But I’m not racist, you cry, missing the point entirely. Racism is not a part-time occupation that you grow out of just because you’ve watched all of Fresh Prince. If you grew up in a society where Black people are subject to harsher rules than their white counterparts, where most of the leads on network television are white with “diversity” roughly translating to one white woman and one Black man, where Black people on science fiction/fantasy shows are usually the first to be sacrificed – you are capable of racist behaviours.
But I’m a person of colour, you point out, naively assuming that there are get of jail free cards for being racist, I can’t be racist! While I do congratulate you on your status as a person of colour, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be racist. In fact, you can be just as racist as white people, you just lack their power. Because when you are a non-Black PoC, chances are that you recognise that Black people are at the bottom of hierarchy and you are somewhere in the middle. Thanks to white supremacy, you know that you can tear down Black people in order to elevate yourself. The attitude of white people to this – thanks to a mixture of the history of slavery, colourism, and classism – pretty much boils down to “at least they’re not Black.” It’s why some fans pretend to love Linda Park (played by Malese Jow, who is half Chinese American and part Cherokee) but never actually talk about her. They would prefer Barry to be with a white girl, but hey, at least she’s not Iris. It’s why much of the racism Iris receives is from the Latin American and Asian portions of the fandom, where anti-Black racism is rampant. The racism she receives is anti-Black, which means that it is, you guessed it, exclusive to Black people. And society is rather good at being racist to Black people.
But I’m a feminist, you cry, pointing to your pink pussy hat, I can’t be guilty of misogyny! Yes, dear, you can. Because like I said, misogynoir is the intersection of sexism and anti-Black racism. Black women are below both their male skinfolk and their white sisters, and are torn down in equal measure by both in order to maintain their position. Despite society’s attempts to paint racism as something perpetuated only by scary white men, there has never been a time when white women have not been complicit in the system of white supremacy that keeps other races subjugated. Susan B. Anthony, for example, advocated for women’s right to vote but was adamant that white women get that right before Black men. The Seneca Falls Conference didn’t address the racism faced by Black women, either, as these white women did not want to be placed on the same level as women of any other race. Unfortunately, the phrase “solidarity is for white women” predates Twitter.
And no, this is not something confined to the dated attitudes of the 1800s. You’re still going to see white women exclude and smack down members of other races to keep their own position in the hierarchy of white supremacy. They are the Mayella Ewells, who use the fragility their white womanhood represents to frame a Black man for murder so that she doesn’t have to admit she felt sexual attraction to him. The Lena Dunhams, who believe a white man over a Black woman who claims he sexually assaulted her. And they are the Taylor Swifts, hijacking a relevant conversation about racism in the music industry to victimise herself and dismiss Nicki Minaj’s message about Black women having to work twice as hard, all to maintain her position as enlightened feminist while painting Nicki as the Angry Black Woman who complains about things she doesn’t deserve.
So, yes feminists can be racist. A lot of the first feminists were. Misogynoir, unfortunately, is a normalised aspect of society. And in fandom, you’ll see how some white women will go to any lengths to demonise the Black woman in the story in order to tear her down.
Well, I’m a Black man, you say smugly, predictably centering racism on the plight of the (probably) straight Black man while ignoring the fact that you wouldn’t be here without a Black woman, I can’t be racist!
*counts to ten*
Fans of Iris are often stereotyped as Angry Black Women – as is Iris herself. And that second tweet? Written by a Black guy.
Not in the same way, no. Racism, first and foremost, is about power, and in a system of white supremacy, it’s impossible for Black men to have that power. You cannot oppress in a system where you are the oppressed. However? Black men are still fully capable of enacting misogynoir. Black women specifically are often characterised as ugly, unintelligent, greedy, hypersexual, demanding…by everyone. Black men are not characterised by a hatred of Black women, but again, the nature of white supremacy means that Black women can be degraded by the men in our own race with no cost to themselves.
Black women are the first to be shamed for even looking at men outside of our own race (especially white men), yet many Black men openly talk about not liking Black women and preferring white women. Who, thanks to that pesky white supremacy deal, have always been touted as the standard of beauty, intelligence, and status. For some men of colour, if you “land” a white woman, you’re trading up, because she’s always been what you’ve grown up seeing as the height of success. Or, as Kanye once put it “when you get on, he’ll leave ya ass for a white girl.”
