, get dogged on, and then eventually leave.

uh-oh spaghetti-o's...

I've been in fandoms for something like 16 yrs now, and while I think a lot of things have changed and some things have improved, the short of it is that fandom racism & our willingness to combat it always is in flux. The first step many fans take is acknowledgement, which is a start! They'll be more careful to include certain characters in group shots of fanart/fancomics. They'll make a mention of them in passing in a fanfic or headcanon post.

Where I think these fans fall short, is mistaking that acknowledgement for actual inclusion.

Because when the majority of a cast is white, all being headcanoned with various flavors of queer identity, and yet your only black character is mentioned briefly as "def a supportive ally :)" ... I always have to wonder... Is this a case of a fan who has simply not yet examined their biases, or a case of a fan who genuinely thinks it counts as inclusion & not as tokenism.

I've been in fandoms for something like 16 yrs now, and while I think a lot of things have changed and some things have improved, the short of it is that fandom racism & our willingness to combat it always is in flux. The first step many fans take is acknowledgement, which is a start! They'll be more careful to include certain characters in group shots of fanart/fancomics. They'll make a mention of them in passing in a fanfic or headcanon post.

Where I think these fans fall short, is mistaking that acknowledgement for actual inclusion.

Because when the majority of a cast is white, all being headcanoned with various flavors of queer identity, and yet your only black character is mentioned briefly as "def a supportive ally :)" ... I always have to wonder... Is this a case of a fan who has simply not yet examined their biases, or a case of a fan who genuinely thinks it counts as inclusion & not as tokenism.