Jun 23, 2020 - JoCo Cruise Community Nickname

Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2020 16:00
Subject: JoCo Cruise Community Nickname
From: JoCo Cruise
To: booked cruisers and the full mailing list

JoCo Cruise Community Nickname

After our 2020 cruise, we solicited feedback from the JoCo Cruise community regarding JoCo Cruise’s “Sea Monkey” nickname, in light of the troubling history of "monkey" as a racial slur. We thank the hundreds of community members who shared their feedback.

Based on this feedback and internal discussions, the JoCo Cruise Management has decided to no longer use “Sea Monkey” and other monkey-themed nicknames when referring to JoCo Cruise community members going forward. Regardless of their origin or intent, these names hold hurtful racially-charged connotations for many in our community. After considering all the feedback and consulting with a diverse range of people, we’ve concluded that to ignore this issue would prevent JoCo Cruise from being a safe and welcoming space for all attendees.

We’ve already begun work to remove this language from our website and future official materials, and appreciate your patience as this process continues.

We don’t have a new “official” nickname for JoCo Cruisers—in fact, we’re not certain it’s our place to assign one, nor to “bless” one of the several that have been in circulation since we began addressing this issue.

JoCo Cruise has changed and evolved in many ways over the years—including the very name of the event—and it will continue to do so. One thing that has remained consistent throughout is the thoughtfulness and enthusiasm of the JoCo Cruise community. Thank you for contributing to this spirit year after year.

Jonathan, Paul, Storm and Drew (The Management)

The above statement can also be found on our website ; if there are any further updates regarding this issue, they will be posted on that page.

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