Politically correct and proud

A friend of mine once summed up the complaints of those people who rant about 'political correctness gone mad' as basically translating to 'I resent the fact that you are calling me out when I say mean things', which seems a pretty good definition to me.

sarahtales seems to agree. Asked anonymously whether she only includes non-white characters out of a (mistaken) anxiety about 'political correctness', she responded:

I dislike the term ‘politically correct’ because I so often hear it used with a sneer, and because the word ‘politically’ is so unnecessary. What’s wrong with just ‘correct’? As in, it is correct not to be sexist, it is correct not to be racist, it is correct to treat everyone with common decency. See? Works perfectly well.

It’s not a case of ‘everyone is weirdly adding people of colour’ now… it’s a case of ‘everyone was weirdly excluding people of colour’ back then. People of colour EXIST: not having them in fiction IS WEIRD. Imagining stories entirely without them IS WEIRD—why would you want to do it?

You bring up Merlin having a black Guinevere. Well, black people existed in medieval times, so why shouldn’t they be in fictional representations of medieval times?

Leaving aside the fact that ‘medieval Camelot’ isn’t set in medieval times—it’s set in a fantasy world with elements of medieval times and other much more modern stuff, and also… what am I thinking of… oh yes… MAGIC AND DRAGONS.

But clearly… Guinevere is the last straw! Dragons, sure, but black people, you go too far!

I love her to bits.