“It’s disingenuous to say their race doesn’t matter in this world, when the most prominent and numerous people are white.” On the racial casting choices of Bridgerton. https://observer.com/2021/01/bridgerton-sees-race-through-a-colorist-lens/ And along the same lines: If Bridgerton wanted Black aristocracy, why didn’t they portray Haiti? (link)

Repressed memories, implanted memories, false memories: How did the narrative around these things develop in psychology, and is it merited? (cw: child sexual abuse and CSA apologism) (link)

This GQ story of the 2020 capture of a Rwandan war criminal who has evaded justice for decades was extremely fascinating. (It does talk about the Rwandan genocide, and early in the article there’s some disturbing descriptions of the violence in that period.) (link)

I just can’t get enough of profiles and interviews with Amanda Gorman, whose performance was an absolute standout in the inauguration. (link)

“To tell a student that ‘said’ is her only option is ‘not to teach her to write better, but to teach her whose writing is better,’ Salesses argues.” An interview with Matthew Salesses, author of the new book Craft in the Real World. (link)

This is a fascinating, and horrifying, deep dive into the story of a German doctor accused of sexually assaulting vulnerable HIV patients for decades. (link)

“The character of a distributed, rules-optional game isn’t made of paper and ink, stony tropes or immovable stereotypes. First and foremost, it reflects the character of its players.” On racism in D&D. (link)

Namwali Serpell considers the racial politics of Soul and the tradition of race-transformation tales in American cinema. (link)

The Rahm Emmanuel Livejournal fan community is an embarrassing relic of the days when many liberals uncritically idolized political figures. WERE WE EVER SO YOUNG. (link)

Reading Sara Ahmed’s work always requires a lot of focus from me (her language is simple but her ideas are dense), but it’s invariably worth it for gems like this: “Reconciliation can be experienced as the enforcement of communication.” (link)

Who gets to escape into fandom? (White people! It’s white people.) (link)

Joshua Yehl considers the case of Harry Potter fandom and how, if at all, it’s possible now to ethically engage with JK Rowling’s work. (link)

“How many women—one, two, fifty, ten thousand, more—will we sacrifice to the ravenous maw of men’s promise?” Carmen Maria Machado on Promising Young Woman. (link)

AOC refuted the lies that Republicans want to tell about what happened on 1/6 of this year. (link)

The invention (and consequences) of printing books. (link)

“The fact that Levinson, who is white, has decided to deploy Washington, who is Black, as a shield for his rhetorical bomb-throwing inspires enough eye-rolling to power a household appliance.” Soraya Nadia McDonald on Malcolm and Marie. (link)

“Knowing that some people are already invested in the characters does mean you can skip straight to being very nasty to them.” The best line of an excellent interview with Emily Tesh, Everina Maxwell, and A. K. Larkwood. (link)

“They want to be safe from us, but they don’t want us to be safe from them.” On policing library patrons. (link)

What have y’all been reading this week? Books, internet articles? Tell me everything!

The post Really a lot of thoughts on racism: A links round-up appeared first on Reading the End.

This piece on Netflix password-sharing is incredible, but also, it has such a good update at the end.

Adam Serwer on the Jussie Smollett mess and the history of hate crime hoaxes. Zak Cheney-Rice on what this case does and doesn’t mean.

The knitting community is grappling with racism.

Carrie Ann Lucas, a vocal disability advocate, died because her insurance company wanted to save $2000 on an antibiotic.

All worldbuilding is inherently political.

Here is a completely bananas article about a fake sex doctor, although holy shit TW for dismissive, irresponsible language about suicide and attempted suicide.

I am so embarrassed that I never realized Henry Higgins in Pygmalion is queer-coded. Dammit, My Fair Lady!

Namwali Serpell considers the limits of fiction’s ability to make us more empathetic.

Nobody remembers this influential 19th-century novel, written by a woman. This article argues that it’s all Henry James’s fault, which feels like — kind of a stretch? Like, the whole of the literary canon tends to exclude women as much as possible? I don’t think we can really lay it all at the door of one obituary.

More Murderbot is on the way!

An excellent vid of the ladies of Marvel. (Though as Michi Trota points out, it also highlights the lack of Asian women in the MCU — I’d have loved for this to include some Melinda May!)

Sarah Gailey on how imposter syndrome can lead to abuse.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on Michelle Obama’s persona and her new book, Becoming.

Happy weekend, friends! If you’re in a place that’s liable to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I hope that place is celebrating in a nice, fun way and not an awful, gropey way!

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