The personal is political

I haven't seen the Hunger Games yet. Nor have I read the book. Maybe next week when I'm on vacation. So I am definitely being presumptuous here in writing about it. Or about other people's reactions to it.

Jezebel has an article on the horrific racist response of some 'fans' of the Hunger Games. It seems that some white people were SHOCKED that characters described as black in the book actually...yes ACTUALLY...turned out to be black in the movie. Absolutely SHOCKING!!!

None of this would be remarkable except for the fact that it is totally and completely unremarkable. The casual, automatic and unconscious nature of the racism pervading these comments is truly amazing. Hatred of black people is just an implicit and intimate part of who these people are. They can't even think of black people as 'persons'.

Just think of how this kind of all-encompassing racism poisons everyday life. As Jezebel quotes the tumblr blog author:

              These people are MAD that the girl that they cried over while reading the book was "some black
              girl" all along. So now they're angry. Wasted tears, wasted emotions. It's sad to think that had they
              known that she was black all along, there would have been [no] sorrow or sadness over her death.

              There are MAJOR TIE-INS to these reactions and the injustices that we see around the world
              today. I don't even need to spell it out because I know that you're all a smart bunch.

              This is a BIG problem. Think of all the murdered children. Think of all the missing children that get   
              NO SCREEN TIME on the news.

              It is NOT a coincidence.

No, it is not a coincidence. White people only ever seeing other white people. Only ever caring about other white people. Only ever valuing other white people. Other people don't count on a day-to-day basis. You can see how inequality is perpetuated at the most personal level. If white people get angry about being tricked into caring about a fictional black character, just imagine how they react to the black people they actually experience in real life.

Every casual negative comment. Every automatic negative response. Every unconscious negative reaction. Even the most tiniest itsy bitsy teeny weenie one. This is all a big deal. There is an obvious connection between reading a book and not seeing the black characters and the mass incarceration of black people in the USA, for instance. No one cares because no one sees them. They don't exist as 'persons' for the majority of white people.

That is inequality. That is power. That is racism.

We see it in the Goth community, too. When goffs say there's not such thing as a black goth. Or make disparaging comments about black goths.

That is inequality. That is power. That is racism.

The personal is political. That's where the fight starts, my dark comrades!