As racism scandal escalates, Romance Writers of America board president resigns

The shakeup at Houston-based Romance Writers of America continues, with the organization's leadership stepping down Thursday. The shakeup at Houston-based Romance Writers of America continues, with the organization's leadership stepping down Thursday. Photo: Michael Spooneybarger, MBR / AP Photo: Michael Spooneybarger, MBR / AP Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close As racism scandal escalates, Romance Writers of America board president resigns 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Damon Suede, the president of the board of the Romance Writers of America, resigned Thursday, the latest fallout in the developing scandal at the Houston-based organization. RWA accepted the resignation, avoiding a recall election that would have taken place this month.

Suede served on the RWA board of directors for the past five years. He served as president-elect from Sept. 2019 through Dec. 2019, when the 9,000-member organization underwent an unprecedented upheaval that sprung from criticisms that its membership and its creative products failed to reflect any diversity.

This update covered the crisis through Jan. 8. But the RWA has continued trying to recover from fallout from an August 2019 tweet by author Courtney Milan -- accusing a particular romance novel of being racist -- and the ensuing fallout as the organization censured a best-selling author and then dealt with continuing repercussions.

A statement from the RWA reads:

The events of the past two weeks have been the most painful and tumultuous in the history of Romance Writers of America (RWA). While these events stemmed from a recent ethics matter, they have their roots in significant failures of RWA over the course of several years to meaningfully address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, and deficiencies in our communications and transparency with our membership.



That’s on us. We have lost the trust of our membership and the romance author community and we are taking steps to rebuild that relationship. We have a difficult road ahead, but we are committed to traveling it together and building a stronger, more inclusive organization with all of you -- and for all of you.





Steps taken include the hiring of an independent law firm to audit ethics complaints about the way the RWA handled the kerfuffle. A diversity, equity and inclusion consultant has also been brought in to the RWA. The organization's annual RITA awards have been canceled for 2020. And that awards program will be redone going forward with an emphasis on diversity.

"We know that this is just a start to a longer process of reform for the RWA," the statement read.

The RWA board has decided to not immediately fill the void left by Suede's departure as it assesses changes needed to move forward. RWA executive director Carol Ritter also resigned from her post, which she took over in November. She will remain in a transitional role as the RWA decides how to best proceed.

The organization's tumult comes in its 40th year. It was started by a New York-based, Houston native, Vivian Stephens, an editor who urged a group of writers to start a group to support and promote romance fiction. The RWA began in 1980 and had its first conference in Houston in 1981. Houston is still the headquarters for the RWA.