Washed Out

A lot of people have followed the #WhiteWashingOUT hashtag last week on Twitter, and there was a lot of positive responses on Twitter, and a lot of negative responses.

This hashtag was largely used to talk about being under represented in movies, but the hashtag represents a lot more.

It represents the total tsunami of underrepresented and under appreciated POC who have ever lived, or been created in print or on screen.

If you’re still unsure about what this means here are some examples:

• It means when I read a book and don’t have a description of the character, I automatically assume she/he is white with blonde/brown hair.
• It means even if there were ethnically diverse characters, they are often cast as the villains (See M. Night Shyamalan’s adaption of Avatar: The Last Airbender).
• It means when people of color are written into books, the book covers still show white people.
• It means as a child I was convinced I couldn’t be Hermione for Halloween because I didn’t have brown hair.
• It means putting economics and money over everything, including accuracy; which apparently the world is kind of hung up on.
• It means we’re expected to be the champions of the math, but fail miserably at art and writing.

White Washing Out doesn’t mean we don’t want to see white people in casts, it means we also want to see Asians, and not just as supporting roles.

If you only ever see people who look like you in supporting roles, it implies you’re never meant to be the main character.

It means you’re only ever part of someone else’s life and world, and were never meant to create your own.