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Woke SciFi Group Eating Their Own
Mercedes Lackey
To whit, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) this past week turned on one of the most reliably liberal and accepting members, who had just received the prestigious award of Grand Master status at their Nebulas convention, and kicked her, and her husband who wasn’t even present, out of the convention.
Her crime, according to the SWFA was her use of a “racial slur” during a panel discussion. More on that in a minute.
When she was announced as the next Grand Master in 2021, the SWFA had to wring an apology out of her about her advice to aspiring writers that copy-editors are going to force you to choose a set of pronouns for your trans character and force you to stick with it and thus if you truly want to write a fluid character it is better to refer it them by name or title.
From SWFA in 2021:
After we announced Mercedes Lackey as SFWA’s next Grand Master on 11/4, stances that Ms. Lackey had taken on writing trans characters resurfaced online. One was from a reader Q&A conducted in 2003, and another was from a 2017 Quora response on her feelings towards using chosen pronouns at the time.
We recognize that these comments have caused harm to the trans community. Last year, we said, “We have a responsibility to admit our failings and to continually commit to dismantling [..] oppressive and harmful systems, both within this organization and ourselves.”
SFWA cannot apologize on Ms. Lackey’s behalf, but we can acknowledge our contribution to this hurtful situation and stand with those in the trans and nonbinary communities. With that in mind, we asked Ms. Lackey if she would make clear her current feelings on these issues.
and Ms. Lackey’s response:
Before all else: trans women are women, and trans men are men. This is something I fiercely believe, and will always support.
I have made awkward statements that have caused pain or distress. My desire is, and has always been, to support the trans community and be the best ally I can. I regret that I communicated poorly and fell short of the mark.
I’m affirming here that I do, and always will, support trans rights and trans people. An individual’s pronouns are every bit as valid — and far more important — than the dictates of copy-editors in the commercial publishing industry. I wish I’d listened to you and fought for those pronouns when copy editors changed them.
I have never felt that I had the ability to write trans point-of-view characters well, and I expressed that badly in the past. Trans characters in fiction are more than just their gender, and their stories should show the richness of their whole lives in full. I am grateful for the many authors who are doing that well today. They are inspiring.
I will do everything in my power to continue to grow and learn, as I feel we all should. I have learned a lot from patient friends and fans. I apologize for hurting people.
Samuel R Delaney
I mean this apology has it all. She abases herself before the mob. She admits that she caused distress and could have done better. That she was ignorant of the proper way of dealing with the topic, even though that “proper” way wasn’t around when she made some of the statements. She even admits that in attempting to write trans characters she was causing pain to trans people because she can never truly understand them. Mao would have been proud of this struggle session.
One would think that after abasing oneself before the work mob that one would be fine…but one would be wrong. Fast Forward to the Nebulas and Ms. Lackey is on a panel called “Romancing Sci-Fi & Fantasy”. They are discussing the work of Samuel R Delany,
During this conversation about Mr. Delaney’s books, full disclosure I have never read any of them so I cannot say anything about their content or quality (though I am assured it is high), Ms. Lackey referred to him as a “colored person” while praising his body of work. The SWFA has graciously removed the video of the panel from their website so great is the shame of this racial slur.
This was absolutely terrifying to another author on the panel. Jen Brown, who has to her writing credits: a novelette; short story; two podcast episodes; and two “flash” (not sure what that is), but she is Black and Queer and she/her are her pronouns so she is obviously an authority that should be listened to. She didn’t say anything during the panel, because…well, you can read her Twitter thread.
So. The "Romancing Sci-Fi & Fantasy" panel wrapped. Instead of celebrating, I'm here–holding grief & frustration–over what happens when language is misused (regardless of intent).
— Jen Brown 👀✨🌈 (@jeninthelib) May 22, 2022
The “silence might be suffocating”, by which she means that she didn’t say anything about the racial slur of calling a Black man “colored”.
As to why the SWFA immediately kicked out Larry Dixon (spouse of Mercedes Lackey) who was not at the panel, nor did he say anything on the subject…well, you could ask them, but I doubt they will respond. Guilt by association one supposes because they don’t even mention that in their statement:
Dear Nebula Conference Participants and SFWA Members,
We learned yesterday that while participating in the “Romancing Sci-Fi & Fantasy” panel, Mercedes Lackey used a racial slur. First, we apologize to our attendees and the other panelists who were subjected to that slur. We’ve disabled access to the panel to avoid any additional harm being caused.
Second, we are immediately removing Mercedes Lackey from the conference and the additional panels she was scheduled for, in accordance with SFWA’s Moderation Policy. The use of a racial slur violates the instruction to “Respect all cultures and communities. Do not make derogatory or offensive statements even as a joke.” That applies to everyone in a SFWA space, at all levels of their career
The NAACP could not be reached for comment, though sources say that Mr. Delaney did not take offense.
Published in Entertainment
I like to think I’m an intelligent person but this trans stuff has reached a point where I can’t even understand what is going on. I mostly don’t care but I suspect that my indifference won’t keep me out of a reeducation camp.
