WorldCon: for the record

So I have a lot of things to say about WorldCon—some panel notes ready to go, mental notes for an overall summary, hopes of doing at least an impressionistic summary of the "Fans Aren't Slans" panel since I don't know if anyone was taking notes, etc.

Before all that, however, I see that L. Jagi Lamplighter, who was a participant on a panel I moderated called "Writing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Geographic Terms," has made two posts objecting to things that I and karnythia said in response to her: The Race Question: Who Is Going To Win?, which is about the panel overall, and Part Two: Running With Race, which is about karnythia specifically. (Tobias Buckell said similar things; I note that she did not mention him at all, while karnythia and I are unnamed "girls.")

I wish to put on the record (my record, that is) what I said there:

Hi. I was the moderator.

You will recall that I said at the panel that I thought it important to point out statements based on harmful assumptions, that doing so did not mean that I thought that people were evil people, but that racist attitudes permeate our society.

In that spirit, I was going to engage with your comments (for instance, I dispute your accuracy of at least one thing I said).

However, this post [about karnythia] is sufficiently disrespectful that I cannot discuss this topic with you.

Very truly yours,

Kate Nepveu

I work very hard to remember that understanding racism is a difficult and long process. But I have already said much of what I would have to Ms. Lamplighter in person during the panel, and as all it got me was condescension and insult behind my back (no names in the post = I'd never have seen it if karnythia hadn't found it somewhere and linked), I choose to conserve my energy until such time as Ms. Lamplighter is willing to discuss this topic without being astonishingly rude and dismissive to women of color.

(Was anyone taking notes at the actual panel?)

Some further reading:

• hth_the_first: helpful hint for the colorblind: BE LESS BLIND
• Colorblind Racism and Colorblind Racism vs. Old Fashioned Racism at Rachel's Tavern: Race, Gender, and Sexuality from a Sociological Perspective
• On Being a "Color Blind" Reader... by David Anthony Durham (Campbell Award winner, woo!)
• Brutal Women: Why Writing Colorblind Is Writing White (a rant)
• ETA: "Color Blind or Just Plain Blind?: The Pernicious Nature of Contemporary Racism", John F. Dovidio and Samuel L. Gaertner (snagged from coffeeandink)
• And, you know, all the stuff I'd been recommending at various panels, including the one we were on.