I didn't know she had died until Card mentioned it in his latest column. It was Card's fragments in How To Write SF that introduced me to her works. I was so looking forward to Parable of the Trickster.
I wish the blurbs did not segregate her as a "black" science fiction author. Her works show the spectrum good and evil in the human race, no matter thier gender or skin color. She wrote for a human audience and I found her ethnic portrayals always evenhanded.
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Yes, I'm a fan of Octavia Butler, but it also bothered me that everyone keeps talking about her minority status as a black female science fiction writer. Technically I also am in the minority as a white female science fiction writer. So what? Who cares what color her skin is? I find that kind of stuff almost as discriminatory as racial slurs.
At the high school I attended in California, white kids were the minority. We had rainbow colored classrooms. Did I care what percentage of the students were similarly colored to me? No. So why even bring it up?
The characters in my stories have all types of skin color, age, and gender, with no reference to my own. I just think that harping on skin color, even to praise it, is pointless.
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When I heard of her death last week, I was surprised how hard it hit me. Her writing has provided me with both enjoyment and education. I agree with both of you, however Octavia Butler did make a point of including notes in the back of some of her books that encourage other blacks and black women to write sifi, so I guess it was very important to her. Her death has given me one more reason not to put off writing until tomorrow.
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I wish color was never an issue. What difference does it make? We're all one race--the human race. As far as I'm concerned, the only need for skin color identification is to let the police know what the suspect looked like.
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When I grew up, I had no idea that Octavia Butler was black, nor Samueal Delaney. And I didn't realise James Tiptree Jr was a woman. And so on.
However, I would like to point out that sometimes it's perfectly acceptable for someone to point out that they have succeeded "against the odds", and to serve as a role model for other people who may lack opportunity or may feel that they don't have any "successful" people that they can identify with. Those of us who are "white" don't have a problem finding role models, and indeed probably do it subconsciously because we see ourselves as the "norm". Those of us who are not "white" may feel differently about it, and I don't think it's my place to say that a successful "black" (or any other minority that has been the subject of discrimination) author (or any other field of endeavour) shouldn't be up-front about the fact.
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I am an African-American (Black) writer/teacher. I write and teach English partly because I read Imago, Dawn, and Wildseed. I never knew there were successful Black science fiction writers until I saw these books. I thought Black writers only wrote essays and non-fiction historical accounts. She was the reason I fell in love with science fiction, and OSC edified my love for the genre. I am one of the thousands of reasons why she is identified as a Black female science fiction writer. 'Nuff said.
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I am an African-American (Black) writer/teacher. I write and teach English partly because I read Imago, Dawn, and Wildseed. I never knew there were successful Black science fiction writers until I saw these books. I thought Black writers only wrote essays and non-fiction historical accounts. She was the reason I fell in love with science fiction, and OSC edified my love for the genre. I am one of the thousands of reasons why she is identified as a Black female science fiction writer. 'Nuff said.
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Sometimes it seems necessary to mention a successful person's ethnicity, just for the sake of shattering the stereotypical images. There are still too many misconceptions about people of certain ethnicities. I applaud Octavia Butler for making her race known, and hope other successful black Sci-fi and Fantasy authors will follow her lead in making their race a publicized part of their persona.
[This message has been edited by Salimasis (edited March 08, 2006).]
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I don't think that anyone would object to a White writer promoting themselves as a White writer. Some would not even acknowledge it; some would consider it cynical and socially critical; some would celebrate it and gain inspiration of it. We need to stop being so afraid to acknowledge the WHOLE author because we are afraid of offending someone. Silence can be just as offensive.
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I'm ambivalent about having any words related to religion or race in a memorial, only because it seems like certain memorials in the paper are loaded (I cringe when I think of what OCS's memorial might be when he passes on... hopefully that will be many, many years from now .)
On the other hand, I spent a few months as one of two white kids in a middle school here in Texas where the majority of kids were African-American. It made a very strong impression on me. I started looking at my appearance, my attitude, my culture differently and not in a positive light, either. If mentioning race, religion, or any other label helps encourage and inspire people to look beyond sterotypes, I'm all for it.
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What people are missing here is that some races are cultures, too, just like some religions are cultures.
Judiasm, Hinduism, Islam -- these are both religions and cultures. Methodism (is that even a word) is only a religion, but evangelical Christianity is both a religion and a (new!) culture. Catholicism can be both, depending on how well a Catholic knows his religion and its history.
There's no such thing as a "white" culture because America and all of Europe have been traditionally "white." Thus, you have British culture, which is different from French culture, which is different from American culture, which is different from.... You get my point.
The black community in the US has a culture unto themselves, and therefore when a writer says she's an "Black SF writer" what she is saying -- I think -- is that she's has merged the SF genre with her own culture. There's also the added element of segregation in US history. As one black writer (I forget his name) noted, segregation was both good and bad for black people. On the one hand, it forced them to come together and form their own communities and culture; but on the other hand it constantly reminded them that they weren't really part of America -- not "good enough" to participate with whites. (Very evident between the late 20s and early 40s when black ball players were forced to play in the Negro Leagues. Just think if Satchel Paige had pitched in the majors!) This is the basic struggle of the black community, as I see it as a white male -- should we integrate with white American society and culture, or should we segregate into our own communites and cultivate our own cultures? It's the fundamental difference between the teachings of Martin Luther King and Malcome X, between Bill Cosby and Farrikan (sp?). I'm simplifying, of course.
But we don't want this to descend into a political debate about race. So in terms of writing we should remember to ask ourselves not only what religion and race our characters are, but what their cultures are, too.
[This message has been edited by Garp (edited March 09, 2006).]
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