Thank you Sarah. I knew I owed a public apology to other members of this list, but did not want to bring up my conduct again. I found that the discussion had since moved on and I could convey my feelings to Sarah privately. I would like to publicly apologize to other readers for my past comments. I do not edit Wikipedia. I have no idea about the context of discussions on this particular mailing list. An old student referred me to the email this morning, and I signed up instantly to this mailing list for only the purpose of replying to that email. I realized that my knee-jerk reaction at the time was out of place and a complete over-reaction to what was being discussed. I have since then apologized to Sarah privately, and I do really hope she accepted it. I sincerely hope I didn't affect her enthusiasm and passion with my comments. My comments were clearly an over-sensitive reaction to the perceived content of the last email, I saw them out of context and I sincerely apologize for my conduct to everyone who read them. It has been a while since I have been called a troll, though I am old enough to probably be considered one. I don't feel I have anymore to contribute. There seems to be a much more active discussion here than what I was expecting. As such, this would be my last email to this mailing list, I will be unsubscribe after this email - Troll or not. I wish everyone the best in their endeavors. I have nothing but good things to say about Wikipedia and what it is doing to change our world. Best wishes Maria Alameda
> Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:40:49 -0400 > From: sarah.stie...@gmail.com > To: foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Oral Citations project: People are Knowledge > > Maria Alameda is not a troll. She apologized to me in a very sincere manner > offlist. Culturally this is a very sensitive topic, and I have learned to > deal with the criticism, weariness and lack of trust that people have > towards the work I do based on my skin color and name. This is not the first > time I have experienced sentiments like that, and I take each one very > seriously. It's unfortunate, but, plenty of people have paved the way for > folks like Maria to have the response she did. :-/ > > The other two..I'm not so sure. > > On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 5:34 PM, M. Williamson <node...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Nathan, I think that Raul Gutierrez, Maria Alameda and "Elizabeth" are all > > the same person, somebody trolling the list. While we occasionally get > > single-issue new posters starting topics, it's rare to see them pop up in > > the middle of a topic just to attack one user. Something fishy is > > definitely > > going on here. > > > > 2011/7/27 Nathan <nawr...@gmail.com> > > > > > On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 10:25 AM, Maria Alameda <m-alamed...@hotmail.com > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Hello all > > > > I usually don't comment on mailing lists but a colleague of mine > > referred > > > me here. I wanted to comment on the issues related to Native-american > > > research raised earlier by Ms. Stierch. I found her outlook completely > > > isolated from the realities. > > > > I would rather attribute her naivety to her limited view of the world > > as > > > a fresh graduate. Personally, it reminds me of a somewhat racist outlook > > > common among predominantly white-american graduates and students. While I > > > agree there is a need for more research related to Native american > > culture, > > > I really can't agree with the implication that Native american culture is > > as > > > overlooked as some unknown tribe in New Guinea. > > > > I should be thankful for her enthusiasm but this is ridiculous. I'm > > happy > > > for her residency at National museum of American Indian(s) and her thesis > > or > > > even efforts to change certain policies on Wikipedia, but none of that is > > > connected with the much-larger cultural and race issues she's referring > > to. > > > While I wish her the best, I would hope she not use her thesis as an > > excuse > > > to comment on the realities of those cultural issues. Oral citation is > > just > > > one small aspect of a much larger culture she learnt in school. > > > > I might be too sensitive here, but if her comments were to be applied > > to > > > african-american culture in the United States coming from a female > > > white-undergraduate student pursuing her masters, her comments on the > > plight > > > and the issues of an entire race would seem rather patronizing. Perhaps, > > its > > > just me. > > > > Maria AlamedaM.A, Ph.d (Native American studies) > > > > > > > > > > This seems like an over-reaction to me. It doesn't seem horribly > > > unlikely that Sarah is, if not alone, then among a very small group of > > > academics studying the intersection of Native Americans and Wikimedia > > > projects. > > > > > > Were her descriptions of the challenges facing Native American > > > communities inaccurate? > > > > > > Are you aware of outreach efforts by the WMF aimed at Native > > > Americans? (There are certainly many aimed at many other groups around > > > the world; the seeming absence of focus on Native Americans would > > > support Sarah's statement that they are "overlooked" in this regard). > > > > > > Could you explain the specific errors she made that led you to call > > > her e-mail racist, patronizing and naive? I think if you are going to > > > use such strong words, then more substantial criticism is required > > > than simply stating that she is female, young and white. > > > > > > Nathan > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > foundation-l mailing list > > > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > foundation-l mailing list > > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > > > > > > -- > GLAMWIKI Partnership Ambassador for the Wikimedia > Foundation<http://www.glamwiki.org> > Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American > Art<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch> > and > Sarah Stierch Consulting > *Historical, cultural & artistic research & advising.* > ------------------------------------------------------ > http://www.sarahstierch.com/ > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l