#This EOTWR stuff I guess

[dracothelizard]

Hi, could you please clarify what you meant by non-Anglophone fans regarding your critiques of EndOTWRacism not caring about those fans because non-Anglophone means non-English & that excludes a plethora of fans from the Global South that were colonized by the English (like my country South Africa) and that makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Also, antiblackness is a global phenomenon & even happens in majority Black countries (once again, I highly recommend doing some research on South Africa & Afrophobia in that specific country). Being Asian alone doesn't mean someone will wholly support the very specific commitments OTW made in 2020 (where they also cited Dr Rukmini Pande [an Indian, and therefore Asian, fan scholar from India where English is spoken & even a mode of instruction in many of its schools & tertiary institutions - must she & fans like her also be excluded because they are Anglophone fans?] & Stitch without asking these two fan scholars for their consent to be cited by OTW leading to a barrage of harassment towards both individuals).

If you want EndOTWRacism to broaden their scope, you should definitely suggest that to them. But they are following the specific commitments the OTW made. Also, I have seen conversations about OTW not making enough commitments in 2020 to do something about racism on their platform by some of the mods of EndOTWRacism in a personal capacity but the main reason they are sticking to the specific commitments OTW made is because they are avoiding being accused of trying to make OTW do things they never said they would do. By sticking to the specific commitments OTW made, EndOTWRacism can hold OTW accountable for something they publicly made commitments to.

Also, OTW made these commitments in response to anti-blackness. So, centering antiblackness makes sense (and also just on a historical level - when antiblackness is engaged with in antiracist policies - the benefits of that move upwards to other racial groups - see the The Voting Rights Act of 1965 that included pro-immigration legislation that made it easier for immigrants of colour to move into the US (this was made possible because of Black Americans). Or my own country of South Africa that got rid of Apartheid in 1994 (I would be born just 3 years after that when my mom was 30) and Black, Coloured (this is a specific racial category in SA), Indian & Chinese South Africans could vote, move freely & live wherever they wanted in SA. This was made possible by Black South African freedom leaders in community with other South Africans of colour that worked in solidarity.

Anti-asian racism is a huge problem in fandom that has been discussed by fans of colour for a long time (see conversations in the early/mid 2010s in fandom about Lucy Liu's mistreatment by BBC Sherlock fans or Glen's mistreatment from the Walking Dead fandom). And with the increase of East Asian media in fandom since at least 2014, conversations about anti-asian racism are even more imperative. But that should not mean ignoring or hand waving away convos about antiblackness - especially when that was the origin of OTW commitments in 2020. If you personally have a problem with that, by all means ask OTW why they didn't specifically talk about other forms of racism or make any other statement with commitments when the StopAsianHate movement was in full swing. Why was OTW's statement so clearly influenced by BlackLivesMatter and the commitments various individuals, businesses & non-profit organizations were making to this specific movement. OTW will have more board meetings, so if you are a paying member, you can absolutely ask them these questions. I know those questions are things I have thought about.

All the best, H.

"because non-Anglophone means non-English & that excludes a plethora of fans from the Global South that were colonized by the English (like my country South Africa) and that makes me a bit uncomfortable."

I am also non-Anglophone and yes, End OTW Racism explicitly excluding non-Anglophone fans also makes me uncomfortable, because as you say, racism is a global problem.

I am not sure why you are bringing up anti-blackness and anti-asianness as if it is an either/or matter. Caring about anti-blackness doesn't mean not caring about anti-asianness. Caring about anti-asianness doesn't mean not caring about anti-blackness. Some fans are mixed race and are both. Some fans have to deal with other forms of racism (like the anti-Aboriginal slur which still gets used often to talk about Omegaverse)

The OTW's goals did not explicitly mention centering anti-blackness. End OTW Racism's goals did not explicitly mention centering anti-blackness.

If that is what the OTW and End OTW Racism want to center, they can, but they should say that explicitly. But in the case of End OTW Racism, excluding non-Anglophone fans makes no sense, because as you say, anti-blackness is a global problem.