The white woman is the standard. The white woman means you’ve won. It’s why you will see countless rappers saying that they don’t date Black women despite wearing their Blackness proudly, and Black athletes calling Black women ugly. Because the approval of a white woman is so desired, and degrading Black women is easy.
There are Black men who, unfortunately, think that they have the right to their women over anyone else. They can date outside of their race, but still expect Black women to be “there” should they need one. And thanks to sexism, there’s a desire to not see those women rise above them in power and status; for them to “know their place.” This way of thinking seeps into the way we watch television. It’s in the Black men who were a little too eager to see Rowan Pope, Olivia’s father on Scandal, verbally castigate her whenever he was onscreen. Or those who call Annalise Keating every name in the book. And yes, those who hate on Iris for ridiculous reasons while excusing Caitlin for everything she does.
I love Black men. Most Black women do. But Black men are also responsible for a lot of the misogynoir I’ve experienced in my life, whether it’s accusations of betraying my race when I dated a white man, or Black men telling me my attitude was too “off-putting” and I should try being less “aggressive.” The very fact that I had to preface this by saying that I don’t hate Black men tells you how pervasive this attitude is, and how guilty Black women feel when talking about it, since we’ve been raised to uplift our men, even at personal cost to ourselves. Do you know where the term “Strong Black Woman” comes from? It sure as hell wasn’t from us.
Gotcha! you say triumphantly, I’m a Black woman, so I can’t be guilty of misogynoir, right? Right?
This person is not a “black”, unless they’re saying that they’re a cigarette. Pretending to be Black to shit on Black characters is one of fandom’s favourite pastimes.
(Note: I’m assuming that you are, in fact, a Black woman, and not one of those tumblr users who says things like “as an African-American woman” so you can have an excuse to hate on Black women with your imaginary melanin as a shield. Stop it. We know you’re lying).
Again, yes. You won’t have the power that comes along with it, but when Black women speak about each other the way non-Black people do in order to diminish our humanity, they’re perpetuating a system of self-hatred that indicates they’re not comfortable with their Blackness. This means that they must take it out on other Black women who are more confident in themselves, because they resent the fact that those women are comfortable.
This is an unfortunate side-effect of white supremacy – when I mentioned the fact that white women have always been the standard of beauty, the “prize” (much as I hate the idea of characterising any woman as a prize, I didn’t make the rules), I talked about it in relation to men of colour thinking that they have reached the pinnacle of success in terms of romantic partners. But it also reinforces to women of colour (here, Black women specifically) that they’ll never be seen as that, so we internalise that message, see ourselves as lesser, and resent those Black women who don’t.
Or you could be one of those Black women who hold the unfortunate opinion that our Blackness is directly correlated to how attractive we find Black men.
They act in ways that suggest they feel white women are the standard. They’re overly critical of Black women, promote respectability politics, and believe the bullshit stereotypes that Black women are too loud, too aggressive, and lesser in every way. We have been conditioned to accept that whiteness is better than everything else, no matter what our own skin colour is. A lot of the time, they even promote these messages to other white women so they can be seen as the “good” Black woman. It’s another case of women throwing other women under the bus to get the approval of men, but in this case, it comes from self-hatred as well (Omarosa and Stacey Dash, I’m looking at you). They are, for want of a better term, in the sunken place.
Now, that isn’t to say that everyone who hates a Black woman in fandom – and certainly not everyone who hates Iris – fits into these categories. But simply saying that you aren’t racist or, more offensively, that you can’t be, is incorrect. Racism is more complicated than hating people of colour, but taking part in it is actually very simple. Anything that contributes to the erasure, marginalisation, and dehumanisation of people of colour while upholding a system that keeps white people at the top and everyone else subjugated, is racism. It doesn’t put you on the same level as the sitting US president – it doesn’t even make you a bad person, unless you’re refusing to unlearn it – but it does mean that your views are a product of the society in which you were brought up.
Racism, unfortunately, is one of the few things that actually is for everyone.
I’m going to channel Quincy Jones today and name names. Your article is chalked full of really great information and detail. The ears and hearts that really need to hear this…will not, unfortunately. For me, it breaks my heart to revisit all the hate that has been directed at Candice for 4 years. A good portion of that hate was acerbated by Danielle’s shameful promotion of a possible Barry/Caitlin storyline and Andrew K’s orchestrated effort to promote Danielle and diminish Candice through show promotion clips, product marketing, feeding narratives to news media cronies like Natalie Abrams, Alan Spinwell, etc. So the grass roots groups that support candice quite frankly are the true heroes in this journey. I shall forever remain bitter that the black ran media outlets like black girl nerds and black nerds problems never supported candice while the traditional white news outlets piled on the hate.
p.s. Indians should be added to groups that spew hate at candice/Iris because it elevates them in the coveted white fanboy club.
