[diversity-talk] NYC local disagreement

[Darrell Fuhriman]

> 
> changes, and if having a formal document might actually harm the
> community by creating a series of rules.

The rules already exist, whether they are written or not. The benefit of written rules is that they attempt to make explicit, and therefore capable of being critiqued, that which had heretofore been implicit. This is is a deeply important thing to do, if we are going to uncover who is included or excluded and why.

In another e-mail you mentioned "the larger Free Software and Free Culture communities. I believe that Free Culture (of which OSM is a part) is a vehicle that brings people together, and increases our understandings of one another. I'm proud to be a part of such a movement."

Personally, I see nothing in either of those communities that inherently "increases our understandings of one another". Frankly, when I look at the people involved (and I include myself) in those communities, I see a big bunch of wealthy white men (yes, there are exceptions, obviously), and they're mostly talking to themselves and not increasing their understanding of anyone at all.

One of the reasons I've decided to get involved in this mailing list is not simply to say "We need more women/minorities" but to examine the reasons for their absence. Their absence is not an accident, though I would be quick to add it isn't necessarily by conscious design, either.

I actually find it quite "interesting" that there are detailed rules and mediation policies in place for tagging, but not a single one for inter-personal dispute resolution. I find that deeply problematic. Not to pick on you, but imagine someone declared, "I thought long and hard about my tagging, and I don't really want to discuss it. I'm just going to do it." The uproar would have been rather significant….

Darrell

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