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spearcarrier
2011-07-14 12:29 am UTC (link)

It's in 'Changes', the most recent novel.

This is the same book where he wipes out all the Red Court vampires (who are pretty universally described as Hispanic/Latino). It's a little squirmy when the white main character wipes out an entire group that has been specifically depicted as non-white. One of my more tactless friends swears that if he ever meets Butcdher he's going to ask him why he decided to go with the 'Latino genocide', as he describes it. Meanwhile, Dresden is allies with the other group of people-eaters in the series...you, know, the pale white ones. We've never seen a human/humane Red Court, either, whereas we've seen at least one protaganistic White Court.

I used to like the Dresden Files but boy howdy, does the author have issues.

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warrioreowyn
2011-07-14 02:23 am UTC (link)

...the Red Court weren't specifically depicted as non-white. Paolo Ortega was specifically noted to have been one of the Conquistadors, Martin [the half-vampire who worked with Susan] was noted to be white. It's noted that the Red Court primarily operated in Latin America, but not that they're all Latino. Not that race is a relevant term to use discussing them anyway, because their human forms are simply how they choose to appear - they're actually bat-looking creatures.

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spearcarrier
2011-07-14 01:56 pm UTC (link)

I was under the impression that Paolo Ortega was a Spaniard, which is still 'other' in terms of the rest of the mostly-white cast.

Martin was also working against the Red Court, instrumental in their destruction. He was also not full Red Court. Paolo Ortega, Lady Ariana...admittedly the twins in the fourth book were white, but they're a gender-fail and they die in that same book. All the big movers and shakers are Hispanic/Latino.

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	kumquat_of_doom 2011-07-15 01:15 am UTC (link)
	...But Spaniards are white. Well, that's not quite true, but I'm assuming you don't mean he's a black Spaniard or something like that. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	spearcarrier 2011-07-15 02:03 am UTC (link)
	Paolo Ortega is described fairly dark-skinned and dark-haired; Spanish folks may be lumped in as white or may consider themselves white, I'm not really sure how it goes, but Ortega is specifically described as darker-skinned than most of the protaganistic cast. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kumquat_of_doom 2011-07-15 02:16 am UTC (link)
	Well, yeah; Spanish people are frequently stereotyped as 'swarthy', but every 'ethnically Spanish' (God, these terms are so awkward) person I've ever encountered, my best friend and her family included, would be extremely confused if someone didn't think they were white. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	spearcarrier 2011-07-15 02:51 am UTC (link)
	I take your point. Suffice it to say that the overwhelming majority of the re-occurring Red Court including the Spanish characters, are described as swarthy and non-white compared to the primarily pale-skinned protagonists. So the entire extermination feels just a little bit twitchy and race-faily when looked at as part of the pattern. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kumquat_of_doom 2011-07-15 03:33 am UTC (link)
	nods I'll take your word for it; I've never read the Dresden books, so I've no dog in this fight, I just double-took when you seemed to be saying that Spanish people weren't white. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sukeban 2011-07-15 04:56 pm UTC (link)
	And Paolo is an Italian name (the Spanish for Paul is Pablo, like Picasso), but let's not go there either. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kumquat_of_doom 2011-07-15 06:27 pm UTC (link)
	Somehow, I don't think research is exactly Mr Butcher's forté... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	warrioreowyn 2011-07-21 06:38 pm UTC (link)
	...Spain is in Europe. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	warchio 2011-07-17 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know if you read Changes or not? (Don't want to give spoilers) But there were a number of the Red Court who were specifically noted as being 'not-white' and the Red Court drew from a lot of 'not-white' tropes. Plus, although their actual appearance is of creepy bat-things, they were human once. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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