Earlier this month, The Morning Newsletter from the New York Times encouraged “pundit accountability.” As David Leonhardt explains,

“There is no shame in being wrong at times. Everybody is, including knowledgeable experts. The world is a messy, uncertain place. The only way to be right all the time is to be silent or say nothing interesting.”

Let this sink in: The only way to be right all the time is to be silent.

In the workplace, keeping quiet when we see biased, offensive, or inappropriate behavior doesn’t make us neutral, it makes us complicit. It means we’re okay with the status quo. It means the opposite of allyship.

Yet, many of us may be concerned we’ll make a mistake. That we might say the wrong thing. Or act in a way that’s not helpful and possibly even hurtful. It can be a lot easier to pull back from these conversations.

Here’s the thing. I want more people to put in the effort to be better allies even though we might get it wrong. Because the best allies are willing to make mistakes and keep trying. We admit when we’re wrong or could do better, and we correct our course. We resist getting defensive and insisting that we’re already doing enough. We listen and learn. We iterate.

We also share our mistakes with others so that we all learn together.

Now it’s time for my own “pundit accountability.” Keep reading to learn from some of the mistakes I made during 2021.

1

Don’t assume someone wants or needs your feedback

In March, I wrote about giving someone a platform to speak. One of my suggestions was to attend their dry runs as they practice their presentations. By doing so, you can show your support and give them feedback so they can improve.

When Diana Allen, a business analyst at the University of Wisconsin, read the newsletter, she noticed some implicit bias and sent me this feedback:

“In your section on ‘a platform to speak’ you mention attend dry runs to give support and then go on to say ‘and give them feedback so they can improve.’ That assumes they are going to need ways to improve. Many underrepresented individuals just need to be asked and already have quality presentations. Perhaps it would be better ally-ship to wait until they ask for feedback and not assume they will need improvements?”

Yup. Definitely. 100%.

If I could go back in time, I’d change my guidance to be: “Attend their dry runs as they practice their presentations to show your support. Ask if they’re interested in feedback. If they say yes, ask what kind of feedback would be most helpful.”

(Diana, many thanks for helping me become a better ally.)

2

Change “click here” links to be more descriptive

In a newsletter in May, I shared a mistake I’d made on my websites: Using “click here” links. For example, “Click here to find out more about my talks and workshops.”

I didn’t know such links can be problematic for people using screen readers. In What’s wrong with using “Click Here” links? on the UC Berkeley Web Access site, the authors explain:

“Using descriptive link text is one of the easiest ways to make your website content more accessible and usable for everyone! … Using ‘click here’ is not considered descriptive and is ineffective for a screen reader user.

Just like sighted users scan the page for linked text, visually-impaired users can use their screen readers to scan for links. As a result, screen reader users often do not read the link within the context of the rest of the page. Using descriptive text properly explains the context of links to the screen reader user.”

I’ve since updated my websites to have what I hope are more descriptive links. (Yes, I maintain my websites. As a former techie, it’s fun to dive into some HTML now and then.)

For example, I changed “Read past issues of the newsletter here” to “Read past issues of the newsletter”.

Now it’s your turn. Take a look at your organization’s website. If it has any examples of non-descriptive link text, you’ve got work to do.

(Thank you to newsletter subscriber Rahel Smith for recommending this article and pointing out how I could make my link text more descriptive.)

3

Say “enslaved people,” not “slaves”

In June, I wrote about observing Juneteenth, and in my explanation, I used the word “slaves.”

Newsletter subscribers Brenna Kutch and Keena Smith quickly pointed out that the word “slave” is dehumanizing. Instead, they recommended using “enslaved people.” Here’s why. By using “enslaved people,” we put more of an emphasis on what was done to them, separating their circumstances from their identity.

I’m overwhelmed with the support I get from all of you, my newsletter subscribers. The fact that two people took the time to provide me with feedback means the world to me. I learned from them, and I’m grateful.

If you’d like to read more about using “enslaved people,” check out this Slate article, Slave or Enslaved Person, by Katy Waldman.

4

Use “different gender,” not “opposite sex”

When readers highlight something that catches their attention on the blogging platform Medium, the author receives a notification. It’s a nice way to know something is resonating with our audience.

However, sometimes it can be a bit mortifying 😳.

In September, someone highlighted a section of a post I published years ago for men who want to be better allies for women. It included the sentence, “Can I invite a co-worker of the opposite sex to dinner during business travel?” Argh. I can’t believe I wrote “someone of the opposite sex.” This phrase is rooted in an old-fashioned mindset that gender is binary, and one that I’ve since stopped using on my journey to be a better ally. The entire sentence is also heteronormative. (Many thanks to the newsletter subscriber who pointed that out to me.)

What’s a more inclusive alternative? “Someone of a different gender” or simply “woman.”

That sentence now reads, “As a straight, cisgender man, can I invite a woman co-worker to dinner during business travel?”

5

Caption your videos

In December, Raven Sutton, a deaf dancer, posted a short TikTok video that went viral. It has a text overlay that reads: “This is what Deaf people experience when your videos are not captioned.”

(When you watch her video, be sure to have the volume turned on.)

If you or your organization publishes videos, are they captioned?

I’m embarrassed to admit that, for years, my speaker reel didn’t have embedded captions. Sure, you could turn them on if you watched the video on YouTube, but not if you watched the video from my website. It wasn’t until an accessibility expert kindly pointed it out to me last Fall.

I’m not sure how I could have let that happen, but as with all things related to allyship, I learn and pledge to do better every day. And I updated my speaker reel right away.

That’s all for this week. If you’ve made a mistake on your journey to be a better ally and would like to tell me about it, reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you.

— Karen Catlin (she/her), Author of Better Allies®