Y’all know I got more to say about this #QFX nonsense. (1/?) https://twitter.com/qfxcloudcon/status/1292833818047643649

Before I get into it, I’ll say I know and like some of the people on “Team QFX” so this is kinda extra disappointing. (2/?)

I tried to do a Rachel Cargle inspired markup but tbh my handwriting is too messy to expect people to read, so I’ll just go through this letter. (3/?)

First off, next time, just start with “We messed up.” (We know there will be a next time.) (4/?)

“We will never invalidate anyone’s experience while being part of our organization.” This implies that there is something about @moonstiina experience to invalidate. (5/?)

“Earlier this year, we were made aware that team members...” There is so much passive voice in this letter it pains me. You cannot separate yourselves from the racists among you. (6/?)

“...team members made inappropriate and racially insensitive comments in private [S]lack channels” A lot to unpack here.
1. Who? Are they still team members?
2. The word you mean is RACIST. Say it with your chest.
3. Private from whom?
(7/?)

“[...] a QFX director advised all parties...” Who? This is written like a third party who doesn’t know people’s names! (8/?)

“[...]institute an all-inclusive team training...” Training is not a resort vacation-what does “all-inclusive” mean? It is not a synonym for anti-racist. (9/?)

“The training that had been promised did not happen.”
Passive voice will not absolve you of your racism. (10/?)

There are also so many vague words for racism here. “The Incident” “The Issues at Hand.” If you cant name what you did wrong for what it is, how can you begin to make amends for it. (11/?)

“During this time, communication became less than desirable, asthe OP stated.” This is reductive of the real issues and dehumanizing. (12/?)

“This led to multiple people feeling unheard and unvalued...” Who? Was it all your BIPOC staff? (13/?)

“[...]that was never an intention we held...” Intention does not equal impact. This is 101 level stuff. Did you unpack anything other than your feelings? (14/?)

“For this, we sincerely apologize.” To who? We know it wasn’t to @moonstiina (15/?)

This whole explanation of the spreadsheet is such a long way to say “we can’t be trusted to organically create a racially diverse con.” Which, like, points for knowing yourselves I guess. (16/?)

“If we fall below a certain threshold to have an inclusive guest list...”
What is inclusive?
What is the threshold?

“[...] we pause on reaching out to others we’d like to include.”
So, you pause reaching out to the white, cis people you *want* to include, until you get more “diverse” people that you...don’t want to include? (18/?) [I know I messed up my numbers]

“[O]ne of our directors advised our social media team not to use BIPOC GIFs when unnecessary”
“Unnecessary” is doing so much work here. What does that mean?? (19/?)

It’s good that one mystery person over at QFX learned about digital blackface, but clearly they did not explain it to others if the takeaway was “Don’t use BIPOC in GIFs.” (20/?)

Okay, so we’re getting to the “what will we change” part of the apology, approximately 3 paragraphs late but let’s see. (21/?)

The only named change here is the same training you failed to do before. [Oprah_what_is_the_truth.gif]
When is the training? With whom? Why should I believe this would happen when it didn’t before? (22/?)

“[W]e want to be an entity that fosters an environment of anti-racism, transparency, and accountability.”
Yet this letter is none of those. (23/?)

“We will continue to make mistakes and we will never be perfect.”
All I hear is that “be nice to me I just stopped being racist yesterday” tweet. (24/?)

“Summer Camp will be postponed to the fall.” “Only [after growth] can we participate I. The facilitation of a more inclusive, diverse, accountable, and safe environment.”

So, y’all think that’s gonna be done by fall? (25/25)