I hadn’t originally planned on making a public statement about this situation. I felt that staying quiet would protect my mental health and others from seeing some of the more unsettling aspects of this community.

However, if you weren’t aware, there’s a bot circulating called "About the JTA Server" that details racist behaviour displayed by some members of the mod team and the allowance of it from others. I encourage you, if you feel able to handle those kinds of topics, to read the post and the screenshots included.

Why am I saying this now? Because I’m Afro-Latina, and I was an A-list member of JTA for several months. When I reached out to ask if JTA was a safe space for BIPOC creators, after learning about the bigotry that had occurred, I was met with threats of physical violence and doxxing from one of the guilty parties’ partners, simply for asking what had been done about this behaviour.

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I find this behaviour pretty interesting as I never spoke about said person besides to the two people I contacted about the situation. I also again only asked if they were ever held accountable for their behaviour.

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I was unaware that speaking up against racism committed against my community was childish behaviour and worthy of being threatened with doxxing. I'll have to correct my definition of the term. Additionally, I would like to remind people, that threatening someone with violence and doxxing are both actual crimes...is this where we are as a community? I thought we were all "adults."

Regardless, these threats have taken a heavy toll on my mental health, so I’ll be taking a short break from creating, at least until I feel more grounded. Writing has always been one of my oldest loves, but for now, I need to focus on my personal life and well-being.

I don’t want to encourage hate toward anyone involved. Hate only leads to more hate. Instead, I ask you to be extra kind to BIPOC and 2SLGBTQAI+ creators in this community. I don't really see myself quitting, so no worries but, I do think that it's time that I actually try and put myself first and take care of my mental health for once.

TL;DR: Be kind to each other. If you can love a bot, you’re more than capable of showing love to your fellow human being. Racism is never okay and threatening people is silly behaviour. We need to do better. The chronically online stuff isn't funny anymore!