SF (I’ve never had any interest in faaaantasy) has been going “woke” for quite a while already. If anything it might have been an early adopter because so much of it is supposed to involve The Future.
I read Dhalgren in high school. I couldn’t tell you anything else about it, though.
A friend of mine was nominated for a Hugo the year of the “sad puppies” so they didn’t even award any. A few Leftists have ruined the whole thing.
Horrors! Even I know that there are no longer “colored people.” There are, however, in all of the diversity programs and regulations, “persons of color.” I don’t see how any thinking person could get that important distinction wrong, unless they are an unreconstructed racist.
I could never force myself through anything by Delaney. And there are some others too, fortunately I can’t seem to even remember their names now.
Oh, fer sher!
I’m sure I’m a terrible person, but these days when I see something has won one of the SF or Fantasy prizes I assume it is woke trash. I’m even reluctant to buy anything written by a woman… How did it get to this?
I read Triton, too, which I enjoyed more than Dhalgren.
People who vicariously suffer “harm” from a word or two are truly mentally ill. No, I am not a doctor nor have I interviewed any of them personally.
But “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” has served well for generations. I wish the whiners could grow up and shut up, but it isn’t about that, it’s about the POWER to make others grovel. Truly sad.
One of my favorites is Time Considered As a Helix of Semi-precious Stones. Written a long time ago.
If the term “colored person” is unacceptable, why doesn’t the NAACP change its name? Morever, how is “person of color” not racist but “colored person” is?
Since I’m not white, but rather a kind of pinkish beige, doesn’t that make me a person-of-color too?
Since color is based on melanin, low melanin levels in your skin is close enough to zero to make you “non colored” . . .
That was a Hugo winner, wasn’t it?
That’s what I see in the picture above. Maybe it’s the lighting, but person of color? Really?
I think both Hugo and Nebula, but I’m not certain about the latter.
The liberals allowed the English language to be turned into a minefield, and now they’re shocked that they’re stepping on mines.
It’s sad, really. Amanda loves Mercedes Lackey’s books and has several books by her. We met her at a Salt Lake City convention whereupon she proved to be a delightful woman and chatted with Amanda, and even entertained our little ones some. Best part, our oldest (she was all of three at the time) picked up one of Mercedes’ books and Mercedes pointed at the cover art and said in a cheerful voice reserved for little ones, “That’s a Nazi death sphere!” That moment alone made it worth meeting her.
The Left has chased conservatives out of so many of these organizations, and they’ll never be satisfied. Their need to condemn will compel them to go after those sympathetic to them, and even turn on themselves.
About 18 years ago, I started taking Nebula and Hugo awards as an indictment, not a recommendation.
It’s sad because, they used to really be markers of good books to read. I can go back to the prior winners from the 80s and 90s and have read almost every single one. Read most of the nominees as well. Now, yeah, just ignore it.
I picked up a volume with the first two years of Hugo winners. Wish I had it here so I could recall them all, but there were plenty of great names those years.
I used to have two volumes of Hugo winners edited by Asimov, covering from 1955 to 1970. Now I only have one. Not sure what happened to the other one.
It only takes a small handful. Not unlike soup and sewage.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame published some time around 1970 has some treasures. Authors in include James Blish, Fritz Leiber, Alfred Bester, Isaac Asimov, Richard Matheson, Theodore Sturgeon, Clifford Simak, and a lot of others.
I have been using the reference “a percentage of albedo” since the majority of the listeners have no idea what I am talking about. Which is fine by me, since it becomes an inside bemusement with my peers and peeps.
We are living in an era when the quickest way to get public recognition is to pretend to be a victim. It does not speak well of our culture that so many people want everyone to feel sorry for them. Even worse is that for that cheap sentiment, people are willing to cast well-meaning people as villains.
That would be a big mistake.
I remember the faux pas I made 25 years ago while talking to a well-to-do Afro-Caribbean professional woman of undisclosed race (my wife is talking to her on the phone as I write this) and she mentioned “Person of Color”. I had never heard this terminology before and I asked “What’s that?” I don’t remember off-hand what her answer was, but I said, “Oh! Colored People is in again.”
And she took a long deep breathe of dismay and said, “Oh, no. You can’t say that. It’s not the same. Don’t say that.” I might have asked if the NAACP was now the NAAPC, but anyway the conversation didn’t last long after that.
I saved this quote from an Internet discussion some time ago about the word “retarded.”
This is from the Wikipedia article on “mental retardation” (the footnotes are from the wiki):
I would be surprised if wikipedia HASN’T been “edited” since then.
Ok, since there are some well-read sci-fi enthusiasts on this thread, I have a question.
There is a subplot in a cartoon I’ve watched a few of, Rick and Morty. It concerns an amorphous character about whom no one has any bad memories. There are also some aliens, who attack other intelligent beings by inserting memories and perceptions of themselves into their victims. It’s well done.
Now, what short story is that from and who wrote it? I think I read that somewhere, but I can’t conjure up any associations.
Edit: I see the episode title was a riff on Total Recall. But neither the movie nor Dick’s story matches the feature I’m interested in. I think they misnamed the episode. But what was that story, and who wrote it?
Like always, the Progs are ahead of you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_disability