I look at those horrendous stats, the blinding whiteness of the authors in medieval and early modern studies that have published in PMLA, and recognize, of course, that those are appalling numbers. I'm not even surprised by them.
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But that little part of my brain, perhaps even just a subsection of it, what does that do? It gos: "That's awful, but that's because the field as a whole has this problem with a lack of diversity. It's not PMLA's fault, it's the field." (I know this is bullshit. I really do.)
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I'll give my brain this much credit: every cell in there went "WTF seriously?" at the line in the editorial response about the group of scholars in the proposal being "constrained." But of course that's also telling.
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Because I guess I'm not unreconstructed enough. I can read that line and respond analogically: "Would PMLA have said that to an all-male submission? I bet not!" In other words, the part of my brain that doesn't instinctively understand racist bias DOES understand sexist bias.
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And it can draw on that to recognize, immediately, that the charge of "constraint" is a load, and wouldn't be levelled at a submission by an all-white, all-male group.
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Here's another part of the editorial email that all of my brain objected to" the line about the proposal being "nicely framed." Why? Because it's so fucking condescending. And that condescension I myself would also bridle at. Except.
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The last time I had an editor say something this condescending to me was in my second year as an Assistant Professor. Not as the former President of the Shakespeare Association of America and the director of a major research centre.
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That to me is the most egregious line in that email: giving Ayanna Thompson that kind of pat on the head? How is that even possible?
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And there it is again, that part of my brain, but now in shaking-its-head mode. In "I can't believe it!" mode. In "I am so shocked and surprised" mode. In "how can that happen" mode. (I know that's a bullshit response. And yet, it's the one that part of my brain STILL coughs up.)
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Know what else that part of my brain does? It reads
@dorothyk98's response, and takes instinctive umbrage. At what? At the idea that the editorial demand for "opposing perspectives" is a demand for white supremacist voices.2 replies 0 retweets 4 likesShow this thread
They are about antiracist premodern critical race studies. If we are discussing dismantling the white gaze, then opposing viewpoints are the racist white gaze. You are either antiracist or racist. There is really no other way.
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Replying to @dorothyk98
I don't want to argue with you; that's not the point of what I'm saying. I do disagree that this is the only reading of what an "opposing voice" might sound like, but I don't think that matters.
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Replying to @literasyme @dorothyk98
Liza Blake Retweeted Georgia Henley
Holger! I love you, and have, deities help me, written many tweets prompted by this tweet. For what they're worth. Here goes. First: Perhaps a bit more journal-historical perspective might be useful? I found this well-researched thread v. helpful. https://twitter.com/georgiahenley/status/1271196112507060224 … 1/13
Liza Blake added,
Georgia Henley @georgiahenleyFollowing@acmrs_org's call to end publishing gatekeeping, I became curious about what special issues have been published in PMLA recently and whether "opposing perspectives" were offered in them, and I would like to speak to a manager 1/#raceb4race#medievaltwitter#ShakeRace https://twitter.com/drdarkage/status/1271115300289654784 …Show this thread1 reply 0 retweets 6 likes - Show replies
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