*VIDEO* The mercommunity and it's approach to mers of color and cultures.

[AniaR]

see I just love everything you say

[Mermaid Whisper]

see I just love everything you say

I told her the exact same thing

[SeaGlass Siren]

:slow clap:

[merwandering]

You have no idea how much respect I have for some of you guys initiating and leading these conversations, and you aren't just doing it here. Because someone agrees with you or not, discussing it is so important and seriously what needs to happen everywhere to create change and make the world a better place. You are so fully fighting the good fight, and standing up in a way that makes you have to deal with a lot of extra crap, but it is also the way that makes a difference, so you are doing it anyway. I have the deepest gratitude, because you do it on all of our behalf. You are respectful but quick to call out incongruencies. You open dialogue, inform, and call to action. You are absolutely beautiful.
So, thank you.
so much.
I'm now convinced that when the Dalai Lama said that the world will be saved by the Western woman, I'm pretty sure he was talking about some badass mermaids.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Your words are so kind... i don't know how to deal.

[PearlieMae]

...

I'm now convinced that when the Dalai Lama said that the world will be saved by the Western woman, I'm pretty sure he was talking about some badass mermaids.

He was if he knows what's good for him.

[Mermaid Momo]

And I am back! I had a ton of stuff to do since my last post in this thread (including my nephew getting a fever of 109 and all of us panicking because he was having seizures and trying to find a job for when I go back to school) and it seems a lot has happened in this thread since then too!

I tried to catch up as best as I can but reading through 3 pages, a few things may have gotten garbled or mixed up and I'm sorry for that. In this post I'm going to comment on what posts stood out the most to me (basically what I could remember the most from the 3 pages binge)

1) Don't be so quick to call cultural appropriation because I look white but I am 'x' ethnicity or have this ethnicity in my ancestors somewhere:

Firstly, you have to realize that you look white and as such you have white privilege and still don't face the same problems that people of that ethnicity who are clearly not white face. A white passing black person with an afro is still cooler than a dark skinned black person with an afro and the same goes for all other races. (here's an article about how a black man who became with from vitiligo lived a much different life than when he was clearly black). Someone who is clearly that ethnicity are still judged and ridiculed for wearing what is a part of their culture while someone who is white passing is praised with the same thing ( ex: bindis, braids, native headdresses, etc)




2) Hair.

A lot of people can't seem to grasp the concept of why hair is so important. So here are some videos and articles
https://criticalbeautyanalysis.wordp...ion-of-beauty/
http://www.refinery29.com/2015/02/82...adlock-comment
http://blavity.com/why-its-not-just-about-kylies-hair/
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-31438273




I probably missed some of the stuff being talked about in the thread, if I did just let me know

[drucilla]

1) Don't be so quick to call cultural appropriation because I look white but I am 'x' ethnicity or have this ethnicity in my ancestors somewhere:

Firstly, you have to realize that you look white and as such you have white privilege and still don't face the same problems that people of that ethnicity who are clearly not white face.

I find this statement extremely racist and completely undermining the person you are posting this about. Instead of trying to uplift the community statements like this bring it down, that post could seriously hurt that girl how dare you diminish what other people go through. Yes it's different from what you experience but it is still part of the same kind of hate. And you are just promoting it, I have read your post a few times, I even took some time to cool off after I read it (hence why this is so late) I showed both your post and the one you are talking about to other people and they all feel the same as I do.
For someone who is trying to call out and put a stop to racism in the community this post is very discouraging, and seems to be doing exactly what you are intending to stop.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Drucilla she literally gave an explanation below after that statement.

[drucilla]

Seaglass siren I agree with you on that point, it doesn't make sense why someone would be racist to one culture and still try to take aspects from it. I honestly think that is I can't even understand the meaning behind why they would do that. It just makes no sense to take something from a culture you hate. Unless there is malicious intent behind those actions, which to be honest would not surprise me now a days.

[drucilla]

The explanation doesn't make sense to me and that statement she made is offensive, not just to me.
And I was commenting on that specific statement.

[SeaGlass Siren]

I don't think they HATE the culture but I think it's that everyone is so desensitized to taking certain aspects of that culture that they like without researching. (I was guilty of this before for example when anime first got super popular. Despite not being japanese i would buy and wear everything "Japanese styled") it's normally not something the average person would think about. But that's why we have people like Eric and Momo talking about it.

