to expand on what i said here:
white people, you and yours need to remember that just because you’re a ~big fan~ of characters of color, just because you ~make so many ship posts~, that doesn’t absolve you of the bad that you may do. that doesn’t excuse you from being critical of your own fandom presence and fandom capital.
the most dehumanizing, demeaning, and disgusting treatment i’ve seen of sam wilson and finn come not from malicious racists, but from vocal white allies who are incredibly proud about their status as being ~big name “sam wilson and finn and t'challa and poe dameron and helen cho wow do i sure love the brown folk!!” fans~.
i’ve seen white fans very clearly use these characters of color to play out white savior complexes. i’ve seen white fans say, “protect [characters of color!!]” and then in the same breath, fetishize those very same characters of color.
i’ve seen white fans priding themselves on ~calling out fandom racism~ but then turn around and say, “i’m just so glad scarjo is going to be the major, because my favorite actress is going to be playing my favorite ghost in the shell character!!”
i’ve seen white fans use the term “klandom,” as if they’re not white. i’ve seen white people reblog intracommunity posts that are very much not meant for them. i’ve seen white people very intentionally use characters/real people of color for their user icons and leave out the fact that they’re white in their about me pages.
i’ve seen white people in fandom talking about how gross malicious fandom racism is, and then turn around and appropriate and fetishize a myriad of asian cultures without seeing a problem there.
i’ve seen white people in fandom speak over people of color about their own marginalization. i’ve had white people in fandom (and other non-asian people of color, to be fair) speak over me and act as a ~voice for the asian community~ while my own posts about racism in fandom - posts that draw from my own lived experience - go nowhere.
white savior complexes in fandom are real. rachael dolezal syndrome in fandom is real. ally theater in fandom is so, so real.
and just because you ship finn/rey or call sam wilson your ~pwecious baby birb pwince~ or posted ONCE about how the doctor strange trailer relies on orientalism and cultural fetishism, just because you reblog this post, doesn’t make you a good ally.
that lies in your actions and thinking CRITICALLY on your motivations as to your actions and the impact of your behavior and actions in fandom. only then may you even BEGIN to be a “good ally.” allyship is a constant act and it requires constant analysis of your own privilege and power. it’s hard. it’s complex. it’s constant.
but it sure as hell doesn’t start and end with “i’m gonna ship this character of color.” allyship - radical political activism - is a little harder than that.
