A sub-board for Minority Rpers

[Joel]

I suggest we set up a corner for minority rpers to congregate.  I think it should be open to all rpers too just like the LGBTQA board.

[Vekseid]

Minorities from what region?

What sort of minorities?

And why?

The QUILTBAG forum is here because sexuality is an intimate part of Elliquiy's experience. We get enough racists and bigots exposing themselves in the PROC forum as is.

[Joel]

Yeah.  It did occur to me that there was probably a reason why there wasn't one already set up considering there was a lord and ladies and QUILTBAG too.  I would honestly hope that opening a new forum for this would not encourage more controversy (?).  Optimistically I'd think it'd be positive to E.  A board with conversing minority rpers would project a presence that would remind rpers that we exist on this forum.  It seems like that would be a moderating influence.

As to who constitutes a minority, I think I'm starting to see what you are saying.  It could be an invitation to troll.  Even still, the LGBTQA board doesn't seem to have any of those issues and LGBTQA concerns that's as sensitive as race.  Anyway to answer your question, I'd say it's for anyone who self-identifies.

Finally.  I think race is an often ignored aspect of RPing.  I myself pretty much write predominantly white characters because delving into race (or sexuality) is generally beyond the interest or familiarity of most rpers I come across.  As much as I would like to think that race is decoupled from sexuality (eroticism), realistically I know that that is not true for the majority of people.  Moreover, there are certainly many people who might be interested in making this a part of their RPing and might not have the avenue to share the well? 

edit: you know it occurs to me that with the LGBTQA forum that it's a grab bag of both queer sexuality and fetishism as well as queer issues.  (I have no idea what's happening in the ladies forum, someone share).  Anyway, these special forums were created for more than just the intents of eroticism right?

I think opening up a place for people to discuss that would enrich the forum.  However, I respect your judgment on the matter.

[Vekseid]

There already are forums to discuss race in roleplaying - in On and Off Topic, and possibly the Literary boards as well. Nothing keeps you from making a thread there.

There are many reasons behind QUILTBAG's creation, and it was surrounded by drama and ignorance. The situation that led to me being hospitalized (and other issues ongoing at the time) meant that the issues with it did not get resolved until much, much later, and we lost some good members in the process.

Setting up a 'racial minority' forum is another can of worms, but this time with no community justification behind it. It's sequestering the discussion from general view - which is never a healthy thing for a discussion.

People see QUILTBAG on E and understand that that makes sense.

People see a racial forum on E and wonder WTF is up. Why should I go in there? Do I even want to? What made them segregate this sort of discussion? I probably don't want to know.

[Blythe]

(I have no idea what's happening in the ladies forum, someone share).

Please don't ask what goes on in Ladies Only. The gender-only boards are private, and it's against the rules for people to share what goes on in their respective gender only boards with members who do not have access to that board.

[Cycle]

You know, Joel, if you wanted RPs involving characters of a particular race or ethnicity, you might be able to find them by putting up ads.  I know there are several E members who like such pairings or playing such characters.  I'm pretty sure I've seen such ads before too.

[consortium11]

Minorities from what region?

What sort of minorities?

This was the first thing that danced out at me (on the assumption that this would primarily be a forum for... I'm searching for wording that isn't crude but "racial minority discussions" conveys basically what I mean).

Elliquiy has an international membership (albeit one that I imagine is heavily skewed towards the US) and fairly self-evidently a minority in one country may be the majority in another. I don't know if there are any E members in Kenya (although I logged in from there once) but if they are where would they stand in a discussion of (crude wording again) "black issues"... as they are the majority in Kenya. If an E member is a expat do they count as a minority... would we consider it an appropriate place for say, white Americans who have moved to live in Mexico to discuss any issues they have. I'm English... do I count as a minority?

Echoing Veks existing points it strikes me that there are already areas for discussing (still exceptionally crude wording) "minority issues" on E. For the more debate and political side there's P&R. For an academic take there's E-U. For any rants there's B&U. For discussions about how it impacts on roleplaying there's On-topic. For other points that don't necessarily fit in the other areas there's Off-topic. If you want to set up roleplays with a decidedly racial focus (again that's crude wording but I hope my intent comes across) there's the roleplay requests and if you'd like to play more non-white characters you can put that it your O&O's so prospective writing partners are aware.

I appreciate that the QUILTBAG largely straddles those areas and delves into all of them. I wasn't involved (or even really aware) of the reasons behind its creation or whatever fallout there may have been from drama (Veks post is basically the first time I knew about it) so I can't dive into the thinkin behind it. What I can say is that it seems to me that the QUILTBAG doesn't fall into the issue mentioned above. Put simply, a Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans (Transgender/Transsexual), Bisexual, Asexual or Gay (to use the full term) person is still that whether they live in Mombasa or Marlborough. The issues they face may be different but the status as someone who identifies as QUILTBAG (is that the right way to phrase it?) doesn't? In contrast a white man in Mombasa is a minority as is a black man in Marlborough. If they swapped locations suddenly neither would be. It's not just that their issues are different, it's that their very status as a minority or not changes.

[Oniya]

Just as a point, the 'A' can also stand for 'Ally' - someone who is not Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans (Transgender/Transsexual), Bisexual, Asexual or Gay, but stands in solidarity.

[consortium11]

Just as a point, the 'A' can also stand for 'Ally' - someone who is not Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans (Transgender/Transsexual), Bisexual, Asexual or Gay, but stands in solidarity.

Noted; I went with Wictionary for the list of terms which may well have been a mistake.