A first note re: PantyCon

You know, frankly, I'm surprised that it's a surprise to so many white people that this entry was taken to be racist. I first learned about this when Jamie announced it at the Bringing Race to the Table panel, but I wasn't looking at her. I was looking at Crystal and Xochitl Lopez-Ramirez​'s faces. That told me all I needed to know. When I saw the text later, I saw exactly why it was so hurtful. Let me list the reasons:

• Ironically enough, ironic racism turns out to still be racism and without even a punchline, the microaggressions themselves become the punchline. This ends up belittling the everyday lived and painful experience of people of color -- which isn't even ironic racism, it is just plain unadorned racism! 
• Now, compare to the Cultural Appropriation joke-panel which has appeared in the PantyCon as long as I can remember. That one is obviously and clearly an exaggeration. Though I have seen people pop up espousing such views, explicitly endorsing cultural appropriation as a spiritual path (and somehow manage to have just barely enough respect for them for other reasons to not name them here), even my friends of color express shock and surprise at seeing their comments -- they are beyond the pale. However, the statements in the Ignoring Racism panel are things people say in all earnesty, seriousness, and sincerity ALL THE TIME. Hell, Monday of Con, 5 white people in the Staff Lounge attacked me as a supposed "racist" (news flash: "racism against whites" is a nonsensical concept) because I told one of them she was lying when she said she wasn't "going to do anything involving racism for like the next 20 months." That's not a joke, that's not satire, that's not humor. And neither was the PantyCon
• It's triggering and only racism says it's okay to trigger Pagans of Color like that. 

I know I said I knew exactly, but that is almost certainly a lie -- I'm not a person of color, so I almost certainly missed something (and probably multiple of them!)

To PantyCon:
#sorrynotsorry but good intentions don't matter now. Having a person of color on your staff doesn't matter now. Saying, "But CoG started it" doesn't matter now. Pointing out that CoG needs to face their bullshit, while true, not only doesn't matter now, it is not mutually exclusive with you dealing with your bullshit.

Signed,
Frustrated White Pagan