OTW Letter Follow Up and Links

[forestofglory]

I recived a reply to the letter that I wrote to the OTW board asking them to make a statement about racism in transformative fandom and their plans to address it. Here's what it said:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us about this issue. The OTW has already made an internal announcement concerning the matter, to support our Black, Indigenous and POC volunteers to the best of our ability and keep this conversation ongoing so we can keep improving as an organization, both in our internal processes and on our platforms.

However, this is a conversation that will take a lot more time, thought and care before it can be actioned in meaningful external ways. For this reason, the OTW is not currently planning to make an external statement until we are able to share more concrete plans and actions.

Best,
The OTW Board of Directors

This seems to be a form letter that is going out to anyone writing them about the racism. I find this whole inadequate an infuriating! Their refusal to even acknowledge the issue is silencing BIPOC fans, and making it harder for us to fix the problems. The 1st step is admitting there is a problem!

However some smart people are saying some smart thing about this situation and I wanted to share some links.

annateethe wrote a alternative template letter that addresses some of the issues in the form letter. (twitter thread)

no_detective wrote and got the same response. Here's her response

Another response by readingtheend (twitter thread)

amara1783's letter

Renay's statement (twitter thread)

Dr Rukmini Pande and Stich were refernce in a OTW new post that failed to make a statement about racism in the OTW's platforms. they requested that links to their work be removed if the org wasn't going to listen to them.

Stitch's recent blog post about what is happening right now

"What's up with the AO3 and racism?" is good long post about ways in which racism is happening on AO3.

fansplaining's statement

Finally Dr Rukmini Pande has paper out in the latest issue of Transformative Works and Cultures: "How (not) to talk about race: A critique of methodological practices in fan studies"

I still think that the OTW an we as a community can do better. But first we need to see the problem. So if you have not written to the board to ask them to make a statement please do so. They need to know that we care and we hold them accountable.

Comments

[worlds_of_smoke]

UGH. It's perfectly fine to publicly say "We're aware this is an issue and are working on solutions for it. We apologize that we don't have an answer at this time, but assure you that we'll be presenting an answer soon."

[worlds_of_smoke]

I just sent this.

I am deeply concerned by the absence of any message concerning the racism in the OTW. Silence is choosing the side of the oppressor. BIPOC creators are part of our community, and your silence shows you do not support them.

I understand that solutions to racism take time to develop, but your refusal to even publicly admit there is a problem does not give me hope that you will actually address it in any substantial way.

I would like OTW to make a public statement indicating they acknowledge the racism in the community, along with concrete steps that you will take. At the very least, an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee should be established to study possible steps, and it should prioritize BIPOC voices.

I expected much better from the OTW and am deeply disappointed. As a result, I will start advocating that people reconsider their support for OTW until you have shown that you can be trusted to support all creators, regardless of skin color.

Sincerely,
(name)

[forestofglory]

Great letter! Thank you!

[worlds_of_smoke]

NP

Wow.

[inametaphor]

Wow. That's. Wow. "Sorry, it's complicated, so we won't give anyone outside the org a glimmer that we've seen and heard them." Is that the gist of it? What I'm reading into that is a fear of somehow "doing it wrong," and being afraid to say anything until they're somehow sure they won't. That's. I'm really struggling right now with how terrible that is.

[sqbr]

Thank you for this post it was very helpful.