Dear all,


Thanks for reading and responding to our concerns, including with thoughtful questions and comments. We’re writing with a brief response to the different messages, with the two key aspects that have been raised.


What we propose: In case it wasn’t already super clear, we confirm that the change in the UCoC we are suggesting is to remove the note to the Insults section entirely: “(Note: The Wikimedia movement does not endorse "race" and "ethnicity" as meaningful distinctions among people. Their inclusion here is to mark that they are prohibited in use against others as the basis for personal attacks.) 


We believe that this change would not diminish the effectiveness of the UCoC or its further application. On the contrary, it would be in line with its real spirit and honest intentions. As the wording currently stands, it causes (and will cause) more harm than any possible good, and certainly far too much confusion around intention. It particularly makes no sense to pull out race and ethnicity in this fashion. 


Timeline and process: Maggie's response is very useful in clarifying that there could be a rapid review process to address this issue. We welcome that, and it would be helpful to have a clear timeline and detailed process for us to understand how this might unfold, and who might be responsible for it.


Thank you to everyone again for your attention and care.


With love, respect, and solidarity,

Anasuya and the Whose Knowledge? team, advisors and friends

On Tue, Apr 12, 2022 at 10:13 AM Peter Southwood <peter.southwood@telkomsa.net> wrote:

Race and ethnicity have already proven to be controversial in this context, and will probably continue to be controversial, but maybe less so if appropriately defined. Anyway, those who make the decisions carry the ethical responsibility, even if they can avoid legal responsibility. Cheers, Peter

 

From: Benjamin Lees [mailto:emufarmers@gmail.com]
Sent: 12 April 2022 10:36
To: Wikimedia Mailing List
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Re: Open letter on negating race and ethnicity as "meaningful distinctions" in the UCoC

 

On Mon, Apr 11, 2022 at 1:06 AM Peter Southwood <peter.southwood@telkomsa.net> wrote:

Definitions of terminology makes sense in any document that is intended as an enforceable guide to behavior. Without them, whose definition applies? Cheers, Peter

 

No document defines all its terms.  It's particularly unnecessary to define race and ethnicity in the context of how they're used in the UCoC because the terms are only used in conjunction with other terms that fill in whatever gaps might exist even under narrow definitions.  Discussions about [[Who is a Jew?]] are a red herring here.

 

Virus-free. www.avg.com

 

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--
Anasuya Sengupta
+44 7367 868585
Reimagining and redesigning the internet to be for and from us all
There can be no love without justice... The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.
(bell hooks)