The Blog

   Things that really tick me off include...
people who accuse me of racism. In high school, my best friends were Lan (Vietnamese), Nada (Lebanese) and Sarah (English). And while I appreciate that indeed, my use of characters of a certain bloodline in a story was stereotypical and in some ways bad, didn't this person ever read the superman comics or watch Lois and Clark? Every non-main character in that show was two-dimensional, so if I was indeed guilty of following their lead in my first chapter, I don't see what was so wrong about that. But I'm digressing. For the sake of making me feel better (and because Drew said that I should put this where others can read it), I'm going to post both the email I recieved and my reply to it.
I'll let you all know if anything further happens about this.

______@aol.com wrote:
i was reading ur story fly me to the moon and i thought it was cruel of you to say the bad people were of "arabic descent" and FYI there is no such thing as "arabic" descent

Catherine - Sailor Coruscant wrote:
Dear ______@aol.com (not sure what else to call you, given that you haven't told me your name):

If you had gone on to read more of the story, you would have seen that it was only in the first chapter that the bad guys were of "Arabic descent". Since then, there have been bad guys who are blonde and dark-haired european, and indeed, I think that perhaps I have been somewhat racist only in the fact tht I haven't gotten around to writing some bad guys who are black, native american or asian. I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually, it's a long story.

Now, as to your lovely abbreviation "FYI" (what happened, couldn't remember how to spell "information"?), I refer you to our good friend the dictionary (Websters, 1982):
Arabic: of Arabia or the Arabs.
Arabia: peninsula, largely a dessert, in SW Asia, also known as the Arabian Peninsula.
Arab: a native or inhabitant of Arabia.
Descent: lineage, ancestry; one generation (in a lineage).

Now, based simply on that dictionary definition, anyone whose family for at least one generation has lived on the Arabian Peninsula is of Arabic descent. Perhaps I was mistaken here.

And while it is true that, for the most part, Lois and Clark seemed to only feature white peoples, I thought to spread the joy around and write characters that were more multicultral, as one would expect in a modern Metropolis.

I do apologise for having offended you, and hope to share the joy around by introducing new and exciting bad guys from different cultures as the story progresses.

Thanks for sharing your concerns with me. They have been duly noted.

Catherine - Sailor Coruscant

Edit: Have removed email address at the request of my correspondant. Perhaps I will add further replies tomorrow, but right now I have work to do. Apparently being willing to embrace, accept and understand the way a person of a different culture things is not conducive to being non-racist.

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