Apology #2

[chris_gerrib]

So, at last year's ConQuest, I put my foot in my mouth. Now, Mark Oshiro has expressed his anger and upset at my statement and other events at the con.

I'm sorry I offended Mark.

For those curious, my part in Mark's misery was that I made a statement at a panel the intent of which was to say that the Spanish conquistadors had systematically written out of the history the contributions of their Indian allies. (Which they did - most of the actual fighting in Peru and Mexico was done by Indian enemies of the ruling empires.)

What came out made it sound like the conquest was the Indian's fault, and I did not get a chance to correct the record on the panel. I'm sorry.

Comments

[beth-bernobich.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you made this second go at apologizing.

At the same time, you could have made the chance at the panel itself to correct your remarks. And honestly? You have not yet addressed your jokes about race and Chinese and Japanese identities, which Mark also talked about.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

At the panel, Mark very firmly cut off the Conquistador discussion, and I did not see a way to get back to it without stepping on Mark's authority as moderator.

The Chinese remark was in agreement with somebody who had noted that Hollywood tended to treat certain ethnicities as interchangeable. I think (can't remember) it may have been with regards to martial arts movies. It was intended to be sarcastic.

I'm frankly not sure where the purple race remark came from - I think I was agreeing with Jan Gephardt. I'll have to disagree with Mark - I did not think that talking about how women get erased from history was at all derailing.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I thought when I read that that it must be a case of you meaning to say something else and having it come out a bit garbled.

Also I read a book a couple of years ago that suggested that the Incan Empire was severely weakened by a series of epidemics--presumably virgin field epidemics as a result of initial contact with Europeans--before the Conquistadors and their Native American allies fought them. I'm not sure how widely this hypothesis is held but it sounded sensible in the book.

I'm sorry Mark and his guest had such an awful time, and some of what went on sounds pretty... well, like people trying to be edgy and instead being inappropriate and harassing. Failure mode of clever and all that. Fandom in general has some adjusting to do.

[(Anonymous)]

You have my sympathy. You're a good person and you don't deserve this.

[frogfarm]

I see that went as well as could be expected.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Offering an apology does not mandate its acceptance.

[frogfarm]

The best reason to apologize for yourself, and not those who refuse to accept it.