𐂯Wolfy’s Scene𐂯

•Racism that I have seen more commonly these days in the alterhuman community are as follows, (I'll explain these as well in case the initial statements aren't already self explanatory).

•Bodily white people using words like "mutt", "mixed breed", "savage", and "half breed" to describe themselves or their 'types. (These are words that have been used to maliciously target people of color, myself included. People claim to use those words in non offensive ways, 'savage' can sometimes be used in non offensive ways, however words like these have an incredibly dark history for folks of color, and are used in a negative, racist context towards us. I have been called all of these things with the intent of being dehumanized and harrassed. They're not to be used lightly, and they're certainly not for white people, who have never been the target of these words, to use).

•Thinking dehumanization and being called an animal is always a good and positive experience in the otherkin sense. (It's not for everyone, especially those who have been the target of racially charged dehumanization, who have negative experiences with being seen more as an animal than as a human being with rights and feelings. There's a positive way for someone like my being to be called an animal, and there's a negative way. Sometimes I can't tell what's positive and what's negative. I don't want to be dehumanized, despite being nonhuman, that's not a positive experience for my being. I don't want to be called an animal by others, and don't assume that many poc have a positive experience with being called that either).

•Arguing with and/or dogpiling alterhumans of color for bringing up problems about certain slurs, concepts, imagery, and beliefs. (This has happened to my being on more than one occasion, specifically regarding the word 'savage', a derogatory term used to target people of color, though used a lot to dehumanize indigenous peoples. Some think that just because it decribes their kintype, it's always an okay word to use. If someone doesn't want you to use an offensive term around them, don't go 'erm, actually!!!!!' and proceed to defend your right to use it around that individual. If someone doesn't want you to talk about something racially charged around them, don't fucking talk about it, and certainly don't argue with them about semantics. Leave it be).

•Blatant cultural appropriation, such as claiming to be entities from closed cultures. (One example is the unspeakable spirit, I'll call it the wendy's double bacon and egg cheeseburger for laughs. Spirits from closed cultures do not interact with people other than those of direct lineage to said culture. I've seen a lot of Native American and Voodoo practices, concepts, and entities stolen by white people who just don't care. They just like they aesthetic and the look, it's incredibly shallow. Respect the beliefs and wishes of people from closed cultures, or you're just a fucking racist, simple as that. Quit pretending to be something that you will never be).

•Claiming that your kintype is your 'spirit animal' or that you work with 'spirit animals'. (I don't know what's up with a lot of white alterhumans and their obsession with the 'spirit animal' concept. First of all, "spirit animal" isn't a real indigenous term, it was a word made up by some idiot white dude who didn't understand sacred indigenous relations with animals. Second of all, if you're not indigenous, you don't get to have a 'spirit animal', don't pretend to have a native american connection to animals and use a word that wasn't created by indigenous peoples. You can have connections with animals and animal spirits, though don't pretend that connection is something from indigenous cultures).

•Claiming to be the subject of an indigenous person's reverence because of your kintype. (I have seen this around, I have seen bodily white people making these claims, and no, you are not the subject of our reverence, fuck off. We don't 'honor' white people, you're not involved in our ceremonies, you're not the subject of our prayers, and you're not sacred. The very thought of white people genuinely thinking this makes my stomach turn as someone who actively participates in indigenous culture. You're just an ignorant, self centered pos if you think indigenous people should honor you).

•There are other types of under the radar racism in the community that I haven't covered, and feel free to point other things out, though none of the above is okay. None of the above should be present in spaces.

•Virtue signaling is not enough. Making posts online that gain some traction is not enough. Real, lasting change needs to happen on the wider community level and the smaller community level. Call out any kind of racism whenever you see it happening, remove offenders from communities and don't try to defend their racist behavior. When a person of color has a concern about something that may be racially offensive, fucking LISTEN and don't automatically think that their feelings are invalid. White folks in the community need to be more mindful of what they say, racism should not be happening in this community to begin with, though it happens because it flies under the radar, because privileged people aren't mindful of what they say, because it's just 'not a big deal' to those who aren't the targets.

•Don't say "It's not that deep" when someone brings up that something is offensive towards people of color, especially if you're not the one being targeted by a statement, an action, or an image. That kind of racist thought process is what makes many poc alterhumans feel unsafe in majority white alterhuman spaces. That kind of shitty mentality is why unchecked racism is allowed to thrive in some alterhuman spaces, that shitty mentality is why many poc alterhumans don't feel safe around majority white spaces, that shitty mentality is why you don't see my being around large alterhuman spaces anymore.