[SeaGlass Siren]

It makes perfect sense to me :/ definitely have a read through the threads. A lot of the points and some of your main concerns were addressed already. Momos statement wasn't racist.

[Echidna]

ok, I didn't want to say a word in here (because posting in threads where I have the threadstarter on ignore is a bad habit I'm trying to get away from), but:

Momos statement wasn't racist.

you might not think it racist, but many will disagree.

Constantly telling people they can't do something or wear something because they are not the right colour to do so, or in this case, going a step farther saying even if you are (partly) of that ethnicity you still cannot because you don't look like the right colour to do it, is racist, and nothing else.

It's the very same sentiment the "anti-racists" claim to fight against, but they just reverse it and it's the same in the end.
This isn't even about appropriation or somesuch anymore.

One might think there are worse problems nowadays than this superficial bitching (like, people dying left and right everywhere), than sowing discord because of friggin' skin colour.

[Mermaid Kelda]

Ok no

People are literally dying left right and centre
because of skin colour

So maybe we white people can deal with not wearing a fucking hair style without whining about it while black people are slaughtered in the streets

[AniaR]

Ok no

People are literally dying left right and centre
because of skin colour

So maybe we white people can deal with not wearing a fucking hair style without whining about it while black people are slaughtered in the streets

[Mermaid Momo]

Exactly kelda! And like i said i give absolutely no fucks in the workd anymore about white tears so once i get my laptop again (probably tonight) i will be tearing into BOTH of those responses. Right now i will let you know where you both went wrong
1)tone policing. Aka trying to tell a person of color what they should and shouldn't be angry about

2) crying white tears because i told you you couldn't wear cornrows and cultural artifacts from cultures you don't belong to (and i swear to god if i get "I'm 1/20th " x "ethnicity I WILL raise some hell)

We're out here dying because of our skin color,because we choose to wear what are a part of our culture and that gets us labeled as thugs or ghetto and you're over here mad you can't wear a bindi or dreads from a group of people you probably know nothing about,don't belong to and probably get shit for wearing what is THEIR culture.

Trust me i will be back.

sent from my shellphone using tapatalk

[AniaR]

[AniaR]

p.s. Momo, great Logo!

[Mermaid Momo]

Okay now I'm back


Get ready for this wall - o - text.

p.s. Momo, great Logo!

Thank you Raina! I hope to get it on some shirts for Paul to wear at gigs once I pass my drivers test and can do some gigs and maybe for a tail bag if I ever get around to buying or making one (I have my eyes on the one that was just released, I can't remember the company but it's a floral pattern one and can fit the largest Merbella flukes so hopefully it'll fit my current tail and any future ones)

And on topic:

I find this statement extremely racist and completely undermining the person you are posting this about

First off, telling someone they have privilege IS NOT racist and the fact that you think that someone realizing the privilege they hold is racist shows how little you actually understand about racism and privilege. Would you like to know what racism is? Racism is the when the system and the society is set up so you are on the bottom based solely on your race. Racism is when because of your race you loose out on opportunities other races have or are given freely. Racism is being victimized no matter where you go because people will ALWAYS view you a certain way because of your race, and usually not a good way. Racism is having to fight your whole life and be 3x better than the white people to get HALF of what they do solely because your skin color holds you back. THAT is racism. Racism is NOT: getting your feelings hurt, facing prejudice, or being told you have privilege whether it is white, white passing or light skin privilege.

Because I understand racism and race relations, I have the gall to actually realize that yes, I do have some kind of light skinned privilege because I am lighter skinned, and that I will be treated better than someone darker, I will be thought of as more human, that I am not as "ghetto" or "bad" as someone darker than me, and instead of me trying to make it about me and how little ol light skin me has problems too, instead I listen because that is how you should react when you have privilege against a group, my case being I have more privilege than a dark skin black person, we may be the same race but I have A LOT more privilege when it comes to how I am perceived because of my light skin.

Instead of trying to uplift the community statements like this bring it down

Actually I wasn't uplifting the community, I was calling it out, it's very different. I was however giving a voice to the mers of color and some of them have said that the video was very uplifting to them.

that post could seriously hurt that girl how dare you diminish what otherpeople go through. Yes it's different from what you experience but it is still part of the same kind of hate.

Again, telling someone they have privilege is not hate.