Love the Quincy Jones shout-out, haha!
I do agree that some of the people who need to hear this the most won’t hear it, but that’s because for the most part, they’ve already refused to listen to discussion about this topic. I wanted to both explain my (very, very complicated) feelings about it, break down all the nuances of racism that Iris/Candice and characters of colour in general receive, and perhaps educate someone who actually wanted to understand.
I have seen what you’re talking about with regards to Danielle Panabaker and Andrew Kreisburg. While I can’t confidently speak to their motivations because I don’t feel entirely comfortable with putting that out there without substantial proof – for those reasons, we won’t be discussing that topic in this series – I agree that what they did fed into the larger picture of Candice’s erasure, whether it was intentional or not. I’m sorry to say that I do think a lot of it was just the casual racism of media latching onto the white woman and trying to push her, which would have happened whether Panabaker and Kreisburg did anything on purpose – which, of course, I’m not confirming, because I don’t know exactly what happened.
I think that fandom is ultimately going to attract negative, badly-behaved people no matter what happens, but I do think that Candice Patton’s fans have ultimately been very positive for her. And I was as disappointed as you when I heard that those sites weren’t supportive of her in the beginning.
I think I ultimately made my point that there’s no person of colour who can’t possibly practice anti-Black racism, whether they’re aware of it or not. I wasn’t excluding anyone from that definition.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy the rest!
I feel sure that I have posted this before, but thank you for this, Vivian. I am not a fan of stan culture and of glorifying celebrities because all our faves are problematic. But it’s difficult to just watch the show and judge characters on their own merits when the one character that looks like you is the one singled out for excessive scrutiny. Not only that, but it’s a pattern observed in other fandoms too. I spent the entire first season stressed because I wanted Iris to know Barry’s secret just so people could stop calling her stupid. I didn’t fully ship Westallen until after Patty left in season 2 because I was waiting for the bait and switch. Without this vitriol, it’s difficult to know how I would have felt about the character of Iris. The fans with their pitchforks made me feel defensive, unwelcome.
I remember when the Iris West Defense Squad, which formed organically, decided that they would push back. The Flash seemed to come at a time when those fans, many of whom were black women, had had enough of these patterns of devaluing black female characters on TV. It felt like in fighting for Iris West, they were fighting for Martha Jones, for Lacey Porter, for Guinevere, for characters who fandoms had rained on with negativity. This time, that (white) nonsense was not going to fly.
It’s also why they decided to create trends to flood Candice’s and the producers mentions with positivity. Why they started to ask about Iris to reclaim the Iris West and Westallen hashtags, to leave pro-Iris comments on popular reviewing websites, and below YouTube videos. It’s why some brave souls even tried to be positive on Facebook which has some of the worst racist hate I have ever seen.
Iris and Candice are not perfect nor should they have to be. When I read or listen to critiques of Iris from this side of the fandom, I listen and engage because I don’t have to deal with that initial suspicion that this person hates Iris for her color. We don’t have to like everything Candice says, or Iris does. We should have the freedom to treat her like any other character. But as an article on Africa is a Country states “The fury aimed at black women is almost always disproportionate to the offense. Ironically, this paradox is precisely why stanning has become such an important – albeit double-edged – act of solidarity.”
Some stans do some cringe worthy things. But by calling Iris fans a hive, or a swarm, or loud, by dismissing their anger, they are doing a thing that racists have perfected: the art of ignoring context. It’s the same as “What if there was a White History Month?” crowd, or “Affirmative Action is reverse racism” crowd. People who refuse to empathize, who don’t think about cause and effect, about history. They are gaslighters.
The value in this series is that it articulates the context for that rate person willing to learn. It’s a reference that lays it all out there for people to see, complette with receipts. So that no one can be allowed to pretend that their lies are true. Thank you so much and more power to you. And Happy Black History Month.
I don’t really know what to say to such a wonderful and thought-provoking comment, but I’ll try.
