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We were hoping to change ourselves and then model something for the entire industry.
Those hopes faded as quickly as they materialized.
Some who remain are uncertain whether or how the organization will continue to exist at all.
In her reply, Hertzel reassured Romano that shed always appreciate his perspective.
It shines unlike anyone elses, she wrote, adding, your objections are all valid, of course.
(Wabuke did not respond to a request for comment.)
A wave of resignations followed, which in turn unleashed a second wave, and a third.
As one board member put it, the sequence of events was bizarre and bloody in an end-of-a-Tarantino-movie way.
As of this writing, only ten of the 24 board members remain.
Only three black critics sat on the board to begin with, and all have stepped down.
Among the members who resigned in protest of Wabukes Twitter thread was the president, Hertzel.
She stepped down hours after the emails were made public.
I did not see any way forward to serve on a board where confidentiality had been breached.
Still, she regretted how she handled Romanos email.
Carlin and I have a bad history, she told me.
Romano declined to speak on the phone for an interview, but he sent along a statement.
Im not racist and Im not anti-black.
In my opinion, they oppose true critical discussion.
Good riddance to any of them who resignthe NBCC will be healthier without them.
But according to the bylaws, the entire membership must vote to remove a board member.
I have lots of energy for this, and it will cost me nothing, he wrote.
At this point, he is sitting on a throne of skulls.
His tenure there, he said, was marked with microaggressions and gaslighting.
In 2018, he urged the group to award its lifetime-achievement prize to Alice Walker.
Frustrated by what he described as an insidious racist culture, he resigned from the board.
And it can isolate people of color.
Each of the black board members who stepped down did so for different reasons.
Like Romano, he disputed the idea that the publishing industry is plagued by racism.
The way he said it was an unideal, McWhorter said.
He was not being a modern person in the way he responded.
Still, McWhorter added, all racial disparities are not due to bigotry or even structural barriers.
- What Laurie says does not reflect solely on her.
A message that did not acknowledge the structural deficits of the board as it existed before Thursday is unacceptable.
When we spoke over the weekend, Muhammad told me he was feeling depressed about the organizations future.
But on Monday, after hed resigned, he felt more optimistic.
The saga is bleak, he said.
I think that is very meaningful.
This shows that there is a pathway to change.
In fact, it was forwarded to the full membership without her knowledge.
