Thanks, Matt.

I'll venture to answer these, too.

- Have there been recent incidents of "... bigotry, intolerance, hatred,
harassment, and violence in Code4Lib" that warrant a re-iterated statement?

Kate answered this one for us earlier when she announced that she had been
a victim of harassment on this list.  I did not think any incidents had
happened, since I had not received any emails with inappropriate
discourse.  Kate did not divulge details in her response to the list, and I
did not see the email interaction myself, so it's possible the interaction
was off the list by a fellow member of the list (or it just got lost in my
inbox).

- What are C4L's desired outcomes of "diversity, equity, and inclusion",
and will such a statement improve the attainment of such ends? Is the goal
of C4L to promote "diversity, equity, and inclusion" within C4L, the
software technology community at large, or beyond?

My impression is that this statement is meant to reiterate that the
incident is not supported by list members, and that all members should feel
safe to interact on this list.

- What constitutes "bigotry, intolerance, hatred, harassment, and violence"
is not always obvious, and often needs to be teased out through reasoned
dialogue.

Very true.  Even Tim Kaine (the vice presidential candidate for one of the
political parties) commented recently that hate speech may be considered
opinions, and that opinions require no apology.  Unless this new diversity
statement will change it, the Code of Conduct lists the following as a
definition of harassment:

"Harassment is understood as any behavior that threatens another person or
group, or produces an unsafe environment. It includes offensive verbal
comments or non-verbal expressions related to gender, gender identity,
gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance,
body size, race, age, religious beliefs, sexual or discriminatory images in
public spaces (including online), deliberate intimidation, stalking,
following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of
talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual
attention."

An openness to reasoned dialogue is ideal, and I think the code of conduct
allows for this to a point.  If one or both parties of a discussion is
being (or perceived as) offensive, and the interaction ends immediately
after the (real or perceived) offense is pointed out, then no further
action is taken against the individual(s). At least, this is how I
understand it.

For Code4Lib email lists purposes, I don't think reasoned (or unreasonable)
dialogue is part of the email list's purpose.  I admit I have seen some,
and the inclusion of "this year's contentious election season" in the draft
statement is already excluding our international members.

- If inclusion spans "all technologists", then excluding those who dissent
or present points of view bordering on "bigotry, intolerance, hatred,
harassment, and violence" will be silenced, and likely to (further) develop
resentment and anger, leading to further division. Is it better to exclude
such people through language as forcefully as possible, or promote an
environment of reasoned dialogue and relating to the "other"? When people
are silenced they may go underground, and is it better to be underground or
in the open?

I think this is part of the problem in the U.S. right now.  So many people
have been silenced and mocked, that when they finally began to speak they
came on stronger than they should have and in surprise the "status quo"
voices retaliated, which incited disrespectful speech to continue and
worsen on both sides.  I know many good librarians, who said some very
cruel things immediately after the election.  Maybe if we hadn't silenced
so many voices, if we had encouraged them to speak and to have a safe place
to work through their ideas and dialogue with others, we may not have
witnessed the shock and cruelty we have witnessed.

- Will this re-iterated statement promote self-monitoring and
self-censorship and thereby decrease diversity, one of the primary values
of C4L?

I hope not, but that was my first thought, too.  Of all times, this is when
affirmation, unity, and dialogue are needed.  I think how we word the
statement will do a lot to either 1) promote self-monitoring &
self-censorship, or 2) promote unity and respect for everyone.

I agree with Christina & Kyle that a shorter statement will have more force
and that removing time-sensitive elements will make our statement appear
stronger and not just a knee-jerk reaction to political events.

I recommend considering 1) use the second paragraph (which explains why we
as technologists value respect & empathy toward all people) and the last
paragraph, without the final sentence; or 2) just use the last paragraph,
without the final sentence.

Either of these would give a concise, forceful statement.  Removing the
election references will make it clear the statement includes everyone, and
not just certain voters or supporters of a political candidate.  The
history paragraph seems to celebrate Code4Lib, rather than emphasize the
statement of what we value.

The second to last sentence of the last paragraph ("There is no place for
bigotry, intolerance, hatred, harassment, or
violence in Code4Lib.") should be either 1) defined, 2) simplified, or 3)
removed.  The Code of Conduct defines harassment, so maybe just include the
word "harassment" if the other terms aren't defined?

Thank you for all the work and thought everyone has put into this,
especially Bohyun!

