So I've been reading about dreadlocks today...

I followed a link on my flist to a discussion about dreadlocks, so I've been thinking about them all day, reading other articles linked to, etc. The original discussion started when, as I read it, somebody said something insulting, but without meaning to, which is no surprise on the Internet. People responded, and the defensive response to the response left me thinking...wow, it really is that frustrating being a fan of color!

I'm not a FoC myself, so I'm writing this squirming and thinking I'm going to come across as holier-than-thou, but I seriously don't feel that way and hope it doesn't come across that way. It's just it seems like people are not thinking about what was said when it would be so easy for them to do so, because they've never had to think about it. It's especially ironic in fandom where we're used to analyzing words characters say to death!

( So, more specifics and thoughts and links under the cut... )