#caseymcquiston

I may have a controversial opinion here, but I will still lay out my thoughts, especially as I have been very vocal about this whole matter.

Disclaimer: I am not a hater at heart. I will never insult Casey, or anyone for that matter, and I do not think ill of them. Don't make me say what I'm not saying.

Some observations:

1. The timing.

The post promoting the whitewashing came out one month ago, on February 20th. During an entire month, Casey remained silent. They explain in their statement that they were all this time in contact with several people in order to investigate this.

They mention their "inability to comment" during this time. I'm still a bit mad at them that they could post cute stories of their dog but not say "hey, I heard you, let me get back at you on this matter". It did feel disrespectful and distressing to act like nothing happened when it did actually very much happen.

And they really didn't say anything (even tried deleting the post, unless it was a mistake) until the Arizona post, posted on March 18th (two days ago). With this post, they saw that people were still holding them accountable.

A couple days later: statement.

2. The disappearance of proofs

Casey first posted this statement in their channel. In the channel, they also said: I am going to post this in my story as well so everybody can see it. Unless they end up putting it in a dedicated highlight, the story will disappear.

Secondly, they explain in their statement that they will be deleting the original post. It's not on their grid anymore.

Which means that in less than 24 hours, the only proof this happened will be in their channel, and in the comments of the Arizona post. Not a lot. Proof vanishing, which is convenient, to say the least.

3. The statement in itself

I will give this to them: they went into details about some issues that were mentioned. They clarified that they didn't delete comments, for example. They brought up the AI allegations too.

Other than that... am I the only feeling like this text is terribly...bland?

I do not recognize Casey anywhere in this, it's so superficial. Like, yeah, PR through and through. How can you not even mention Alex's name?

Additionally, it has to be noted that Casey did not take responsibility for any of this.

THAT BEING SAID, y'all don't jump at me. I genuinely believe that Casey made a mistake (which can happen to everyone) and that this statement isn't a bunch of lies. Their history of standing up for social justice and the fact that they are still doing it is still very much there. I just have several reservations that I think are fair.

If we take a step back from this, there are many other matters that require our attention, and that call for action right now. Still being vigilant about this particular one does not stop us from being vocal about other stuff. But as a general rule, I would tend to think that we need community more than anything in these horrible times.

That's why i will say that personally, I keep my reservations about this and will adopt a "gradually forgive, but never forget" policy.

My previous post isn't an invitation to be a basic hater. I talk for myself here, but I love rwrb, always will, and love and respect the cast and Matthew Lopez.

ONE MONTH since a white author has chosen to ignore their community at large, and latine readers especially, when they asked: what the fuck?

ONE MONTH of Casey McQuiston remaining silent about the whitewashing of Alex Claremont-Díaz, the character that made them rich, the character that the fandom loves, a character that provides representation that is so important everyday but especially now in this political context.

This is so beyond disrespectful and disappointing. I encourage everybody to talk about this, to let other rwrb fans know, to hold Casey accountable. This is disrespectful to Taylor Zakhar Perez and to Matthew López who worked so hard to give more visibility to this character and his experience as a biracial queer man who cannot pass for white (in cmq's own words!). This is disrespectful to their latine and poc fans, as well as for the entire community.

NOT CASEY TEASING US OMFG