Feeding the Trolls: an open letter to Vox Day.

[la_marquise]

Not everyone on the internet agrees with each other. Not everyone is kind or nice or decent. Some people are controversial, for good or for bad. It's part of how we are as a species -- we argue, we confront, we question. Some people are painful to know, to read. Some people speak frightening truths.
Some people are just disgusting -- racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic -- the list goes on. Usually, when I see such people in action, I back button, refuse to give a platform to their prejudices.
Not today.
Today, writer and blogger Vox Day, aka Theodore Beale, has called a fellow writer -- a gifted, intelligent, brilliant woman writer of colour -- inferior and uncivilised on the grounds of her skin colour.
This man stood as President of sfwa and failed -- but some people voted for him.
This is not acceptable . Not in any way acceptable. I cannot read his words and stay silent. No, Mr Day, you do not get to say that and be allowed to pass in silence. You don't get to pull your 'freedom of speech' card on me. Freedom of speech cuts both ways, applies to all parties. You've had your say.
Here's mine.
It's you that's uncivilised. You are a racist, sexist bigot and I am ashamed to be in an organisation which contains you. I intend to write to sfwa petitioning them to withdraw your membership. In the country I come from, what you posted is hate speech. You are of course free to dismiss me as a feminazi, to deride my opinion on the grounds of my nationality (I'm British), to claim I have no right to any opinion, to post insults about my writing, appearance and career. I don't care. I've had enough of you and the culture of prejudice, privilege and institutionalised abuse that you represent.
And you don't get to silence me.

I'm not linking to his blog. I'm not interested in increasing traffic for him. Readers can find it if they wish.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

You know, I have relatives in Mississippi for whom it is still 1950 or so inside their heads, people who have never got over Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education, let alone 1964 Civil Rights Act, and while they're bigots, they would never imagine saying in public (or writing in a public forum) the things this git does. It would be rude, and while they can't seem to break the brainwashing with regard to the bigotry, they do understand the notion of "This is an incredibly hateful and hurtful thing to say to or about someone." They may also, of course, be aware they don't have a leg to stand on in support of these feelings other than "This is because of the way I was raised, in order to assure my support for a blatantly racist system of human exploitation, kthx."

I salute you and all the other members of SFWA who are asking that organization to take advantage of this abuse of the use of their Twitter feed privileges to clean house.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Your relatives are clearly better people than him, if they see that it is hateful and hurtful.
And long time no scroll: I was just thinking about you last night and hoping you were okay :-)