on anti-racism in fandom/the OTW

[xparrot]

equalityauction is running a fandom charity auction for Black Lives Matter charities. (here are Guardian offers!)

There is currently a lot of discussion going on re: racism in fandom and the OTW's past and present failures to support BIPOC fans. Most of it is happening Twitter so if like me you're rarely on that platform, you can check out naye's recent summaries and roundups:

What's up with the AO3 and racism?
June 18th Roundup on Racism in Fandom
June 19th Twitter Roundup on AO3 & Racism

goss is looking for other BIPOC fans on Dreamwidth

There's also:

Open Letter to the OTW on Racism in Fandom

I signed the above; if you use AO3, or Fanlore, or anything else with the OTW, I urge you to read it and sign it too.

(In all honesty I don't have much faith that internet petitions do much beyond create a momentary sense of comraderie and shared purpose. But that's what the whole OTW was founded on anyway, so it feels like maybe this could mean something.)

For what it's worth, I don't agree with all of the letter's requests -- specifically the first request; while I believe that hiring a consultant on anti-racism is probably a useful and important step, I don't think it will be an effective first step, not without a better structure within the OTW to support and enact any recommended policies.

In my mostly-uninformed opinion (as an ex-OTW committee chair but without other applicable experience managing organizations) -- the OTW has reached the point that it needs some paid staff, because you can't rely on volunteers to do everything, especially specialized and/or really boring work, such as the administration of an organization of hundreds of volunteers. It's managed so far because fans have a huge range of skills and are incredibly dedicated. But that dedication is naturally strongest in the spheres in which the people volunteering are personally impacted. The OTW's volunteers aren't 100% white, but they're majority white, and that makes for a lot of bias, a lot of prioritizing other concerns over actively anti-racist, BIPOC-supportive efforts.

And there are obviously concerns that still have to take priority (like upkeep for the infrastructure that keeps AO3 online and OTW open) but inclusivity has always been one of the central tenets of the OTW, and there are ongoing substantial failures in that area that need to be addressed before the Org can honestly accomplish many of its other goals.

Comments

[naye]

<3

I really do hope this year will bring the change the OTW needs to become more inclusive, anti-racist and well-run.

[xparrot]

Frankly after this year we're all the world over owed a wave of a magic wand that just makes things better.

...I know it's not going to happen. But dammit, we're owed it.

[sheron]

Did you see where the letter asks for a public apology "to scholars of racism within fandom, most prominently Stitch..."? I'm curious if you are aware of and agree with that third point?

[xparrot]

The letter is specifically asking for an apology for citing their work in a post without providing the context for it that they have made criticism of the OTW's own handling of race. Stitch and Dr. Pande asked if those citations could be removed since that context wasn't given; they have not been. I think an apology is a place to start, at least.

[sheron]

Hmm, the letter says "without making any effort to implement their suggestions for the OTW in that work". And from what I saw, the citations had been removed upon request. Maybe I am missing some context. What leads you to believe they weren't?

[xparrot]

I take acknowledging the concerns as the least effort!

--The citations were still up on the post when I checked OTW's site an hour ago! But now there's a note on their removal. So either that change just happened, or it was a caching issue. Hmmm...

[sheron]

Yeah, I saw the citations were removed a few days ago, back when I originally ran across the request itself. I think it must be a caching issue.

[runpunkrun]

Thanks for the links! I too am skeptical of online petitions, but in this instance I think it'll have a little more weight as our whole :waves hands: thing is online.

[xparrot]

Yeah, that's my hope! (I feel for everyone in the OTW staff, because I know what it's like to be trying your hardest and it's never enough. But hopefully something will come of this...)

[runpunkrun]

Yes, this is definitely a lot to deal with, but it's been a long time coming. I'm liking the idea that the OTW hire someone to work on drafting policy or doing the necessary coding. We don't want to burn out the volunteers who keep the place running.