Information about discriminatory submission requirements was recently reported to FAIR about federally-funded literary journals. While many journals offer to waive submission fees in order to accommodate authors and artists facing economic hardships, many are unfortunately conflating economic need with race, skin color, or ancestry, thereby providing differential pricing to authors and artists based on their immutable traits. When entities receive Federal financial assistance, this discriminatory practice violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (and, as applicable, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, from which Title VI is derived). 

Following the decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC, the law is clear: “[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it. And the Equal Protection Clause … applies ‘without regard to any differences of race, of color, or of nationality’ – it is ‘universal in [its] application.”

We are proud to have sent formal legal letters to 17 literary journals to notify them of their violations and to ask them to amend their submission requirements in order to treat all authors and artists equally. But we are not stopping there.

Nearly all literary journals currently use Submittable.com to receive submissions for publication. Submittable.com’s Customer Terms of Service require its customers to adhere to the rights of third parties. So we are asking influential thought leaders to join us in signing an open letter to Submittable.com’s CEO, asking that the company notify its literary journal customers that they may not provide differential treatment to users based on race, skin color, or national origin. We hope that once the journals in question correct their submission requirements, they will continue to accept submissions via the Submittable.com platform freely. 

We recognize the vital role that literary journals play in amplifying the voices and work of up-and-coming authors and artists. We hope you agree that all individuals should be treated equally and should not face discriminatory treatment based on their skin color or ancestry. 

Please join us and so many influential thought leaders in signing our open letter below,