Message from the Fourth of July

The points raised or shared by Eloy LaSanta are not a minor concern for me. A couple of months ago, with a certain amount of uncertainty, I decided how I wanted Adept Play to participate in Black Lives Matter and related issues. It’s a risky way, because I am allergic to claiming myself to be woke or enlightened or safe or an ally or a good person … call me cynical, but anyone can say it, and even saying it sincerely means nothing. I put up the logo because I support its meaning, but I cannot believe or take seriously that anyone should trust me about it only because they see the logo.

Instead (I said to myself, uncertainly), this movement or awareness or whatever you want to call it cannot be led by me. The only question is whether those who can and should be leading want to do things here as well as anywhere else. It comes right from my most trenchant life-lesson as a child of 60s-70s civil rights: no token black people, no savior white people. We do things ourselves or not at all, and together when and if desired.

All that said, Eloy’s video strikes to my thoughts as an immigrant to Sweden. The dynamics and details are much different from the States, but ethnocentrism and discrimination occur in their own ways here; it’s not a secret or surprise. I’d like to consider what he says in this video very carefully as a phenomenon right in my face, here, among friends, among role-players, and among the active role-playing participants in SIN (the local consortium of gaming clubs) and Sverok (the national support system for cultural activities).

(posted with permission)

,

Leave a Reply