To the President and Assembled Board of Directors of the Society for Creative Anachronism;
We, the undersigned, wish to clearly articulate our adamant support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Society for Creative Anachronism.
While it’s easy to find examples in history where the real world has fallen far short of celebrating diversity, embracing equity, and modeling inclusion, the SCA is now and ever has abided by the idea of creating the Middle Ages “The Way It Should Have Been.” This key statement from our history is more poignant now than ever.
We believe that celebrating diversity requires every individual to approach new interactions with an open mind and gentle heart. It requires every individual to take stock of themselves and root out any prejudices they may have brought with them to the SCA. It is mission-critical that the Society maintain inclusivity in official spaces of common discussion, be they in person or online. We ask that Corporate and Society officers be mindful of the Paradox of Tolerance, and to remove those who have shown repeatedly that they have no interest in actual tolerance. (The Paradox of Tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant.) Put plainly, if we accept bigotry as part of ‘tolerance’, then we as a society tell those who are targeted by bigoted behavior that they are not welcome, that they have no place in the society.
We believe that equity is a goal to be embraced by all. The Society must work towards fairness as it pertains to access, entry, participation, leadership roles, and activities. We must remove barriers to entry and participation that are based in gender, class, race, ability, or any other status or designation. All who seek to participate must be treated with equal dignity and respect. We hope that the recent census will highlight issues of diversity and indicate steps to improve the inequities that exist. There are many actions we as a society could take to remove these barriers. For instance, local branches could continuously evaluate their effectiveness at retaining members of underrepresented groups, and centering their voices in local branch policy, meetings, and social media presence. Our failure to embrace equity will only lead to a future where great people fall short of their true potential, and we deprive ourselves of Great Peers of Renown. By contrast, a great start in the right direction is the recent change for Inspirational Equality which has opened the door to new Crowns and new Royal Peers.
We believe that to properly model inclusion for all people, the SCA at the branch level must start considering who is being excluded from participation. We must start asking ourselves the hard question of “who doesn’t show up?” rather than simply asking “who’s already coming out and what do they need?” For example, many events and meetings lack adequate disability access and services. The populace is aging, and the lack of accessibility will limit many from participating and further the division between older and younger SCAdians. Even small steps such as asking all event organizers to look towards accessibility in their events, meetings, gatherings, and practices can help bring these parts of the populace together and better serve those who need such services.
It’s our firm belief that a more diverse, more equitable, and more inclusive SCA is a more robust and more rich experience for all. We believe that equity is a virtue and should be championed by all, just as we’ve championed the Chivalric Virtues since our inception. To champion equity, we must ask ourselves what we can do to make the SCA more accessible and welcoming to everyone who would like to participate. We see that the SCA has made great strides of late, with the adoption of Inspirational Equality, and the strong stances taken against hate speech and bullying. We ask that this work continue as we look towards other ways that people have been made to feel unsafe or unwelcome.
To this end, we ask of the Board of Directors for the Society for Creative Anachronism the following:
That anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies be used wisely to further the aims of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and not to stifle whistleblowers who report abuse at great personal risk. The Board must act deliberately and cautiously when investigating conflicting interactions to avoid retaliatory behavior against legitimate claims of intolerance and harassment.
That the efforts made to adhere to the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion be upheld and continued; that bigotry and other intolerant behavior be recognized in the greater context of an overall pattern of behavior by individuals and groups, rather than single occurrences that can be written off as isolated incidents.
That the Board further support the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by addressing any issues of inequity identified by the 2020 SCA Census. Doing so will help the DEI Office guide local branches to increase the diversity of their members, reduce inequities, and welcome everyone who comes in peace.
That the Board be wary of confusing quiet with peace; punishing both sides in a debate over basic human dignity leads to a toxic environment for members of targeted classes. In such toxic environments, it is easier, and safer, for those members of targeted classes to walk away than face the risk of being punished in order to keep the peace.
Finally, we ask all Society members to look within ourselves, our branches, our households, our guilds, our relationships and our friendships, and evaluate how well we have lived up to the Ideals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – then to take concrete steps towards positive change.
Yours in Service,
The Undersigned