so is it bad that I’m a black person and haven’t heard of anti rick Riordan until a few days ago? I only really read the books, and even though I’ve been on tumblr for a while I’ve never interacted with 99% of the pjo fandom
sorry i think i got this yesterday and didn't answer. so, first up, nearly all of your tumblr experience is dependent on who you follow. i've been aware of rr crit for years because of the people and topics i follow. there's a huge chunk of fandom that won't reblog or talk about the racism in rick's works because they believe "fandom should be fun". which it should be- a lot of my friends in pjo i made because of their talent and i enjoy their content. however, because of that attitude, rr crit gets silenced or passed around the same 15% of fandom that cares. so consider this: 🤔 who are you following? 🤔 are any of your pjo bloggers people of color? 🤔 do they only talk about certain topics? 🤔 how have they been involved, if at all, this past week?
regardless, you did mention not being that involved in tumblr pjo fandom. when it comes to pjo, tumblr is probably the most critical fansite. so just get more involved then! read up and follow, think and analyze. it's that simple.
finally, you asked if "it was bad because your black". it's not particularly bad, merely unfortunate. but sometimes it takes a little push- you're not the only one who needs it. alright, so since you're black, let's do a quick rundown of explicitly black characters in pjo and hoo: beckendorf, kelli, hazel, and hazel's mom, marie. in ten books, we've got (only) four explicitly black characters. here's what's so crazy about these characters:
→ fandom wise, despite being kind and compassionate in canon, there are some fans who will display beckendorf as the angry, rough black guy stereotype
hazel's from the 40s, says little about the romans involvement of the confederacy, is written like someone way more mature than her age (this is called adultification and is extremely prevalent with the treatment of black girls), and tossed into a love triangle with older teens. she is the only black girl in pjo/hoo but is given white and exotic features.
→ fandom wise, hazel is consistently white washed or simply ignored, despite being a main character in hoo
marie is a poor caricature of a voodoo witch, while being an awful and manipulative mother.
these are only the black characters- if we were to pinpoint the other marginalized groups rick disrespects with harmful stereotypes and blatant racism, this ask would be ridiculously long. in the books, it might not be able to get the issues so quickly, but when written out like this, it's very plain to see. 🤔 as a black person (or anyone nonblack reading this), consider how this could ever be considered good representation. but yeah, if you want to rectify this problem of not being aware of rr crit, then here:
📖 reread the books, and read the 'rr crit' tags
🤔 think about if you feel represented. but also consider that your experience may not be universal
🖱️ follow bloggers who openly critique rick. these are often blogs of color, but there's some that aren't
🔍 learn more about microaggressions, stereotyping, and representation. search what you don't understand, and find actual diverse books and authors
📝 write your own posts about problems you see
