3 thoughts on “For the Record”

  1. ed

    Can someone offer a summary of what transpired to folks, like me, who have toes and fingers dipped in multiple pools of interest? A few had tipped me off. But I’ve been too occupied to follow this and there appears to be a rabbit hole of links. From what I can gather, it appears that someone attempted to begin a conversation about race and racism in SFF, which then presumably provoked a number of well-known (or semi-known) writers to react harshly (and with condescension). It would help Justine’s position if she could QUOTE those comments, or clarify the specific form of debate that she is asking for. For if we are talking about etiquette and civil disagreement all the time, well, bringing up a politically charged topic ain’t exactly conducive to that place of harmony. And insisting that everybody be “nice” all the time comes close to political correctness — a fascism on the other side of the fence that is just as dangerous as condescension. And we then find ourselves entering into a regrettable pickle of sticky logic just as erroneous as Lee Siegel’s phony argumentative position: you can respond to my argument, but I set the terms of what you can argue.
    If this is garden-variety thuggery similar to the many fracases in the SFF world that have gone down before, then okay. But it really should be clarified, so that people understand the awfulness in question. That’s all I’m saying as an outside and cursory observer.

  2. Gwenda

    Trust me — it has nothing to do with politeness at this point. (And I don’t
    think you’ll be surprised to discover some of the same people that chastised
    you during the Ellison flap were involved in escalating things.)
    Here’s a link to background on the recent events that lots of people agree
    is a good one:
    http://rydra-wong.livejournal.com/155427.html
    The link at the beginning of that post goes to a full timeline of the whole
    flap.

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