Mercedes Lackey Ejected From Nebula Conference For Using Racial Slur

[TheSword]

So when I read this article, and being into my racing… I thought one of Lewis Hamilton’s staff had been kicked out of the venue

Doh.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

So when I read this article, and being into my racing… I thought one of Lewis Hamilton’s staff had been kicked out of the venue

Doh.

Toto Wolff: No, TheSword, no, this comment was so not right!

 

[Rabulias]

Did the panel event complete? Was an objection raised or a reaction evident in the panel discussion? That would have been the opportunity for Mercedes Lackey to apologize. If the offense was reported to the organization only after the event completed and participants dispersed, that seems a bit dodgy.

 

[MGibster]

Did the panel event complete? Was an objection raised or a reaction evident in the panel discussion? That would have been the opportunity for Mercedes Lackey to apologize. If the offense was reported to the organization only after the event completed and participants dispersed, that seems a bit dodgy.

I handle a lot of similar complaints at work, and it's very typical for someone to make a complaint after the offensive statement was made rather than during the same event. A lot of times people are processing their thoughts and aren't really sure what the best way to proceed is. Barring some extraordinary evidence, I have my doubts that the timing of the complaint indicates anything dodgy. But since Lackey still had other panels to attend, it appears as though the complaint was made very quickly and Nebula acted very swiftly.

 

[This Effin’ GM]

Yeah I mean I wouldn’t want to be the one to stop a panel with someone well known in it to voice a grievance. Would it be brave? Sure. But that’s putting myself and my pain in a position I may not want to be in.

 

[Ondath]

Asking someone to put themselves out in the open in the heat of the moment when they received an offense would add to the unjust burden at hand, so most organisations I know also accept dealing with stuff retroactively. In my uni's TTRPG club we instated new inclusivity policies and allowing people to reach out to us in private if something untoward happens was something that was of concern to us.

That said, and while I lack the full Usonian (given the discussion in this page, I couldn't help but bring this adjective to the talk) context when it comes to racial topics such as these, it really seems like an overblown response to me. If one of the panelists was personally offended, surely the organisers could've tried to handle the issue in private? I think reaching out to Lackey beforehand to make sure she is aware of the implications of her utterance and allowing her to be accountable for the matter herself would've been better for everyone involved? This seems weird to me especially since the panel was celebrating Lackey and she was slated to talk afterwards. Maybe they did try to settle things in private but Lackey doubled down, who knows, but the way things currently stand this really feels like it does nobody good.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

I was kind of hoping for a journalistic take on this story since the timelines I have gleaned from Twitter, Facebook and Reddit threads seem confusing or contradictory. All I have seen is a mention in Locus that basically an extended quote from the SFWA statement.

It is strange how no one seems to want to cover this story, even as clickbait, when the press was all over the Romance Writers of America situation last year.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One little - and not very relevant - thing that I personally find interesting is that all those "Italian" dishes must be recipes that have been created by immigrants in the US with some form of culinary syncretism, because I've never seen them here in Italy.

A lot of Italian American cuisine altered because of the availability of premium ingredients like meat. And as noted, a bunch of those recipes are based on southern Italian versions.

The last time I went to Rome (2015), that difference was VERY evident. The cuisine was much more minimalist and delicately seasoned as compared to 90% of the Italian I find here in Texas- even the stuff done by recent immigrants.

There’s a fantastic Italian restaurant & pizzeria a few miles from here owned and operated by a Sicilian woman who is a 3rd generation restauranteur. She imports some of her ingredients from the old country, and some she prepares from scratch from family recipes. Her pizzas are definitely more like American style pizzas than the ones we had in Rome, but still distinctly different.

And OMG her capers! The only ones iv EVER had where their floral notes are not completely overwhelmed by the pickling. Truly a revelation!

 

[dragoner]

Sadly enough, the SFWA is a house that catches fire quite regularly, so that maybe the press outside is somewhat leery.

 

[Parmandur]

A lot of Italian American cuisine altered because of the availability of premium ingredients like meat. And as noted, a bunch of those recipes are based on southern Italian versions.

The last time I went to Rome (2015), that difference was VERY evident. The cuisine was much more minimalist and delicately seasoned as compared to 90% of the Italian I find here in Texas- even the stuff done by recent immigrants.

There’s a fantastic Italian restaurant & pizzeria a few miles from here owned and operated by a Sicilian woman who is a 3rd generation restauranteur. She imports some of her ingredients from the old country, and some she prepares from scratch from family recipes. Her pizzas are definitely more like American style pizzas than the ones we had in Rome, but still distinctly different.

And OMG her capers! The only ones iv EVER had where their floral notes are not completely overwhelmed by the pickling. Truly a revelation!

We're at the point where there is fusion between Italian-American food and more autentico Italian food in restraints around here: recent immigrants combining their style with what an American audience expects.