#if anything the racism - overt and covert - has become ingrained into the fanbase

[fleetwood]

i’ve been active in various mcr online communities since literally 2008 and the racism towards ray has never stopped it’s only gotten more subtle and if you don’t see it you’re kidding yourself

#i'm seeing so many people on my dash #saying they've been in the fandom for however many years and it's always been like this #they're all right! unfortunately! #nothing has changed #if anything the racism - overt and covert - has become ingrained into the fanbase #ray is either completely ignored and pushed away #or he's treated as some sort of side character and made the butt of racist and infantilizing jokes #there's no in between #and it's become a cycle at this point #someone will be racist #black and brown fans will exhaust themselves trying to explain why racism is harmful #to people who will performatively engage w/ ray content until things 'calm down' #and then it'll happen all over again #because no one will learn #and this is how it's been for fucking ever #so many people need to check themselves #i've said this before but having a favourite member is one thing #but THIS is a completely other thing and i KNOW these people know it as well #remember when ray was given the puerto rican flag a few shows ago... #and how incredible it was to witness that moment between him and the fan who gave it to him?? #what does it say to that fan and other fans like them and ray himself #when you see that and just continue shoving him out of the picture? #anyway i'm mostly rambling to myself so this probably isn't coherent #but it's just. disappointing and devastating to see this happen yet again #i left that stream cause the constant screenshotting was grating #but. ugh.