First of all, I’ve always disliked stan culture. It usually starts out as genuine admiration and respect, but it almost always devolves into people crossing lines in the name of people they like. It’s almost as if they internalise being a fan of that person so much that it becomes a part of their identity, so they end up doing weird stuff. And honestly, glorifying celebrities too much takes the fun out of enjoying them because then you spend all your time hoping they don’t do something problematic so you can’t like them anymore. But if I go into all the ways I hate stan culture we’ll be here forever, so.
I do admit that my personal favourite thing about season 1 is that I could watch it without fandom’s bullshit clouding my judgement. I loved all the characters, but Barry and Iris were my favourite, and I always felt safe in saying it. I do get the defensive feeling, though.
I agree with everything you said about the IWDS and Iris/Candice not having to be perfect. I think perfection is often expected because we know we get ripped apart without it. That’s why people stan Black women so hard – because they know the vitriol directed at them will be far worse than what they’ve actually done. That quote is very apt!
I’ve seen way too much stuff that Iris fans do that go right over the edge, and that’s why I said I have no interest in defending them. But I also wasn’t about to apologise for the feelings that led to people doing it.
The whole idea of this was to give context and help people learn, so I’m happy that came across for you! And yes, there will be more receipts haha. Happy Black History Month to you! I’m English, so ours is in October, but much love <3
I read every word. This is one of thee most powerful pieces I’ve read in a long time. I absolutely adore Candice Patton. But I don’t adore her because of her character. I adore her because In the face of all the hate and nonsense, she still manages to shine. She’s using her position to educate and tell her story. She speaks up when appropriate. What bugs me most is folks feel as though they shouldn’t have to educate others on past wrongs – racism. In other words, people should just know that their behavior is wrong and correct themselves. How on earth do we expect people who’ve been misinformed in the first place to correct their own behavior without speaking up??? We have to continue and recreate the dialogue. But we have to do it without shooting below the belt and coming for the neck. Ultimately, as you’ve said, we all have built in biases based on our experiences. It’s sad that this conversation continues till this day. But we owe it to our ancestors to continue the fight until won. We must speak up and be heard.
I suspect, against advice, Candice has read the comments aimed at her and I imagine, she’s done a lot of soul searching. How she stomachs it from either side – her fandom and Danielle’s fandom – I’ll never know or understand. Because she continues to do the job she signed up for. If I ever had the chance to just ask her how she manages it, I would. Because idk that I could. Idk if I could go to a job everyday where I know I’m not supported; where people have assessed me as less than for no other reason than I was born this way.
I pray for our souls daily. Please, keep writing because this one made me stop and think. I realize now that me and mine have so much more work to do. Fights not over yet. We owe it to ourselves to keep this dialogue going.
Thank you.
Hi, fellow Brit 🙂
So, 2.5 years after you wrote this excellent post, I got here indirectly via a convo I accidentally started on Goodreads about a book series – followed a link, then followed another link etc.
I just want to know if you have ever watched The Walking Dead? Michonne (no surname…!) is played by the very beautiful but very dark-skinned, wide-nosed and lovely lipped Danai Gurira. Seriously, the woman is STUNNING. So not only did she/her character get all the shit for being an unsuitable partner because she is black, but she also got it triple-y (not a word, I know!) for being the epitome of a fully African looking black woman. It was a case of some people (including many black folks) being puzzled that Rick, the white male main character (who, coincidentally, has played opposite a number of WOC as love interests over his career), choosing her over another equally gorgeous but different black female character with lighter skin and more euro-centric features… despite clear evidence of a) the off the charts chemistry between the two actors playing Michonne and Rick since the beginning, and b) the narrative clearly pushing the fact it was the ONLY pairing that made sense for either of them.
And funnily enough, lots of people are great fans of Michonne as long as she ‘stays in her lane’ – which is fighting zombies with her impressive katana and not losing her ‘edge’… it was exhausting, and I was only introduced towards the end of it, never having been involved in any level of fandom before. Also, her on-screen character is vastly improved over the comic source material, but I’m going to get into that whole mess.
As an aside, I’m a HUGE Vampire Diaries (franchise) fan, but the Bonnie hate in the fandom and all the other race issues that are clearly played out on all the shows are astounding and does sour my enjoyment of them somewhat.
If you are a reader, you may be interested in this book I read last year which made me aware of the Merlin issue (I’ve never watched it) and discussed Bonnie Bennet, Hunger Games’ Rue and Hermione Granger too. Here’s the GR link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42129087-the-dark-fantastic?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=31TYUfoqub&rank=2