I've already boosted some far more eloquent posts by others, but I finally managed to put some thoughts down on #EndOTWRacism and how the OTW seems to have made a habit of dodging accountability by refusing to make any sort of public comment on controversial issues: https://satsuma.dreamwidth.org/25796.html

The short version is I'm in favor of the campaign and encourage anyone who uses the OTW's services (namely, fanlore and Ao3) to take part.

Or, skip my perspective and go straight to the campaign's own call to action: https://end-otw-racism.tumblr.com/post/716978822501875712/fandom-against-racism-a-manifesto

Samuel R. Delany was writing eloquently on the subject of racism in fandom and the need to actively combat it in 1998 ( https://www.nyrsf.com/racism-and-science-fiction-.html ), nearly a decade before the OTW was even conceived of.

Racefail happened in 2009, when Ao3 was still a baby archive.

The OTW admitted they were failing fans of color and committed to making changes in 2020

Why are they still afraid of talking about anti-racism publicly now, in 2023 when we've been talking about the relationship between racism and fandom for, at absolute minimum, a quarter of a century? These are not brand new ideas

Some more ad-hoc history links for anyone playing catchup:

coffeeandink wrote a parody article skewering fandoms's attempts to avoid taking accountability for racism back in 2006. Point number 1? "Control what your audience sees." So, when the OTW refuses to take any public stances on race & racism, it's playing into tactics that have been called out since before the archive was even founded

https://web.archive.org/web/20060719223818/http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/607897.html