Clarissa's Blog

My professional association of modern languages where I’m on the executive boats has proposed to dedicate the next year’s issue of our professional journal on modern languages to “a retrospective on George Floyd’s suffocation at the hands of etc., etc “.

Not only does exclude all languages but English, it also excludes every area of specialization except 21st-century America. At the same time, it excludes 100% of the subjects on which members of the association – who are all professors of languages and literature – are qualified to write professional research pieces.

To say that I’m annoyed and disturbed by this is to say nothing. I was invited to the executive board specifically with the goal of making the MLA less Anglocentric, and now I feel like a moron for agreeing.