tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post7801404795260255118..comments2024-03-26T01:10:13.720+00:00Comments on Teach Me Tonight: Race and the RITAsE. M. Selingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-44884798668850959662019-04-06T18:38:18.530+01:002019-04-06T18:38:18.530+01:00Well, wow. So, no apology, just to quiet the noise...Well, wow. So, no apology, just to quiet the noise, and still with the self-righteous martyr attitude. The racism is well entrenched, and the "generous lady of the manor" persona is firmly in place.aztecladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14857872357667370906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-29303061292073657792019-03-30T15:48:36.773+00:002019-03-30T15:48:36.773+00:00This is an excellent article. Thank you.
Sandra S...This is an excellent article. Thank you.<br /><br />Sandra Schwab, My comment was inappropriate, and while it was colloquial and said from a place of deep hurt and anger, I realized immediately that it was pouring gasoline on a raging inferno. I apologized instantly, then realized that leaving the words up there was a continual stream of gasoline. I removed it from my feed. Interestingly enough, it was not from AOC that I/we received the most vitriolic comments. It was from sanctimonious white women who feel as though hurling stones at various other RWA members make them more pro-AOC. It doesn't, it just make them bullies. How does injuring someone else fix the issue? How does forcing people who have earned the nomination to withdraw? When I responded and referred people to my original tweet – I was vilified. When I blocked people I was vilified. The mob mentality ruled. Didn't FIX anything, didn't make anyone happy, didn't allow anyone to enjoy their moment. If I'm unhappy, then damn, it, you should be even more miserable. Is *that* how it works? Apparently, yes.<br /><br />My original post after a total stranger emailed me – "Devastated. Would you please call me?" I immediately called her back. She and another nominee were ripped apart by the directly aimed vitriol the moment they announced they'd finialed. They were scared and wouldn't be going to NY.<br /><br />As a long time champion of new writers/authors, I was incensed. This was my Twitter post. "I agree 100% that this must change, but can't we wait five minutes for the finalists to enjoy their day?" How did this make me a racist, bigot, hater of fat white women, hater of LGBQT? (Yes, I was called all that and much much worse both on Twitter and privately)<br /><br />The mob mentality ruled, stridently yelling over compassion, logic, and rationality. Don't get me wrong, as stated time and time again. I agree that RWA has a bias. But it's not going to be fixed instantly. Why couldn't those finalist enjoy their moment in the meantime?<br /><br />My withdrawal from my Lifetime Achievement Award was no apology. It took myself out of the fray to quiet the noise for the board and the very people who were vilifying me. I've spent more than 30 years mentoring, supporting and loving new writers. I put time and thousands of $$ where my mouth is. That won't change, and honestly? If any one of the woman who dumped on me on Twitter, who threatened to get together in NY and throw food at me, spit on me, and boo me wherever I went- ever asks for my help with plot or anything else, I'd say yes without a second's hesitation.<br /><br />Another excellent article https://medium.com/@kharmakelley/how-a-dei-advocate-case-studies-the-ritas-7a8faa9a1079<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940674814696412113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-78542835967578255042019-03-29T23:12:15.066+00:002019-03-29T23:12:15.066+00:00The video has been deleted by now. The video has been deleted by now. Sandra Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496019392789508611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-51815752389797730532019-03-29T15:06:04.515+00:002019-03-29T15:06:04.515+00:00Thanks for the further details, Sandy!Thanks for the further details, Sandy!Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-58909126225832165902019-03-29T15:05:21.838+00:002019-03-29T15:05:21.838+00:00So (in case that thread later disappears), the gis...So (in case that thread later disappears), the gist of it, summarised by @Mojitana, is that Adair<br /><br /><b>compared the people including authors of color who were respectfully trying to educate her about the hurt her words caused of being a lynch mob. She "apologized" and then doubled down by trying to redefine the historical significance of lynching.</b><br /><br />i.e., according to one of the screenshots, she attempted to define "lynch mob" as "a band of people intent on lynching someone. No mention of color."Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-68015618059527245512019-03-29T14:56:02.164+00:002019-03-29T14:56:02.164+00:00Regarding Catherine Bybee: The withdrawal came as ...Regarding Catherine Bybee: The withdrawal came as a result over the pushback against several ill-judged social media posts, in particular a ~10-minute video in which Bybee said that she deserved the nomination (she said that several times), that there is a bias against marginalized authors (she didn't quite use that term - it almost appeared as if she was not familiar with the term), but that when she first became a member of RWA, she couldn't enter her book in the RITAs because it was published by a small press publisher. And self-published books couldn't be entered either. She continued that she is sorry no "African American author" has ever won a RITA, that RWA is her "tribe" (acknwoledged that "tribe" is mot politically correct, but used it anyway), and how she has been so hurt by some of the members of that tribe just because she received a nomination she totally deserves. And can't we just all love each other?Sandra Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496019392789508611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-81007831752940274422019-03-29T14:44:29.775+00:002019-03-29T14:44:29.775+00:00C. Adair did indeed delete the tweets in question,...C. Adair did indeed delete the tweets in question, but you can find screenshots here:<br /><br />https://twitter.com/Mojitana/status/1110399643479764993 Sandra Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496019392789508611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-1527847746036248102019-03-26T20:59:05.175+00:002019-03-26T20:59:05.175+00:00Kharma Kelley, "an author and woman of color,...Kharma Kelley, "an author and woman of color, but also [...] someone who works in DEI" (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) makes some important observations and suggestions <a href="https://medium.com/@kharmakelley/how-a-dei-advocate-case-studies-the-ritas-7a8faa9a1079" rel="nofollow">here about changes which could be made to the RITA contest</a>.Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-26561327339422330012019-03-26T00:51:47.252+00:002019-03-26T00:51:47.252+00:00Please do, Heather! I gathered the links in the ho...Please do, Heather! I gathered the links in the hope they might come in handy for someone.<br /><br />I think the RWA must have amended their post containing the list of finalists because now the names of the people who've asked to be removed from the contest are no longer there.Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-82705388161660033362019-03-25T23:20:21.526+00:002019-03-25T23:20:21.526+00:00Thank you for this post! Do you mind if I share i...Thank you for this post! Do you mind if I share it with my class?Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11642421168672741637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-64905967313129848602019-03-25T19:58:30.153+00:002019-03-25T19:58:30.153+00:00Thanks for the additional information, Sandy. I...Thanks for the additional information, Sandy. I'd seen something about the "lynch mob" comments but they must have been deleted by the time I went looking. I hadn't spotted the comments by Hoang.<br /><br />If you come across any more developments, please do feel free to add more comments about them!Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-41865268441369154782019-03-25T19:25:27.788+00:002019-03-25T19:25:27.788+00:00A day after the finalists were announced, Helen Ho...A day after the finalists were announced, Helen Hoang revealed on Twitter that out of solidarity with black authors she had not entered her novel "The Kissing Quotient": "Until the judging process has been fixed and a black author has won this award, RITA finalist/winner is not something I want on my bio."<br /><br />Link to tweet: <br />https://twitter.com/HHoangWrites/status/1109151316197208064 Sandra Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496019392789508611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-65259917420214677242019-03-25T19:17:38.038+00:002019-03-25T19:17:38.038+00:00When criticized for her statement, Cherry Adair re...When criticized for her statement, Cherry Adair referred to those criticizing her as a "lynch mob", and when called out for *that*, she deleted those tweets and then started blocking various other authors and readers, many of them AOC or authors of LGBTQA+ romance.Sandra Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15496019392789508611noreply@blogger.com