That’s my thinking too, but on the other hand I’m disturbed by how I’ve been interacting with these asks. It’s a joke to me because, well, it’s not exactly the highest-grade “arguments” they’re making, but also because the racism doesn’t affect me directly. Not only am I not Black, I’m not a minority the way Asian people living in other parts of the world are. So answering these asks has become more like, “Haha, this is so funny and I’m so clever (compared to this asshole, which, high bar)!” rather than about empathy for what Black people and other POCs go through in fandom spaces and in life. By answering these asks I have also unthinkingly been using my blog as a platform for racism, which is exactly what the anon (God I hope it’s just one) wanted. It’s become a collusion between them and me, they get the exposure they want and I get to look smart in my own mind by kicking them around. That doesn’t feel remotely okay now that I look back on it.

I do agree that these people should be exposed and these asks have informational value about what fandom is like if nothing else. I will continue archiving racist asks I receive in the future and will potentially air them in some controlled way–maybe give them to someone who keeps records, maybe post to a separate fandom racism receipts blog–but I won’t give racists the platform they want or treat the whole thing as a joke.