Stakeholder #2

All controversies have major stakeholders. Sometimes they are on completely opposite sides, but sometimes, stakeholders are on a middle ground.

UWGB Admissions. "Peace sign + UWGB Environmental Sciences Building" 7/29/09 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

Other stake holders include prominent figures in astronomy who oppose the TMT:

Two women in particular have a large influence on twitter- Dr. Chanda Prescod- Weinstein and Charee Peters. Dr. Chanda P-W has a Phd in Theoretical Physics from the University of Waterloo and Executive Committee Member, Committee on the Status of Gender and Sexual Minorities in Astronomy in the American Astronomical Society. She is a person of color and started #DeColonizeSTEM and #DeColonizeAstronomy in order to protest the TMT. Charee Peters is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She also speaks out loudly about TMT despite numerous warnings that it could destroy her budding career in Astronomy. She is a Sioux native american and is very proud of her heritage as is displayed by her twitter name- SiouxperNova.

Claims: 

1.  “The hurtful response of some people towards indigenous communities is likely what has affected me the most. When people use hateful language towards our cultures and beliefs, calling them “magical,” or “backwards” even, I feel like this demonstrates that there’s no place for people like me in the field of astronomy,” - Charee Peters, PhD candidate at the University of  Wisconsin- Madison (source)
2. “What I have learned as a cosmologist is that science has too often been on the wrong side of progress… No telescope or science is more important than people.”- Dr. Chandra Prescod- Weinstein (source)
3. "It’s very alienating,.. Their reflections on Hawaii really affect how I see myself in this community. How can I tell Caribbean and other Black Americans that astronomy has a place for you?”- Dr. Chandra Prescod- Weinstein (source)

Validity of Claims:
These two women are not reacting to the TMT itself. They are reacting to the comments of other prominent figures in astronomy who made racist comments on the matter such as in this email. They are fighting less about the TMT but more about the political repercussions of the TMT controversy. After hearing racist and bigoted comments by their peers, they felt alienated as they are both part of URM or under represented minorities. They are worried that this controversy will cause men and women going into stem to feel they have to decide between science and religion.

Similarities:
Some of their claims resonate with the Mauna Kea protesters that the westerners stomp over culture and tradition in favor of science.