A letter to the AO3

I woke up early this morning and wrote a letter to the AO3 that I submitted as feedback. I wanted to do something other than tweet impotently around AO3's continued refusal to deal with racism in fandom and racist abuse of its tools. Here it is for the public record.

Hi there,

I trust that the brave people protesting police violence across the US and the world at the moment are causing everyone, especially white people, who volunteer and works at the AO3 to reflect, as I am, deeply on their lives and the ways they contribute to structural racism. I am writing to urge the AO3, from the top down, to use this moment to reflect also on what AO3 can do to improve the experience of fans of colour. I love the AO3 and consider it one of my fannish homes. But it is becoming increasingly evident that, because the AO3 does not choose to actively address the widespread racism in fandom, it is becoming a tool that supports racism in fandom. The AO3, like the rest of us, is part of a racist society and if it is not actively working against racism, it will be for racism.

( I know that there is tremendous concern about creeping problems ... )