Query for the Comm

[sanguinity]

Can someone help me out of this hole I'm digging for myself, please? Does Joe Sacco (Palestine) qualify for this comm?

Sacco is Maltese. Malta is a Mediterranean island with a mixed European and Arabic history (f'rinstance, Maltese is an Arabic-family language written in Romanic script); I'm seeing a lot of debate as to whether the Arabic or European influence is stronger, and some assertions that at least some of the debate is British propaganda from when Malta was a British colony. From my roaming around chatrooms trying to figure this out, at least some ethnic Maltese self-identify as people of color.

...but I can't tell if Sacco himself does. The first photo I saw of him, I thought "person of color," but most of the press about him seems to assume he's white (the "his race/background isn't worth mentioning" treatment that white people get). But then, this comm has been generally considering people of the Middle East to be people of color even though many in the mainstream consider them white, so I'm not sure that Sacco's treatment by the press is exactly relevant here.

So... um?

(And if the mods want, I'll delete this post after.)

Comments

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

I think there is no correct answer.

I would go with how Sacco identifies himself (if it is possible to find that out). He seems to ID as Maltese and to do so in ways that make me think he doesn't consider himself white.

[sanguinity]

Thanks. I dug a deep enough hole to think "no correct answer," too, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious. And also, double-check which way the comm defaults in such cases.

[carenejeans.livejournal.com]

Mod here. What sparkymonster said -- there doesn't seem to be a correct answer.

So for the purposes of this comm, I say go ahead and rec him here, count him in your list, etc.

I think in general, if there's a question whether an author "qualifies" as a POC, the answer will be "Yes." Because, I think, if you're even asking the question, there's a racial/ethnic line drawn somewhere by somebody, right? It's a very complicated and senstive issue; and I'm less interested in defining who is and who isn't a POC than in gently leading people away from the habit of reading the Usual White Authors.

The ONLY rule I have here is no frauds, pretendians, or other wannabe POC. But who wants to read them, anyway? 8-)

(No need to delete!)

[sanguinity]

Thanks. :-)