firecat

Claimer: I have a small role working on Wiscon.

I think people who run Wiscon did a right thing by withdrawing Elizabeth Moon's GOH invitation, as a result of her writing a post that showed intolerance of Muslims, and then deleting all the comments on the post.

I disagree with the people who think it was unforgivable that the decision was not made instantaneously.

I don't disagree with the people who think it took too long. I also have sympathy for the amount of time it took, because the decision-makers were trying to deal with a situation they haven't handled before, and that's hard for a sizable group of humans.

I disagree with the people who think it is unforgivable for Wiscon's public communications to have waffled (the initial message was that we would not withdraw the invitation, then we did). It would have been better if that hadn't happened, but see above.

I agree with the people who point out that the length of time the decision took caused practical and emotional hardship for potential Wiscon attendees who felt unsafe as a result of EM's remarks.

I agree that the waffling and the delay made it look like the people who put on Wiscon might not be committed to creating a convention welcoming to people of color and third-wave feminists.

I think almost all the people who put on Wiscon are committed to creating a convention with a social justice focus. Also, we may not be working hard enough on it and may not be sufficiently well educated on social justice issues.

Current Mood: listening
Crossposts: http://firecat.livejournal.com/689683.html

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From:

flarenut

if you do, and if you don't. Make the decision instantly, and prepare for months of recriminations and second-guessing for having shot from the hip. Make it slowly, and get slammed for dithering and screwing with people's plans. Make whatever process you have fully open, and people who merely have a voice will believe they have a vote; meanwhile other people who don't want to have everything they say nitpicked will pull back. Make the process closed, and you'll have the appearance (and maybe the reality) of being arbitrary and capricious. I've been in organization where events and other things were run both ways (sometimes the same organization and even the same people), and hard decisions suck. In a bad way.

Which doesn't mean that there aren't better and worse ways of managing such decisions, just that the gamut for outcomes ranges from less rotten to more rotten, and that one maybe shouldn't expect anything other than that. Which is all pretty much a longwinded way of saying "What she said."

(I am reminded a little of an acquaintance who was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer a few months after finally marrying and moving to the same city as his longtime love. His equanimity, courage and grace were like a beacon to everyone around him, and he did the best job of dying -- emotionally, logistically, physically -- you could ask for. It was still horrible.)