there's this weird trend rn where people seem to think that because they hate misogyny and racism and colonialism or whatever and don't want to address these things inadequately it's "safer" to not tackle these things at all. i only like writing fanfiction about men because then i don't have to think about misogyny. i only write white characters because i'm white and if i write characters of color i might mess up and do something racist. my historical fiction will be constructed in such a way that my reader will never have to think about the slavery and colonial extraction that provides the cotton my characters wear and the sugar they eat and the gold in their jewelry. the presence of the oppressed would introduce oppression, would rupture the fantasy, would make my characters, my readers, myself as the author, unclean. better not to let them be seen at all.
tbh even with historical fiction and colorblind casting there's something similar to this. we want to imagine a regency britain without racism. it will look exactly the same as a regency britain maintained by slavery colonialism and white supremacy, but anyone of any race can wear those nice dresses. we want to make a show about pirates without making you root for or sympathize with slavers, so let's forget about all that unpleasantness, blackbeard is a man of color now. we want an american revolution that looks like america does today. let's erase hercules mulligan's slave cato and his important spywork completely and instead cast his owner as a black man and call him an abolitionist. doesn't that go down a bit easier.