And you are just promoting it, I have read your post a few times, I even took some time to cool off after I read it (hence why this is so late) I showed both your post and the one you are talking about to other people and they all feel the same as I do.
For someone who is trying to call out and put a stop to racism in the community this post is very discouraging, and seems to be doing exactly what you are intending to stop.

So is it discouraging because I called out the bullshit and these people were butthurt, or maybe the hit dog was hollering?


And because I'm nice I'll even post links to articles explaining white passing and light skin privilege
Here is an example of how you should use light skinned privilege, this is Zendaya, half black half white actress, admitting that she has light skin privilege

Here is an article from a white passing person of color, who talks about how frustrating it was at first for people to dismiss her heritage but realized later on that she still benefits from privilege and has it better than those who present as her ethnicity/race.

Here's a quote from the article

Many of my peers were exhausted. It was clear that this was a battle, in defense of their humanity and worth, that they had been waging their whole lives. Of course, they were fearless and strong nonetheless, but I could see that theirs was an experience I simply could not know.

I pass for white, easily.


And regardless of how I was raised or how I see myself, that has made a difference. When I went to get enrolled in my new elementary school, I was told by the older woman leaning over her desk to make eye-contact with me that I was going to be put on A-track “with all the other smart kids.”


She didn’t know me. My mom didn’t speak English, and I certainly didn’t say a word to her. There were few white kids at my school, and they were all on A-track.


White privilege encompasses many things that I do not and cannot benefit from, but I do benefit from a lot and it’s very important that I recognize it.


To name just a few of those benefits: the quality of my English is never going to be commented on in a first encounter, I see people who at least look kind of like me represented in the media all the time, and I will probably never have to worry about being followed for “suspicious behavior” in a convenience store.


I can’t claim to know what it’s like to be immediately cast as the other, as threatening and undeserving.


Beyond where the color of my skin places me within US racist/colorist society, I also need to be cognizant of what of my Mexican herencia I present, both as a white presenting person in the United States and a light-skinned person in Mexico.


The Spanish word herencia means both heritage in the sense of where we come from and inheritance in the sense of what is passed down. So while it is true that my Mamá Nina was a mujer indígena, it is also true that she was kidnapped by my mestizo great-uncles to marry my Papá Nel.


Her cultural experience has been erased in my family’s history such so that no one knows anything about the life she led before she was taken. There is an inherent whitening that comes with mestizaje, and with whitening, erasure.

And here's an article on colorism, this article focuses on colorism

And yeah, my most is harsh, it's blunt, and it's pure rage but that seems to be all you understand because I've spelled this out before in this thread AND other threads.

Now for the second post that isn't even low key disrespectful.
you might not think it racist, but many will disagree.

[Quote]Constantly telling people they can't do something or wear something because they are not the right colour to do so, or in this case, going a step farther saying even if you are (partly) of that ethnicity you still cannot because you don't look like the right colour to do it, is racist, and nothing else.[/QUOTEe]
Nope, try again, checking you is not racism, it's telling someone to get their grubby hands out of the cookie jar that doesn't belong to them.

It's the very same sentiment the "anti-racists" claim to fight against, but they just reverse it and it's the same in the end.
This isn't even about appropriation or somesuch anymore.

You're right, it isn't about appropriation, if you watched the video it was also about racism in the community. Also reverse racism Isn't a thing.
but if you cared you would have researched this yourself and found that out.

One might think there are worse problems nowadays than this superficial bitching (like, people dying left and right everywhere), than sowing discord because of friggin' skin colour

Superficial? Really? So people of color and our culture is superficial? I know a certain mer who seems to think that asian culture isn't superficial since she tends to correct asians on their own color. #butthatsnoneofmybusiness


And you must live under a rock, because if you haven't realized people are dying all over because of "friggin skin color"
Black and brown blood is flowing down the streets like fucking bountiful rivers and you have the audacity to say that color is superficial bitching? That mers of color calling you on your shit is superficial? That the fact the our cultures are being turned into costumes and cheap imitations while we're out here trying to make it with just the color on our backs but we can't because of prejudices against us and our culture on us is superficial?


Here's a tip: Don't you EVER come at me again with that. don't you EVER tell me that my people and my culture are superficial. EVER.


And even though I just posted all the information you needed AND there are literally Tons of information online I already expect this reaction




Also, shout out to the mers out there who are actually listening and doing their own research, and thanks to the mers who were already doing this and making it a point to include mers of color in your spaces. You all are the true MVP and I really appreciate what you all do to make the community welcoming to all , including us mers of color.