Last year, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America bestowed upon Mercedes Lackey its 38th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master. (My belated congratulations.)
This year, they kicked her out. During a panel discussion at its Nebulas awards, she used the word colored to describe a black writer.
Hmm. It was a poor choice of language. People of Color is now en vogue. (Note to the NAACP, change your name to NAAPC.)
A black writer complained on Twitter. ("I'm here -- holding grief & frustration -- over what happens when language is misused regardless of intent.")
Poor dear. Here I thought women and (checks notes for latest phrase) people of color were as strong as men and (checks notes for latest phrase) whites.
The ousted woman, Lackey, is married to writer Larry Dixon, who took to Twitter to defend his bride.
He tweeted, "About my wife of 32 years: In this SFWA/Nebulas issue, Obviously, to anyone paying the slightest attention, the word was not meant sincerely or offensively. The issue is with the word, not the woman, but the woman is who is available to shred, & the teeth are shiny. 1/
"People who mean well are being whipped up over the word, & they are trying to educate or punish her. This was someone taking a hit at her, & using others to do it more. 2/
"She is horrified by this. She is shivering, crying uncontrollably. Since she was a teen she fought for civil rights, gay rights, trans rights. Her work is about inclusivity & consideration for others. She was just done wrong in a devastating way. 3/
"Obviously the wording was a mistake but the reasons don't matter. The person doesn't matter. What matters to the mob is that there's someone to savage.
"In righteously doing so, you're doing evil. Back off on the teaching & finger shaking. 4/
"She has only ever tried to be good & helpful. That's what makes her an enemy to plenty of people who prefer to oppress & hate. The most masterful form of manipulation is getting an enemy's allies to destroy them.
"Misty is old, broken, so very tired. You just don't know. 5/"
(She is 71.)
Dixon's tweeting continued, "All people see is a target for absolutist rage right now. The mob shows up, the mob savages, the mob leaves certain they've done the right thing... after killing someone who only ever helped them.
"Someone, using SFWA, managed a devastating attack on her. 6/
"She has dared to be female, dared to be hopeful. To be inclusive. Nurturing. Through her own trauma she helped others with theirs. I've stopped her from suicide before. To put forth ideas of equality, of genuine caring. That is Kryptonite to those who advance by hate. 7/
"There are no lack of people who hate her with a fuming rage for even daring to BE. She offends by existing. Her work spreads ideas that challenge those in power. She's a terrible spokesman but she's there to be hit, so they hit. She tries. What's happening now is not new to me. 8/
"Not close. I've been supporting her for decades, and more times wanting to quit than I can count. Someone's always got to take a shot at her, b/c she didn't bring them along for fame, get them published, or they fell for a rumor & picked hate instead of researching. 9/
"This is not about a racial slur at all. It's about power against challenge. Misty is dyslexic, depressive, has panic attacks, chronic pain, poor eyesight, & crippling anxiety. Still, she's tried to do good for people. She's not rich. She doesn't have crazy clout. 10/
"She's got no coalition of secret controllers who suppress new voices. She's a slob. She's a wreck. She's someone who has a handful of people left in her life at all. They've died. She's the last one of her circle of friends. She's lonely, & afraid, & still she tries. 11/
"Even at her poorest she did charity work. She mentors those in need. Today, as dozens of times before, I try to help her hold on while cowardly jerks try to stop her by any means, by any usage of others, available. They love to get crowds stirred up & they watch for chances. 12/
"For those of you who've never experienced this, it sounds paranoid & self-important. For those who have, you're nodding. It sounds incomprehensible that there could be so much cruelty readily at hand. Easy, effortless cruelty; just takes typing. That's our lives. 13/
"As our years add up, we become weaker, more tasty targets. Misty's entire catalog is about tolerance, empathy, questioning & inclusivity. Obviously, the most effective weapon against her would be allegations of hatefulness. Persuading people to be enraged, again, is easy. 14/"
***
She got blindsided. It saddens me. Being for social justice, however, provides no protection from the SJW mob, as J.K. Rowling learned.
Dixon's Twitter profile describes him as "Trans, pan, LGBTQA+,kink, fetish, PoC, Human Rights supporter. Anti-fuckery, pro-comedy. Mercedes Lackey's husband. Worldcon 2020 GoH. Wrote & drew some stuff."
Lackey and Dixon learned a lesson this weekend. The Social Justice Warrior world is cannibalistic and eventually will devour everyone associated with it. White men first, of course, but everyone gets consumed in the reverse of the pecking order. He can be as fruity and liberal as he wishes, but in the end he is just some white guy and his wife is just some old white woman.
I am supportive of the two and empathetic. But he tweeted, "Back off on the teaching & finger shaking"?
I'm laughing. What did he expect? This is all social justice warriors do. They lecture and judge and demand their way all the time. They are scolds. They are the Puritans in the atheistic church that liberals built. SJWs live to ruin others because it gives them a feeling of accomplishment and moral superiority. For all the talk about tolerance, SJW is the least tolerant group in politics.