Michelle

On Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 9:03 AM, Matthew Mikitka <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello Bohun and others,
>
> I am writing this from north of the border, and although I am not a US
> citizen, the political activities of the US are certainly relevant to
> Canada. I believe that our social groups, including C4L, are forums through
> which we think through and enact political activity. I wish to articulate
> some of my thoughts in point-form to promote dialogue on a diverse
> perspective to the problems addressed in the re-iterated statement.
>
> - Have there been recent incidents of "... bigotry, intolerance, hatred,
> harassment, and violence in Code4Lib" that warrant a re-iterated statement?
>
> - What are C4L's desired outcomes of "diversity, equity, and inclusion",
> and will such a statement improve the attainment of such ends? Is the goal
> of C4L to promote "diversity, equity, and inclusion" within C4L, the
> software technology community at large, or beyond?
>
> - What constitutes "bigotry, intolerance, hatred, harassment, and
> violence" is not always obvious, and often needs to be teased out through
> reasoned dialogue.
>
> - If inclusion spans "all technologists", then excluding those who dissent
> or present points of view bordering on "bigotry, intolerance, hatred,
> harassment, and violence" will be silenced, and likely to (further) develop
> resentment and anger, leading to further division. Is it better to exclude
> such people through language as forcefully as possible, or promote an
> environment of reasoned dialogue and relating to the "other"? When people
> are silenced they may go underground, and is it better to be underground or
> in the open?
>
> - Will this re-iterated statement promote self-monitoring and
> self-censorship and thereby decrease diversity, one of the primary values
> of C4L?
>
> With regards,
> matt
> ________________________________________
> From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Kim,
> Bohyun <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2016 12:59
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Post-election statement draft - also waiting for
> merge
>
> Apologies for forgetting the spell-check! I was typing too fast. Here is a
> version with less typos! : )
>
> Under ordinary circumstances, there shouldn't be a great need for Code4Lib
> to reiterate our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, this
> year's contentious election season followed by many appalling acts of hate
> around the country has left us with no choice but to re-affirm our
> unfaltering support and strong commitment to these fundamental values.
>
> As technologists, we always look for ways to make things work better. We
> love efficiency; we love elegance; we aspire to be free of any pain point
> or bug in everything we design and build. But we do this not for the sake
> of efficiency, elegance, and our deeply-rooted desire to improve things. We
> do this for the sake of people. Our ultimate aspiration is to help people
> get things done with the tools we create with delight. For this, we try to
> understand our users with all their differences in race, sex, sexual
> orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic
> information, veteran status, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, language,
> socio-economic background, citizenship status, and more. This is why we
> rely on empathy as one of the most important guiding principles in all we
> do as technologists. Without our caring, our work as a developer, designer,
> information specialist, and IT professional would be missing its heart.
>
> Code4Lib has a proud history of recognizing the lack of diversity in the
> technology sector as a serious problem and acting to address it head-on. In
> the Code4Lib community, diversity, equity, and inclusion are not mere
> words. They underpin all we do from Diversity Scholarships, Newcomer
> Dinner, Code of Conduct, to our decision regarding where to host our next
> Code4Lib conference. They represent and reflect our shared and cherished
> understanding that we always solve difficult problems better together.
>
> As a community that deeply values diversity, equity, and inclusion,
> Code4Lib will always be a welcoming and safe community for all who are
> passionate about information and technology. Everyone in our community is
> valued and respected regardless of what they look like, what their faiths
> are, what disabilities they may have, how they identify their gender, who
> they love, where they come from, what language they speak, or where they
> live. There is no place for bigotry, intolerance, hatred, harassment, and
> violence in Code4Lib. Today, we stand together in our most forceful support
> for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
> Bohyun
>
>
> From: "Kim, Bohyun" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 12:40 PM
> To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Post-election statement draft - also waiting for merge
>
> Hi all,
>
> As promised, I issued a pull request with 5 files which includes my draft
> for the post-election statement from Code4Lib.
>
> Someone who has the write access to the C4L repo in Github, please merge.
> You can see the files here.
> https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/pull/56/commits/
> 452570ec38b7becafc766c57b8916fa0f9981803
>
> My draft statement also below. You should be able to edit once merged.
> Thanks everyone for standing behind this idea!
>
> Under ordinary circumstances, there shouldn't be a great need for Code4Lib
> to reiterate our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, this
> year's contentious election season followed by many appaling acts of hate
> around the country has left us with no choice but to re-affirm our
> unfaltering support and strong committment to these fundamental values.
>
> As technologists, we always look for ways to make things work better. We
> love efficiency; we love elegance; we aspire to be free of any pain point
> or bug in everything we design and build. But we do this not for the sake
> of efficiency, elegance, and our deeeply-rooted desire to improve things.
> We do this for the sake of people. Our ultimate aspiration is to help
> people get things done with the tools we create with delight. For this, we
> try to understand our users with all their differences in race, sex, sexual
> orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic
> information, veteran status, ancestry, national or ethnic origin,
> launguage, socio-economic background, citizenship status, and more. This is
> why we rely on emphathy as one of the most important guiding principles in
> all we do as technologists. Wihtout our caring, our work as a developer,
> designer, information specialist, and IT professional would be missing its
> heart.
>
> Code4Lib has a proud history of recognizing the lack of diversity in the
> technology sector as a serious problem and acting to address it head-on. In
> the Code4Lib community, diversity, equity, and inclusion are not mere
> words. They underpin all we do from Diversity Scholarships, Newcomer
> Dinner, Code of Conduct, to our decision regarding where to host our next
> Code4Lib conference. They represent and reflect our shared and cherished
> understanding that we always solve difficult problems better together.
>
> As a community that deeply values diviersity, equity, and inclusion,
> Code4Lib will always be a welcoming and safe community for all who are
> passionate about infromation and technology. Everyone in our community is
> valued and respected regardless of what they look like, what their faiths
> are, what disabilities they may have, how they identify their gender, who
> they love, where they come from, what language they speak, or where they
> live. There is no place for bigotry, intolerance, hatred, harrassment, and
> violence in Code4Lib. Today, we stand together in our most forceful support
> for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
>
> Thanks,
> Bohyun
>
> --
> Bohyun Kim, MA, MSLIS
> Associate Director for Library Applications and Knowledge Systems
> University of Maryland, Baltimore | Health Sciences and Human Services
> Library
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | 410-706-0405
>
>