Last few months have been awash in race issues. Going to note ’em down here, for my own reference as much as anything else. There are no conclusions.
Pocket God controversy: an iPod game called Pocket God comes to broad notice for its depiction of primitive and stupid islanders, which borrows imagery from stereotypes of pacific islanders (with a dash of other “primitives” imagery thrown in). Pasifika people are not happy; anthropologists dissect the representations used; the makers make respond with some token changes. Most fans of the game don’t see what is the big deal.
Eskimo candy controversy: Canadian tourist in NZ calls out our iconic “Eskimo” lolly for using an offensive term for the Inuit people. The company announces it has no plans to make any changes. New Zealanders are outspoken in their venom towards this PC-gone-mad tourist. Canadian media is bemused, even though the expert on the term says it’s offensive.
People of Colour and SF/Fantasy: an epic, sprawling argument over depiction of people of colour in genre fiction; became known as Racefail. Good summary here. More recently, a new alt-history book proposes an alternate history of America where the native Americans have never existed. Comment thread about the book explodes as native Americans express concern about being removed from history. Somewhere in the chaos, people note that a common assumption is that the SF/F audience is pretty much white, leading to much sarcastic self-identification as “unicorns” by PoC fans of the genre. This leads to a “Wild unicorn herd check-in” where PoC genre fans by the hundred raise their hands and announce their existence. (Been following this one mostly through the coverage of Bruce Baugh, who draws some good conclusions from this speaking as a white creator).
Melissa Lee: Government wunderkind bye-election candidate Melissa Lee, who is Asian, causes a huge storm by suggesting that heavily-Polynesian South Auckland is full of criminals who are… there’s a motorway… actually, it doesn’t make any sense, so don’t worry about the detail, or check out the Gordon Campbell report. Race is not overtly mentioned here but sits just under the surface. A commenter on the Aotearoa Ethnic Network mailing list cheekily applauds the government’s racial progress in successfully bringing the wealthy elite of all ethnic groups together through their shared fear of the underclass.
Hmm. There have been other prominent race-related stories in the media, although curiously Obama has not been any of them. Feel free to add your own in the comments.