Last year's heroine is this year's racist for making some black writer "holding grief & frustration" regardless of intent! Off with Lackey's head! The people of color writer is offended. That's all that matters.
The clowns running SFWA quickly abandoned their 38th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master because she uttered one word that offended some SJW.
I know that no SJW ever reads my blog, but if one should happen along and read this let me just say: you're next. The cannibalism continues until finally, the cheese stands alone.
As for Lackey and her hubby, I suggest splitting a bottle of bourbon and forgetting about all this the next morning. Find new friends.
SJW is nonsense and writing awards (I have a few) are nonsense too.
My suggestion to Lackey is to continue to write and spend more time with her family. I get that she wants to change the world for the better, but the SJW crowd does not. They are warriors battling just for the sake of battling. Social justice is just the adjective. You cannot get social justice by being mean and spiteful.
But that is not what they want, is it?
“I’m laughing. What did he expect? This is all social justice warriors do. They lecture and judge and demand their way all the time. They are scolds. They are the Puritans in the atheistic church that liberals built. SJWs live to ruin others because it gives them a feeling of accomplishment and moral superiority. For all the talk about tolerance, SJW is the least tolerant group in politics.”
ReplyDeleteThat’s GREAT writing.
It sure is.
DeleteWelcome to the party, pal.
ReplyDeleteThe Right and much of the Middle is past this kind of nonsense. The Left used to regularly destroy people (think Georgie Jessel and Anita Bryant) unti Rock Hudson stood up for Martha Raye. They blacklisted a few in sports media (Tom Brookshier) and that went dry, so all they have is each other.
This is the revolution created by Robespierre and Danton and the counter-revolution is already underway (Trump as the God Emperor of the Cherry Blossom Throne and the Great MAGA King).
And 5 gets you 10, Misty Lackey is one of those Lefties who probably worried a lot about those "less fortunate" (what we used to call poor) and had the best of intentions. Classic victim.
PS Colored was the polite term for those whose race was Negro (the official term) and I use it a lot these days, just as I use Oriental and American Indian.
Makes me feel good just to say it.
Mr. Butcher,
Delete...Odd, in my kindergarten days, 'colored' denoted black Americans...then 'black is beautiful' through middle and high school 'afro-American'...The then popular TV celeb, Bill Cosby had us change to 'African-American'...BLM squared the dizzying circle back to 'black'....If folks continue to objectify their appearance by their own terminology, I'll go along, but 'colored' is a dignified term, as you posited; however, because it includes the lot of us --- the human race is all one shade or another...well done, sir....Excepting, now to solve the gender issue terminology, to satisfy the LGBTQ crowd -- zb
I feel the pain of the poor, downtrodden black writer.
ReplyDeleteJust the other day I posted a sketch on colored card stock. An ignorant, un-woke acquaintance (I, as I am sure you understand, can no longer call him a friend.) wrote that he didn't like colored card stock. I of course immediately replied; RACIST!!!
Not a problem. Let them eat themselves. Next?
ReplyDeleteYou keep misspelling their name. They are Socialists and just whores. Just as in when I am shit faced drunk I can just barely walk to the shitter, not just as in his cause is Just.
ReplyDeleteHis wife got what she deserved. Her husband is pathetic, weak, and a fool. When you have seeped yourself in this crap, you get the stuff thrown right back at you. And it is not worth it to worry about their pain. I actually am enjoying watching the cannibalistic motions and emotions of the wacko left as they eat themselves.
ReplyDeleteThey had it coming. I hope a bunch more get to enjoy it as well.
Eaten alive by their spawn. How precious.
ReplyDeleteThat twitter thread had me in absolute stitches! Each succeeding tweet was better than the previous one; it was like the poor slob unwittingly was building a critical mass of woke radioactivity until he interrupted the process to evoke the sad, sad personal side of things and described his "wife" (mildly surprised he used such a fraught term) as "... dyslexic, depressive, has panic attacks, chronic pain, poor eyesight, & crippling anxiety... not rich. She doesn't have crazy clout... got no coalition of secret controllers who suppress new voices. She's a slob. She's a wreck. She's someone who has a handful of people left in her life at all. They've died. She's the last one of her circle of friends. She's lonely, & afraid..." That was a real howler. I'm still crying tears of laughter, which I would love to bottle and send to the poor, devastated old hag.
ReplyDeletepeople of color my Jamaican friends say Oh she has a lovely dark complication or a light one nobody gets bent out of shape.
ReplyDeleteThe people who refer to Obama as a Black are very ignorant and prejudiced against Mulattos. When will it stop?
ReplyDeleteIf she is a long time member of the SFWA in good standing, it is very likely that she has engaged in the twitter swarms in the past over some imagined slight by another member.
ReplyDeleteIt's time for the worm to turn. Let's treat these...persons who conjure offense out of words as the villains they are:
ReplyDelete-- Make them pariahs;
-- Boycott their works;
-- Sneer at their claims of offense;
-- And laud those who've offended them for their courage!
The gloves must come off. Nothing but punishment will reverse the SJW tide.