The Burden of Education
More than anything, what strikes me about the concom's decision (and the wording of that decision) regarding Elizabeth Moon's status as a GoH of Wiscon is that it unfairly burdens the Muslim members of the community with yet more expectations that they engage in patient education of someone who has been vile and determined in her offensiveness.
Personally, I think Elizabeth Moon bypassed her teachable moment when she deleted comments on her post - but left the post up as is.
She took people's words away from them. If I had thought to hope it, I'd have hoped that she, as an author, would understand how wrong that is. Instead, she wholesale deleted everything - well over 300 comments the last time I managed to check it before the deletion.
That's not acceptable to me and it means, to me, that she has no interest in engaging with people on this subject, that she has closed herself off to the incredibly kindly worded and the... less kindly worded and everything in between.
So, I'm not interested in punishing Nisi Shawl, who is also a GoH, by not attending Wiscon. But I am interested in participating in whatever protest happens during Elizabeth Moon's GoH speech.
I'm interested in figuring out ways to move the burden of education and presentation off of the Muslim members of the community. It is not their job to show up anyway and it is not their job to create counterprogramming. It is our job, whether they show up our not, to create an atmosphere that is a) explicitly welcoming to Muslim fans in the face of Elizabeth Moon's bigotry and b) to step up when it comes to genuine teachable moments and education. I'm not sure how that will wind up manifesting - but I do think there needs to be some sort of organization on the part of nonMuslim fans to ensure that this so-called teaching moment doesn't ruin what is, in essence, supposed to be a damn vacation in a space that explicitly values social justice politics.
This entry was originally posted at http://onceupon.dreamwidth.org/1267389.html.
Personally, I think Elizabeth Moon bypassed her teachable moment when she deleted comments on her post - but left the post up as is.
She took people's words away from them. If I had thought to hope it, I'd have hoped that she, as an author, would understand how wrong that is. Instead, she wholesale deleted everything - well over 300 comments the last time I managed to check it before the deletion.
That's not acceptable to me and it means, to me, that she has no interest in engaging with people on this subject, that she has closed herself off to the incredibly kindly worded and the... less kindly worded and everything in between.
So, I'm not interested in punishing Nisi Shawl, who is also a GoH, by not attending Wiscon. But I am interested in participating in whatever protest happens during Elizabeth Moon's GoH speech.
I'm interested in figuring out ways to move the burden of education and presentation off of the Muslim members of the community. It is not their job to show up anyway and it is not their job to create counterprogramming. It is our job, whether they show up our not, to create an atmosphere that is a) explicitly welcoming to Muslim fans in the face of Elizabeth Moon's bigotry and b) to step up when it comes to genuine teachable moments and education. I'm not sure how that will wind up manifesting - but I do think there needs to be some sort of organization on the part of nonMuslim fans to ensure that this so-called teaching moment doesn't ruin what is, in essence, supposed to be a damn vacation in a space that explicitly values social justice politics.
This entry was originally posted at http://onceupon.dreamwidth.org/1267389.html.