Quick note

[cnoocy]

I've been keeping track of the discussion that is being called RaceFail09 on rydra_wong's lj. I don't have anything really deep to say about it, because I am very much reading and learning. But I do want to say this:

Publicizing any personal details, including their legal name, about someone who has requested that those details stay private is horrendously offensive and not to be easily forgiven. And you cannot make the argument that your target justified your behavior by saying bad things about your real name in public if you chose to participate in a discussion under your real name. You both brought a persona to the table, and each of you made the choice what data to link to that persona.

Comments

[naomikritzer]

I totally agree with you about this.

I have had positive professional dealing with Kathryn Cramer, so when she friended me on LJ I friended her back. I de-friended her after this happened, not that it was more than a symbolic gesture as she'd deleted her LJ.

This whole debacle has made me uncomfortable in a lot of ways, because some of the people making asses of themselves are people I have met in person and liked. (I know and like David Levine, for instance, and Sarah Monette, and Elizabeth Bear.) But outing people's identities crosses a huge and very well-signed line. (OK, it's not always well-signed who cares and who doesn't, and honest mistakes should be given the benefit of the doubt. But when you make an honest mistake and are told, the proper response is to correct it and apologize, not to perpetuate the violation of privacy, indignantly demand that they apologize to you, etc.)

Outing someone who wishes to be anonymous is the nuclear option of online fandom. It is used explicitly as a weapon against people who have committed treason to the community, and criminal acts. It was done, deliberately, to Rachel Moss, who absolutely deserved it. I expect that if someone in the SF community committed a crime that potentially endangered the community (assault, sexual assault, stalking, etc.) that they would be outed, as well. But OMG. Outing is a PUNISHMENT. It is revenge. It is not something to be used against someone who criticized your words, even if they did it in a harsh way.

I have a bunch of things to say and I keep not having time to say them (let alone then stick around and moderate comments) and it is driving me crazy.

[lemurtanis.livejournal.com]

I spent about 15 minutes reading through things linked from the above LJ and from other links from other friends.

I guess the continuing discussions are just too animosity-filled to really make me want to learn more.

[naomikritzer]

There are some truly fabulous and enlightening posts that unfortunately have been largely overwhelmed by the volume and heat of some of the others.

deepad's posts are particularly worth reading (and there aren't a ton of them) and nojojojo also wrote some really excellent observations (like, "hey, you know what? People of Color worry about this stuff, too!") There are others, but those are a few that come to mind really fast.

[lemurtanis.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I might poke around those once I shake off all the negativity from my last foray.

[probably-lost.livejournal.com]

Aagh! My eyes!

Naomi, your recommended posts are indeed worthwhile, and if I had been possessed of the sense to stop there, I would have been better off for it. But oh, the animosity.

I also had somehow failed to realize that since the last time I was paying attention, an Author Who Shall Not Be Named has gone completely and utterly insane.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I'm letting Tablesaw's LJ tell me everything I need to know.

[tablesaw]

Well I'm definitely not telling folks everything I think they should know; I'm just telling the parts that I think I can communicate.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

That's as much as I need to know. Er, I mean...in all seriousness, it's not that I don't care about racism; I just don't care as much about sf fandom as I used to (and while I love sf, I never cared about its fandom that much to start with). Following this would take far, far more energy than I have to spare these days.

[tablesaw]

I'll rephrase. There's a lot of really thoughtful and helpful posts that have come out of this discussion that stand on their own even for people who aren't invested in the specifics of the community. And I haven't been making a particular effor to link to those posts (or to evaluate other linkspams other than rydra_wong's comprehensive collection) in my journal. I may reconsider that.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I started to look at Rydra's collection of links and found it far too overwhelming. What I'd love is a neutral summary, perhaps with a handful of links, preferably just with a few major quotes pulled out. Alas, Wikipedia has no article about this (and that may be just as well, but then again, tracking current events is otherwise one of the things that Wikipedia tends to be good for).

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Publicizing any personal details, including their legal name, about someone who has requested that those details stay private is horrendously offensive and not to be easily forgiven.

Easy for you to say, renowned author Connie Willis.

[cnoocy]

Ha!