Confessions of an Epic Indian

A few days ago, I wrote a post on bias in American SFF. A topic that’s been in the news in the blogosphere in the wake of some unsettling revelations of racism in at least four online locations that I’m aware of recently, and hints of many more in the past.

I received a flood of responses to that post. Only one of which you’ll find on the Readerswrite page. That’s because the others weren’t worth putting online, at least in my opinion. Not because they disagreed with anything I said specifically, but because they disagreed with my very existence, with my being Indian, or dark skinned, or non-American, an ‘outsider’ and so on.

But interestingly, one commentator was herself a PoC (Person of Colour) and in fact I had not only quoted her in the post, I had actually left comments earlier on her blog praising her outspokenness on the same issue. My only criticism of her, if you could even call it that, was that she and many other American SFF writers weren’t as quick or loud enough in condemning racism and bias as they ought to be. That was my opinion, and I felt this happened because they were afraid of losing commercial opportunities.

Interestingly, she conceded the latter point, and admitted that she did care about commercial opportunities. But she felt that I had no right to criticize her for not protesting loudly or boldly enough–that in fact, she protested more loudly and more boldly than anyone else, and she could go no further. Well, if that was the case, then what was her problem?

Well, judging by the counter-post she then wrote on her blog and the comments from her friends on the same, the problem wasn’t just that I wasn’t white, it was that I wasn’t one of them. And yes, I’m using my own judgement here again, and forming my own opinion.

And in my opinion, the other problem plaguing American SFF apart from racism, sexism, bigotry, and all the other biases, is that to really succeed in the genre in the USA, you need to be, if not White, then at least Tri-Colour. Blue-Red-and-White. Because being American is probably the only thing that outweighs being White and American.

At least that’s the impression I got after reading her responses and the comments left on her blog.

That’s not really surprising. America is a country undergoing a difficult transition. A time when most Americans probably feel beleagured and confused, about their own administration as well as about the world and other cultures.

And the simplest way to deal with any criticism is to dismiss the critic outright. Because if you pretend that the critic himself is not worth listening to, then of course, you don’t need to bother with the criticism itself. If you don’t like the message, kill the messenger.

But even if PoC fight amongst themselves, or if African American SFF professionals start spewing hatred at Indian SFF professionals (all 1.3 of us) and the field’s infighting gets split into a million micro-factions, it still doesn’t change the basic issue.

Which is that American SFF has become a breeding ground for intolerance and bias. Not everyone in the field is guilty of it, in fact, the more I learn about the field, and the more professionals I ‘meet’ from SFF online (since I’ve never actually travelled to the USA, and still don’t even have a passport yet), the more I find worth praising and liking in the field.

For one thing, I can honestly say, despite the few ugly attacks directed at me and the usual predictable brown nigger and similar taunts hurled my way, there are probably fewer racists and bigots in the field of American SFF publishing than I earlier thought existed. It’s just that the few who are there are very vocal and loud and bullying and that can get a little intimidating at times.

And they seem to share the same “I’m American and you’re not” chip that even some PoC in the field seem to bear on their shoulders. Which leads me to conclude that while American SFF does have endemic problems with racism, sexism, and other internal biases, it’s also troubled by a new problem: Call it an external bias. Cultural bias. Anti-multiculturalism. Or what you will.

It’s just another form of discrimination. And one that serves to remind all of us who are outsiders to American SFF, or just plain readers and fans of the genre, that we are, indeed, outsiders.

Maybe it’s because we pay in rupees and dinars and darhams, not in dollars? And our flags aren’t the same tricolour as their’s?

I don’t know what it is exactly, but it’s there. I don’t like it, and I don’t know what I, or anyone else can do about it, but it exists. That much I’m sure of now.

And it’s as ugly a problem as racism. Maybe even worse in some ways. Because someday, racism can and will be overcome to a large extent. But jingoism, like American military aggression, will be around much longer, and be much, much harder to counter.

And in the end, sadly, it’s a great, inspiring and imagination-enriching genre that’s being tainted by these controversies and fights.