Thomas wrote:
Besides that, I find all the chatter about grammar, quite tangential. There is a culture of misogyny in the Wikimedia projects, way above the level of comparable work or even volunteer environments, which is neither due to the use of grammar, nor can it be adequately fought with a change grammer rules in the software.
My comment:
In the early 1980s, a man named [[Harold Washington]] became the first* African-American mayor of Chicago, a city that has had a long history of racial tension. There were *many* issues awaiting him as mayor, both related and unrelated to that.
In his first weeks as mayor, city public works crews went out to the poorer neighborhoods of the city, many of which were predominantly African-American and had voted for Washington overwhelmingly. They went and repaved streets that had been pitted and potholed for decades.
It was probably the least of their problems, but the gesture was understood and appreciated. It helped him hold support through what proved some difficult years as mayor (see [[Council Wars]]), years so stressful they probably contributed to his early death after he left office.
The lesson: as others have said, if in a process like this you identify an issue which can be almost immediately resolved without controversy, DO IT. Don't wait for the big picture to get cleaned up.
Daniel Case
*And so far only