This statement on racism was not written by a person of color, but was reviewed by multiple people of color (thank you all!).
Racism is common in all segments of our communities and societies, including fandom. LAcon V is committed to contributing to the work of confronting racism and eradicating systems of oppression. This work includes examining our own biases and prejudices, the ways that many of us benefit from systemic/institutional racism, how privilege intersects with us and the lives of our participants, and how both microaggressions and macroaggressions impact our participants from marginalized backgrounds and participants of color.
LAcon V believes that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) lives matter.
LAcon V pledges to work for equity, inclusion, and diversity for our event, and to use our platform as a space for historically marginalized voices to be amplified. For many years, fandom as a whole and Worldcon in specific have ignored these issues and have reinforced the systemic barriers and racism that are part of our fannish communities and history. LAcon V, as a whole, is working to do better by:
- Seeking out input from the BIPOC members of our communities on ways to make sure people of color feel welcome and supported at the convention and in fandom
- Actively listening to that input
- Taking action on that input and making meaningful changes
This work is occurring in our pre-convention planning as well as at our parties, events, and the convention itself.
All of us, particularly those of us who come from a background of privilege, must stand together to denounce and dismantle racism, and to create better, more just, and more equitable communities for all people of color.
At LAcon V, we want to ensure no one is talked over, ignored, or dismissed when speaking about their lived experiences in a racist society. Problems that people of color often reference, include, but are not limited to:
- Having their lived experiences dismissed (e.g., “I’ve never seen that.” “That happens to others too.”)
- Being expected to be an authority on non-white characters in various fandoms. (e.g., “You’re black so you must know all about Black Panther.”)
- Being talked down to or assumed to be less knowledgeable about topics.
- Having people express surprise when they do have relevant knowledge, skills, and experience (e.g., “Oh, wow, you’re so articulate!”)
- Unsolicited comments about their appearance or touching hair.
- People critiquing their cosplay/costumes without being asked.
- Presuming that marginalized participants do not belong and that they should not be centered in story-telling.
- The use of social justice warrior (SJW), woke, DEI, or similar phrases as pejorative terms meant to demean or belittle the idea of diversity and inclusion in fandom and storytelling.
- The use of social media to target marginalized participants and their allies for harassment and abuse as an outgrowth of their participation in our community and fandom.
- Being targeted, in person or through social media, with acts of aggression, harassment, or as retribution for calling out harassers and abusive behavior.
These actions, and those related to it, are considered violations of the LACon V Code of Conduct, and will be treated as such.
LAcon V will not tolerate this sort of behavior at any of our events, either virtual or in-person. Each of us must work to call out this behavior in ourselves and others.
LAcon V is working to make our committee more diverse, and recognize that not all voices are currently represented. We welcome the opportunity to improve, both this document and our events, based on feedback, which can be sent to our Code of Conduct team: conduct@lacon.org.
