Read on Twitter
A thread of why the women in STEM hashtag trending on Juneteenth is a great example of why I don’t always consider WW academics allies in the struggle to improve things
1. They privilege their womanhood to be bastions of diversity while failing to acknowledge their whiteness https://twitter.com/christineliuart/status/1274724427570110469
1. They privilege their womanhood to be bastions of diversity while failing to acknowledge their whiteness https://twitter.com/christineliuart/status/1274724427570110469
2. They are happy to exploit their whiteness to become key voices in struggles that they are not minorities in on top of having a history of incredibly dangerous behaviour with Black students, colleagues https://twitter.com/that_astro_chic/status/1274735539074334721?s=21 https://twitter.com/that_astro_chic/status/1274735539074334721
3. If there’s a global conversation re racism, w Black academics trying to share their experiences using hashtags like BlackInTheIvory, this is absolutely NOT the moment for you to say “but look at my experiences”. Especially don’t do it on Juneteenth ffs https://twitter.com/evodevodna/status/1274735568941957123?s=21 https://twitter.com/evodevodna/status/1274735568941957123
4. If you come here with whataboutery about the sexism you face, you’re being ridiculous and explicitly racist. There are 100s of Black women and NB academics sharing their experiences on BlackInTheIvory. Why is this the moment you want to center yourself? https://twitter.com/dralexiswilson/status/1274733896643620864?s=21 https://twitter.com/dralexiswilson/status/1274733896643620864
5. With how active the people tweeting with the WomenInSTEM hashtag are, don’t even dare to say that you didn’t know the significance of what you were doing. You can’t claim that on Juneteenth you deciding to center your experiences wasn’t anti-Black https://twitter.com/that_astro_chic/status/1274724654347890690?s=21 https://twitter.com/that_astro_chic/status/1274724654347890690
6. Please WW academics, you claiming to be the upholders of diversity and inclusion in academia is actively harmful. Pass the mike, decenter yourself, uplift Black #WomenInSTEM and don’t use these moments as academic/professional/social capital https://twitter.com/nyx1105/status/1274554660507078656?s=21 https://twitter.com/nyx1105/status/1274554660507078656
7. We are in a moment where suddenyl institutions finally feel the pressure to change (some)things and WW trying to use it to advance their careers is not diversity, it’s not inclusion, it’s not radical, not progressive. Just self-serving. https://twitter.com/krw18/status/1274415821633327104?s=21 https://twitter.com/krw18/status/1274415821633327104
Facts on facts on facts https://twitter.com/astrotoya/status/1274739981949587456?s=21 https://twitter.com/astrotoya/status/1274739981949587456
So, if you’re a white woman academic who wants to tweet about sexism right now, just don’t. Instead, take a moment to reflect on your privileges and spend your time uplifting the voices of inspiring, amazing Black academics. Start with #BlackInAstro https://twitter.com/that_astro_chic/status/1274133017141874689?s=21 https://twitter.com/That_Astro_Chic/status/1274133017141874689
Thinking specifically of white women in archaeology and anthropology who have caused me and fellow BIPOC so much harm who are publicly lauded for being great feminists and advocates of diversifying our fields. Almost like EDI has become a scam 
Once more for the people in the back https://twitter.com/archaeologyfitz/status/1274717798586028034?s=21 https://twitter.com/archaeologyfitz/status/1274717798586028034
Archaeology is incredibly white and the discipline needs to do sooooooooooooo much better https://twitter.com/melinaseabrook/status/1274170377267286018?s=21 https://twitter.com/melinaseabrook/status/1274170377267286018
Oop. https://twitter.com/cogcelia/status/1274736851052449792?s=21 https://twitter.com/cogcelia/status/1274736851052449792
In honour of #BlackInAstro here’s a list of amazing Black Astros you should be following, complied by the amazing Astrochemist @That_Astro_Chic follow, retweet the shit out of it and maybe you’ll see less of the #WomenInSTEM nonsense https://twitter.com/That_Astro_Chic/status/1101621543866720256?s=20 https://twitter.com/that_astro_chic/status/1101621543866720256
Important bit of reading on the weaponisation of WW tears in academia. Thank you to @itsJaninebtw for writing this https://itsjaninebtw.com/2020/06/03/when-white-women-get-caught-victimhood-as-racialised-violence/
