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The executive board of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians announced a series of policy changes to respond to a racist incident at its recent meeting.
“The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians leadership condemns the racist, homophobic, and Islamophobic comments of one of the Big Berks conference co-founders, Lois Banner. We acknowledge harm and apologize to scholars of color for their underrepresentation in decision-making positions and the continuing racism they encounter within our organization and in the spaces we create,” said the statement.
Banner said in a plenary celebrating the 50th anniversary of the conference that she wished she was Black, as her career would have been easier. She has not responded to a request from Inside Higher Ed to discuss the remarks.
The board statement noted, “The Berks did not have a panel on lesbian history until 1987 or a woman of color as an officer until 2002 … As we wrestle with Banner’s comments and our own inaction, we must note that her remarks constitute only the latest incident for our members, officers, and colleagues of color; many report one-on-one microaggressions and racist encounters at this conference and prior events. Though our organization looks very different than it did almost a century ago, we have not done enough to counter the bias within our own ranks, including last week.”
In addition, the board said, “We intend for this apology to begin a period of action and meaningful change.”
Specifically, the board said,
- “We will develop guidelines for attendees and moderators, examine and address how we develop the overall program and organize plenary sessions, and create mechanisms for finding support at our meetings and sharing feedback afterward.”
- “We are making structural changes to the organization itself, including a revision of our bylaws to increase democracy, transparency, and participation within our organization.”
- “We will provide resources for scholars of color to attend our conferences and meetings and participate in the organization and to support and center the scholarship of scholars of color.”
- “We will seek to push the larger historical academic community to address structural racism along with transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny and the myriad crises of this historical moment and to ensure that this work transcends the academy and engages a wider audience.”