•Yes, some of my words are aggressive. Yes, I am vauging at racists in the community. Yes, I am angry. Because I and many other folks of color have been essentially pushed out of the wider alterhuman community because of racist behavior, because our feelings weren't considered worth hearing, because community admins prioritized their favorites and best buddies over the concerns of people of color. I don't get to be a real part of big communities anymore because of anti indigenous racism. I don't get to be a real part of big communities anymore because of antisemitism. I don't get to be a part of many big communities anymore because some would rather see my being as the angry latina stereotype rather than confront their own racism and make a real change. I don't even get to be loud and proud about being as mixed as I am because I'm the active target of right wingers and an entire government administration that would do anything to see my being beaten and deported.

•People like myself are angry right now, we're being targeted right now, some of poc are in downright dangerous and life-threatening situations. The LAST thing alterhumans of color want to see right now is racism in a community that's supposed to be safe, that's supposed to accept us with open arms. Being the target of racism in communities that are supposed to be safe, when there's already a viscious political climate targeting us is a horrific betrayal. I'm not here to sugarcoat this, I'm not here to be nice about racism, I'm not here to gently walk you through things you should already know, I'm here to raise awareness. If you're intimidated by my words, if you're intimidated by my reality as a mixed indigenous person, or if you're even angry at my words, then maybe you need to reevaluate whether you're an actual ally to people of color or not.

‘Canine’ is a colloquial word we use to describe animals from the family Canidae, constituting a clade. The subfamily that includes all the extant canids we know and love is called Caninae. There are 13 extant genera and 37 species of Caninae. They are usually split into two tribes, Canini (including 11 genera and 19 species, and the Canina subtribe) and Vulpini (3 genera and 15 species). Excluded from these tribes is the genus Urocyon, comprised of 2 species. This isn’t even counting subspecies.

So, basically, it includes many, many animals. I’ll list some now (including extinct ones):

Short-eared dog (2 subspecies)

African wolf (6 subspecies)

Coyote (19 subspecies)

Dog (estimated over 400 distinct breeds, not including dogs that are comprised of more than one breed)

Ethiopian wolf (2 subspecies)

Golden jackal (6 subspecies)

Wolves (39 subspecies)

Crab-eating fox (5 subspecies)

Maned wolf

Dhole (3 subspecies)

Falkland Islands wolf

South American fox

Black-backed jackal (2 subspecies)

Side-striped jackal (7 subspecies)

Culpeo (6 subspecies)

Darwin’s fox

Hoary fox

Pampas fox (5 subspecies)

Sechuran fox

South American gray fox

African wild dog (5 subspecies)

Bush dog (3 subspecies)

Common raccoon dog (4 subspecies)

Japanese raccoon dog

Bat-eared fox (2 subspecies)

Arctic fox (5 subspecies)

Bengal fox

Blanford’s fox

Cape fox

Corsac fox (3 subspecies)

Fennec fox

Kit fox (2 subspecies)

Pale fox (5 subspecies)

Rüppell’s fox

Red fox (44 subspecies)

Swift fox

Tibetan fox

Gray fox (16 subspecies)

Island fox (6 subspecies)

As you can see, the array of Canids is VERY VAST!! Even if you don’t list all the subspecies (and breeds for domestic dogs), it is still a very, very long list full of wonderful and unique animals!

The issue I’d like to talk about is that when I see posts/polls/community resources aimed at canine alterhumans, the content within them usually only applies to domestic dogs. And if not that, wolves, foxes, and coyotes maybe get included– especially wolves. However, as you can see, there are many different types of canines, a lot of them being wild, non-domesticated ones.

When it comes to community resources/polls aimed at canines as a whole, we should be conscientious of the fact that not all canine alterhumans are domestic dogs, and not all canine alterhumans are wolves.

If you’re posting about a personal experience? Do whatever you would like. If you’re posting specifically for a type of canine (ie. for domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, etc) and you have made that clear? Do whatever you would like!

But if you address all canines, address ALL canines. Same goes for community resources/polls for alterhumans that, despite being labeled as ‘for alterhumans’, is only inclusive of therians and canines.

I know this may seem nitpicky, but we are the largest and loudest majority in the community, and we can, at the very least, be more inclusive of our fellow canines. We also need to do better being inclusive of ALL alterhumans, including non-mammals, fictokin, mythical animals, otherhumans, deitykins, conceptkins, otherhearted, otherkin, otherkind, and anyone non-therian– but that’s a different and much larger discussion.

Wild canines are a large part of the canine alterhuman community, and I need domestic canines to please actually be inclusive when they try to be inclusive.

Again,

Post for domestic canines? Cool! Bark your truth!

Post for all canines? Address all of us generally, not just domestic canines.

THAT IS ALL! I hope this makes sense n stuff. I know this might come off as me finding problems to pick at, but as a non-domestic (tho, forced to act docile) canine, I DO notice it sometimes.