I wish that the #SHEAR2020 plenary better represented the array of exciting work that is happening in #VastEarlyAmerica. But, on the other hand, we all know that the kind of thing that happened in that panel persists in our subfield (and in the field of history more broadly).

And it can be tempting to focus on the excellent work that people are doing and pretend that is really what defines the field and downplay the retrograde stuff as a relic that will eventually disappear.

It’s the same kind of idea that people have re: politics that old prejudices will die out with a new generation. But, that’s not how change happens. We have to take action to make our field and our discipline better.

And, for that reason, there’s some value in what happened today. It’s good that so many people saw the panel, and it’s good that SHEAR faced public scorn and condemnation for it.

What was said on the panel wouldn’t have been any less offensive if it had happened in a small room on some side hallway of a conference hotel, but it would have passed largely unnoticed. Nothing would have changed. Nothing would have gotten better.

In fact, thanks to @wihorne’s tweet from a conference last year, we can observe how little happens when one person or a few people point out a problem. It’s easy for the field to ignore it. https://twitter.com/wihorne/status/1193271451706675200?s=20

At least now, there’s a chance for some kind of reckoning. Will anything change? Maybe, maybe not. But, it seems that the widespread condemnation of the racism on display in the panel has energized people who want to make SHEAR better. I hope they succeed.