Please understand this is Davis essentially admitting the issue was not Courtney's critique but her own fragility. She's basically saying if Courtney had been "calmer" and explained her issues with the material in a Davis approved manner, there wouldn't have been a problem.
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And that is not only peak NWL but also peak white privilege. I don't know who needs to hear this, but POC are under no obligation to be "calm" when pointing out things that have harmed us. And make no mistake: Racist tropes and stereotypes *do* harm us.
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It is the height of entitlement to expect the person you have harmed (intentionally or not) to center YOUR feelings when they are calling attention to the pain your words or deeds have caused them. *Intent* does not equal impact. Unintentional harm is still harm.
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It is the height of entitlement to decide a critique is only valid if it's presented in a way that does not hurt your feelings. It is the height of entitlement to decide that you get to cast your victim in the role of villain because you don't like their tone.
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And to be clear: That is what happened here. A WOC had the audacity to offer a critique that did not cater to or center the fragility of a NWL. And someone decided she needed to be punished for it. Not because what she said was wrong, but because she didn't say it "calmly."
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This is not about Courtney "cyberbulling" anyone. This is about putting Courtney in her place and sending a message to the rest of us that speaking out will only be tolerated under a NWL approved set of terms and conditions. This is about power, privilege, and control.
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This is about shutting down and shutting out the people who have been shaking the table and putting in the work to make RWA inclusive, diverse, and equitable.
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And I keep seeing people say they are shocked RWA thought they'd get to make an example out of Courtney without getting any pushback but the uncomfortable truth is that they had every reason to think they could do just that.
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B/c a WOC critiquing a NWL is often left unprotected when the white tears start flowing and the NWL proclaims to the rest of Romancelandia (or YA or fandom or SFF or Kid Lit) "I am being attacked!" Once the NWL distress call goes out, the WOC finds herself targeted and alone.
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RWA had no reason to think Courtney's support would be so widespread because often, the only people who show up to protect WOC from NWL and their allies are other WOC. They did not anticipate Courtney being an exception to that rule.
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They thought all it would take was a NWL crying about how "mean" Courtney was, how inappropriate Courtney's tone was, how Courtney hurt her feelings and how insignificant Courtney is (she's not even blue check verified) and the usual abandonment of the "mean" WOC would occur.
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Thankfully, things haven't turned out that way. I hope as we support Courtney through this, we also learn from it so that the next time a "mean" WOC critiques a NWL she isn't left unprotected and unsupported or told her critique is invalid because she wasn't "calm" enough.
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End of conversation
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