Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing-L in full moderation / Racial Diversity

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Feb 21, 2023, at 12:33 PM, Fred H Olson <fholson [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> "Emergency moderation" mode.  All list posts will be
> held for moderation. Any post that is deemed too inflamatory or
> inappropiate will not be distributed. I do not look forward to
> making such a determination and hope that posts will be respectful.

Thank you, Fred, for not just telling everyone to stop talking. When I’m 
moderating a list, I also send messages back to the sender pointing out how 
their message might be misconstrued and suggesting better wording. I also ask 
all posters to assume good intentions of all posters — and to ask for 
clarification before accusing them of bias or hostility.

> Email is not the best way to discuss difficult issues - it is prone to
> misinterpretation, lacks nonverbal cues etc. Please be extra careful
> in composing posts on this topic. One or more zoom sessions on this topic
> are being condidered. Zoom can be better tho not as good as in person.

I feel like a broken record when I say this but since people keep singling out 
email as a medium that is not appropriate for discussing difficult issues, I 
repeat myself again. No context is good for discussing difficult issues unless 
someone is moderating the conversation to help avoid miscommunication. Without 
a skilled facilitator and understanding on all sides, F2F conversations about 
race, religion, or politics are no easier or more enlightening. They are also 
less likely to happen.

One thing that is particular to email is that it is written and many people are 
less skilled at writing. And we speak different languages.

But email also makes conversations between people from highly diverse 
backgrounds possible. The wide range of people who are in this conversation 
would not be talking to each other _at all_ if it were not on email on this 
list. 

While email presents its own kinds of challenges and advantages, they are not 
greater or lesser than those of other forms of communication. Just different.

Thank you again, Fred, and thank you to others for sticking this out.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org