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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 8113903" data-attributes="member: 6685541">I think this topic ignores the fact that, especially in the US, a large group of people have been historically censored, controlled, and threatened with violence, and that is anyone not white or male. Going back to Frederick Douglas, he had to first break the law to learn how to read and write, escape from slavery, and convince abolitionists to hear his story before he could get published. Then he had to change the names of important people in his life story to prevent them from being killed. Women had to publish under male pseudonyms. For generations, anyone who did not fit into the established dominant culture in America was simply not published. Or they were targeted by white supremacist terrorists. Look at how many Civil Rights leaders were assassinated because they refused to be censored.When we equate Sensitivity Readers with censorship, we are missing a whole lot of context.The focus on cultural and racial identity of authors, and their ability to write from other perspectives, can be really upsetting and difficult. It's a tough conversation. But I think if we see it in a historical context, we can recognize that this is part of a conversation that has been happening for centuries.And just the fact that we can have a conversation about honoring the voices of people who are not just white and male is a victory in itself!Rather than seeing Sensitivity Readers, or a caution when writing about other cultural and racial perspectives, as a threat, see it as part of this difficult and sometimes painful transition to a world in which we have more perspectives published than ever before! The process is never going to be perfect, but we have literally seen the alternative for hundreds of years.</blockquote>

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