The Door Is Open Wide

Two Tumblr posts to read re: fandom racism and recent choices by people in (or previously in) the OTW.

A pattern of dismissal and retaliation: the experiences of Zixin Z. and the Chinese volunteers by fandomantiracism

former otw board candidate's attempted take-down of a volunteer of color is cruel. and racist! by fiercynn

I know it's a lot to take in. I know the past couple of months have been a relentless stream of revelations about racism, toxicity and dysfunction inside the OTW. But especially us white folks need to speak out against it. We can't turn away because it makes us uncomfortable, or harshes our squee, or whatever. Fans of color don't have the choice to ignore racism.

You can listen to and uplift the voices of fans of color and others speaking out about racism. You can boost posts like these on Dreamwidth and other social media.

You can even write the OTW. Their contact form is right here. (Now, I've never received a reply from the Board, and there are only two of them left at this point. But writing them can't be more pointless than not saying anything at all, right?)

The election is uncontested, which means all five candidates will join the Board. But votes will determine which candidates get seats for the full term, and which will take on the remainders of vacated seats. So if you're a voting member of the OTW, you can vote for who you think is most qualified for full terms. You can find candidate Q&A:s and hopefully soon chat question replies through the Election tag on the OTW website.

So while none of it is a quick and easy fix to racism, there are things you can do.

The one thing that won't do anything, however? Remaining silent on where you stand.

ETA: Or as clevermanka so eloquently put it,

I mean, it will do something, which is help to reaffirm the current status quo.

Silence is never neutral.