Okay so I was perusing the SU tag for the first time in a while and for some reason half of it is this big ol’ debacle about the races of the gems. Normally I just try to avoid fandoms in general because this stuff always happens, but I actually want to give my take on it for a minute here. To support my conclusions, I’ll be comparing their race to how their gender is treated in the canon of the show.

What is canon?

Well, what’s canon so far is that the gems technically do not have a gender. This was stated by creator of the show, Rebecca Sugar. Technically, as the gems are not human, their gender, if any, is simply gem. However, it is also canon that they choose to allign with female characteristics and pronouns while on earth. However, just because they allign with these feminine attributes does not make them female. As a side note, they are able to change their forms at will, as Amethyst wil often change into animals or male-coded humanoid forms.

What can be logically assumed about their gender from the canon?

Well, given that they are technically genderless but ID as female in canon, we can safely believe:
-They likely choose to present as humanoid because it makes it easiest for them to communicate with humans and blend in slightly better.
-They likely choose how they want to look as humanoid, given that they can take on whatever attribute they desire when shapeshifting.

Therefore, when on earth, they clearly have observed the presence of a gender binary, and to better conform and navigate earth, it is likely that they elected to take on not only a humanoid form, but one that fell within this binary so that they would have little complications when interacting with humans.

Summary: They do not fall within the gender binary, and are genderless/gem as their gender. However, they choose to ID as female when on earth to simplify things.

So what does that have to do with race?

Well, a lot less has been said about race. At least with gender, we get the clues of the pronouns used in the show, what is said by the creator, and so on. However, this is not the case with the gems.

So is there any canon about their race?

The only thing we are certain of is this: They are gems.

Gem is their race, because they are not human. HOWEVER, I submit the following conclusion based on how the gems treat gender.

Just as the gems can elect which gender to present as while in humanoid form, it’s easily inferrable that they can do so with race, or at least to an extent. Of course, no human has purple skin like Amethyst, but Amethyst can certainly take on the shapes and attributes of a particular race or type of person. It’s unsure what drove them to choose the appearance of their human form; perhaps it was just the first people they saw on earth? Who knows.

But I digress, rather than the gems having a race, they are simply gems, but they take on attributes of other races.

So what does it matter?

Well, to some it doesn’t. But to many, it does. Even in the modern age, POC see so little representation of themselves in media.

So, here’s how I see it. Even though the gems aren’t actually the race they visually appear to be, they chose that form. They liked that form and that’s how they wanted to look; they wanted those attributes. So even though Garnet isn’t actually black or afro latinx, she took on those characteristics because she found them to be desirable for her. And that’s cool.

They could have made all the gems look vaugely euro-centric, tall, and skinny, but they didn’t. And in a way, each appearance of the gems reflects their personality. You can see why they chose those attributes.

You have Pearl, who chose a tall, thin frame to suite her agility and lithe movements that she uses when dancing and swordfighting. The short hair also will not get in the way when she is doing such.

Garnet is tall and strongly built, giving her a powerful and intimidating appearance. She has a commanding presence, towering over most others with a presumably muscular body.

Then there’s Amethyst. She’s a devilish trickster who doesn’t really care about her looks. So, she has long, unkempt hair and didn’t particularly bother with giving herself some super tall or muscular body, since she relies on her gem strength. She probably thinks her human body won’t help or hurt her, and so far in the series that can be assumed to be correct.

So yes, I think it’s important that the gems are coded with certain characteristics that imply a certain race. And I think Rebecca Sugar did this for a reason, personally.

And sure, when you draw human gems, you can draw them as any race since they’re technically not of a human race, but let me tell you this: If you truly headcanon human Garnet as white, I think you need to sit down and really think about why you do.

Summary: Gems are genderless and their race is gem, but they take on particular traits and attributes of certain gender(s) and race(s) as it suits them.

Well, that was a long speech. I hope this makes sense! I just wanted to impart a bit of my thoughts on the whole debate. =u=