<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Thank you, Michelle, for the historical context and reminder that the field of technical communication has always had an anti-racist, progressive vein that you represent so well. Retired now, I do not follow discussions on this list as closely as I used to, but I must say I have been inspired by the numerous contributions of new leaders in the field and in the organization as represented by recent comments in this thread and others. Keep bending that arc of the moral universe!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Jim Henry<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 7:54 AM Eble, Michelle <<a href="mailto:EBLEM@ecu.edu">EBLEM@ecu.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear ATTW Community, <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First, I want to thank Angela and Natasha for their leadership in making sure that the ATTW listserv and organization continues to be a place that is welcoming and inclusive. I hope we will continue to share ideas, resources, concerns,
etc. and that we use ATTW and its resources to support each another. Thanks to all of you (too numerous to name, which is great!) for amplifying their labor and the labor of those who contributed to making sure the values of ATTW are heard and enacted. This
is important, visible support.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Characterizing the ATTW listserve as “trash” is upsetting to me. For those just tuning in (and thanks to those who have spoken to this), ATTW leadership stepped in quickly and reminded folks that the ATTW listserv and the organization will
not be a place for hate speech or oppression. Period. If you aren’t a member of this listserv, I encourage you to join and see for yourself (<a href="https://attw.org/about-attw/subscribe-to-mailing-list/" target="_blank">https://attw.org/about-attw/subscribe-to-mailing-list/</a>).
You can also check out the archives, but due to a server failure, they only go back to 2018.
<a href="http://attw.org/pipermail/attw-l_attw.org/" target="_blank">http://attw.org/pipermail/attw-l_attw.org/</a>
<span style="font-family:"Apple Color Emoji"">☹</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Second, I think historical context matters. Elizabeth Tebeaux was ATTW President from 1993-1995 and continued as a member (as immediate past president and past president) of the ATTW Executive Committee until 1999. She was elevated to ATTW
fellow in 1998 and chaired the ATTW Fellow committee for several years. (For a reference point, I began my PhD program in 1998).
<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The last known formal association with ATTW (as a member of the ATTW Fellow Selection Committee) was 2014. As an ATTW Fellow, she may have participated in the deliberation of new fellows after 2014, but that I don’t know. The ATTW Fellows
operate on their own, so current and past leadership did not and don’t participate in the process of selecting and elevating members to ATTW Fellow status (and by the same accord, removing that status). For more information on ATTW Fellows,
<a href="https://attw.org/about-attw/attw-fellows/" target="_blank">https://attw.org/about-attw/attw-fellows/</a>. We have many great people who have
<span style="color:black;background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">been honored by ATTW “for their major contributions to the organization and to the discipline of technical communication” so I don’t want to see this honor, as a whole, be tarnished.
</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for Tebeaux’s editorial influence, <span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">
she has not served on the <i>Technical Communication Quarterly</i> (TCQ)’s editorial advisory committee in the last decade and likely longer but I can’t find documentation to verify this at the moment. I know that she has certainly had influence in other realms,
and I am appreciative of those working on addressing these spaces. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">If you have followed the field of technical communication and read its scholarship over the last 10 years, you know that her influence, opinion, and racist ideas are not the dominant ones as
we’ve made the social justice turn in technical communication. I can assure you that there are many people who resisted this turn and will continue to resist it as the field moves towards more anti-racist and inclusive frameworks for our programs, in our teaching,
and in our scholarship. While I, too, am upset to see that she is writing to people on our listserv who have been supportive of our international students and faculty and she has recently been spouting hate on
<i>Inside Higher Ed</i> (and likely other places), I am also concerned with the people among us who share some of these views but aren’t saying them out loud.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">I do not write to call out, call in, or shut down critique, conversation, or dialogue related to ATTW. I say it to remind folks that the ATTW of today is not the same ATTW when she was President.
I encourage any of you reading this to look for the gatekeepers in the field—those who are among us in our departments, colleges, universities, and beyond—and work to intervene in a variety of ways that go beyond calling out or calling in. (And since drafting
this message over the weekend, I know there are many people currently doing this work, so thank you!)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">I can assure you, FWIW, that the current ATTW leadership have done and are doing their part in making our field more just and inclusive.
</span>I provide this historical context and information because it is harmful to ask that our current ATTW President and Vice President, two BIWOC, to address racism that preceded them especially because they already always have to deal with white supremacy
in all aspects of their lives. The irony that they are the ones having to do this emotional, mental, and intellectual labor at this particular moment is not lost on me. So again, my heartfelt thanks for their leadership, vision, and their scholarship and the
scholarship of so many who have contributed to inclusive practices in our field. (If you’re interested in a list, I think folks are working on various iterations. Please share them to ATTW-L).<span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps this moment provides us all with a chance to reflect on our own actions.<span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"> The key here is that we all have a role to play in our own spheres of influence by reflecting on our own complicity,
and my hope is that our outrage leads to continuing actions we can all be proud of as members of ATTW, the field of technical communication, and beyond.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Thanks, <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Michelle<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(26,26,26);background:white none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">----<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.5pt"><span style="color:black">Michelle F. Eble, PhD<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="color:black">Past President, Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW)<br>
Chair, Behavioral and Social Sciences Institutional Review Board<br>
Associate Professor, Department of English<br>
Bate 2112, East Carolina University<br>
Greenville, NC 27858<br>
252.328.6412, direct<br>
<a href="mailto:eblem@ecu.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(149,79,114)">eblem@ecu.edu</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Jim Henry, Ph.D.<br>Professor of English, Retired<br>University of Hawai`i at Mānoa<br>Kuykendall 716<br>808.956.3074<br>Honolulu, HI 96822<br><a href="http://www.english.hawaii.edu/henry/" target="_blank">http://www.english.hawaii.edu/henry/</a><br><a href="http://www.english.hawaii.edu/faculty/henry/henry.html" target="_blank">http://www.english.hawaii.edu/faculty/?122</a><br><a href="https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/37357" target="_blank">https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/37357</a><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>