UPDATE -- CWPA Response to My Call for A Boycott
On April 18, 2021, I posted on this blog about why I was leaving and the CWPA and asked for a loving and compassionate boycott of the CWPA until it could demonstrate structural changes that addressed its racism and White supremacy culture. As of today, that post has been accessed 11,850 times (less than a week). Three days later, the WPA Journal and its publisher, David Blakesley, both offered a statement and letter of support of the boycott and the demand for the CWPA to make antiracist changes. Patti Poblete, one of the CWPA EC members at the meeting, offered her own rendering of and thinking about the meeting on her blog (4/21/2021). Six days after I posted, the CWPA's Executive Board released a formal statement (dated 4/23/2021). On May 10, 2021, the CWPA-GO officially separated from CWPA and issued this statement with demands.
As of this writing (revised on 09 Sep 2021), the petition for boycotting the CWPA has 778 signatories on it. That is over double the total membership of the CWPA. Thank you to all who signed that petition. It made a difference.
While I do not plan on responding to the elements of the CWPA's formal statement, I do want to offer a few words to those doing this kind of social justice work -- that is, helping or urging organizations, schools, departments, and programs make structural antiracist change. Let me start by summarizing what I hear in the EB's statement, so that we are clear about what the substance of their statement says and what changes they are committed to doing toward making CWPA more antiracist and anti-White supremacist.
What I hear in the statement is a deep and thoughtful apology for the White supremacy culture that CWPA and its EB have either participated in or not attended to in the past and present. They also acknowledge how their inaction in the organization, its conference, and associated organs, has directly caused the organization, its conference, and associated organs to be White supremacist and kept or driven away BIPOC scholars, which of course includes the ideas and languages about WPA work that BIPOC scholars might contribute to the work that CWPA does, such as its Outcomes Statement.They also admit that their actions and responses to the mostly BIPOC task force participated in White supremacy culture and devalued or ignored the expertise of the TF members. This TF was co-chaired by Beth Brunk-Chavez and me. Its members are:
- Vershawn A. Young
- Tanita Saenkhum
- Melvin Beavers
- Iris Ruiz
- Neisha-Anne Green
All of these apologies, which I read as unequivocal and without qualifications, are a necessary first step in such antiracist changes from such organizations. I am appreciative to the EB for their bravery in do this, but it is just a first step. They are, of course, just words and not yet words that craft their standard operating procedures, bylaws, policies, or decisions. But any such changes should start with an admitting to wrong-doing. For this, I appreciate the statement.
The statement then delineates a few things they plan to do in order to make the necessary structural antiracist and anti-White supremacist changes. They are listed in brief below. I take the language from their statement.
- "Executive Board will suspend normal operations to devote the Council’s resources toward recognizing and interrupting how White supremacy functions" in the organization
- Consultant-Evaluator Service will halt its operations and "conducted a similar review and incorporated antiracist principles into its policies, procedures, review guidelines, ethics statement, self-study materials, and training for Consultant-Evaluator panelists"
- The WPA Journal will "engage in a critical interrogation and revision of every aspect of the journal's operation"
- "CWPA will suspend the next cycle of awards and grants" in order to conduct a "comprehensive organizational audit of selection criteria and procedures"
- "CWPA President and Vice President will replace the 2021 annual conference with listening sessions and events that will allow CWPA to learn from our members and other colleagues"
As the organization moves forward, I want to offer a word of hope and caution. I am very hopeful. This move is significant, for sure, but it will not work if those who go into the work of interrogating the CWPA go into that work thinking that it will be a tinkering with stuff, fixing some problems, plugging some holes, or patching up things. Doing antiracist and anti-White supremacist work in an organization is about dismantling the structures and policies that those in the org have held dearly, such as their Outcomes Statement.
So I await a call to do the work. I yearn for an antiracist space to prosper in professionally. I ain't yet found one. What I do know is that to have one means I and other BIPOC need to be a part, a deep part, of its making. That's why I'm ready to do the labor. But I think, I need some personal commitments from EB members to be brave and humble and compassionate and willing to sit in their Whitely discomfort as we do the work together.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all of the work you have done and all the work you continue to do personally, collaboratively, proactively, and publicly.
ReplyDeleteAh, I appreciate your reading and your note.
DeleteHow about...a new organization? One founded by and for people committed to anti-racist writing/teaching? Where IS that organization? With that specific mission? Maybe we just need something new, not an old org re-envisioned, but a new org perfectly envisioned, with BIPOC in leadership roles and allies who are choosing the organization because they are already living the mission, already doing the work of anti-racist teaching/writing, and committed to doing it better. I wish I had an alternative organization to join - not the CWPA 2.0, but the Anti-racist Teaching/Writing Cooperative...
ReplyDeleteThanks for this comment. Neisha-Anne Green suggested something like this recently to me. Vershawn loved the idea too. In the past, I've thought about something like what you suggest, only I was focusing on conferences, since I tend to be oriented about what we'll do together, not what membership we'll have. I think, this is the heart of what you suggest. If it were all up to me, I'd call the new org something like: The Coalition of Antiracist Language Teachers, or The Coalition of Antiracist Language Academics. Or if folks can handle it: The Coalition of Antiracist Languagelings.
DeleteLanguagelings indeed! The Oregon folks representing our state's college and university composition programs had a rousing discussion yesterday focused on developing a bold and ambitious statewide writing outcome that individual institutions can cite as a model when making the case to their deans and provosts to make institutional changes. Very positive movement for change. The topic of the CWPA boycott itself did not come up due to time; it would take some canvasing to find out how many people in the room are CWPA members and whether they plan to boycott. Perhaps one of them will share. We also heard that a nice update from Oregon State University regarding upcoming events planned through your generous Antiracist Teaching Endowment: https://asaobinoue.blogspot.com/2021/03/asao-kelly-inoue-antiracist-teaching.html
ReplyDeleteIf you and the group of Oregon state college and universities are interested, contact me by my ASU email. I might be able to offer you something -- a doc -- that may help you all along the path toward more antiracist writing outcomes. I'm also happy to talk with a group about it too, but let's see if what I can offer you will help. I can explain in the email, Steve. Thanks for the update.
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