Dear Campus Community,
Eight minutes and 46 seconds are etched in our minds forever. That is how long former and convicted police officer Derek Chauvin pushed his knee into George Floyd’s neck, suffocating and murdering him in public one year ago today. His death also symbolically represents the centuries of dehumanization of Black bodies across our nation beginning with the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1619. The list of names of all the Black individuals who have lost their lives at the hands of police violence, transphobia, and belief systems that reinforce false notions of white supremacy are too many to name.
Black Lives Statistics
Did you know:
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Black people are three times more likely than white people to be killed during a police encounter (Harvard School of Public Health June 2020);
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Black drivers are more likely to be stopped by the police and three times more likely to be searched in comparison to white drivers;
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Black people are four times more likely to experience the use of force during encounters with the police;
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Once convicted of a crime, Black individuals receive longer and harsher sentences for the same offenses compared to white individuals.
Lessons for All
While these statistics are not new, it took the public murder of George Floyd to bring forth a national call for racial reckoning and the un-doing of the systemic racism that is deeply embedded in our country. We have learned that Anti-Blackness when unaddressed becomes the breeding ground for ableism, anti-Asian violence, antisemitism, Islamophobia, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, and all other forms of hate and bias.
We as a university must not be complacent or act from privileged indifference. We must put structures and policies in place to combat, interrupt, and dismantle the foundations that make these inequitable and fatal situations possible. Maintaining neutrality when lives are at stake is violence and passive. What we stand up for is just as important as what we stand against.
Over the past year, urgent work has been taking place on our campus to address racial injustice. In partnership, the Chancellor’s Office, the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, and the Division of Equity & Inclusion have charged an Antiracist Campus Steering Committee, co-chaired by Lasana Hotep, director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (People & Culture) and Amy Scharf, director of Faculty Equity & Departmental Initiatives (Division of Equity & Inclusion), to bring forth recommendations for becoming an antiracist campus.
We share our campus’ commitment to move forward on the recommendations from the Chancellor’s Independent Advisory Board for Police Accountability and Community Safety to reimagine campus safety and center on the experiences of those most negatively impacted by encounters with police. We are also committed to conducting a financial analysis of how our campus is investing in closing the disparity gaps that are inflicted on our Black community and other marginalized groups.
Liberation for our campus
In order for George Floyd’s death to not be in vain, it is important that we examine our policies and practices that reproduce inequitable outcomes. We must establish and innovate on our metrics for excellence in research, teaching, and public service. Our outcomes must be tied to changing statistics that are predictable for the Black community and other marginalized communities. Then and only then, will our messages, our values, and declarations of outrage mean more than a performative or reactionary gesture of support and become a source of liberation from the historic debt owed to our Black community members and all other protected class groups. We have a lot of work to do as a campus community. Please join us on our journey to heal, mend, and move towards justice.
Sincerely,
Oscar Dubón, Jr.
Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion
E&I Core Leadership Team:
Dr. Mia Settles-Tidwell, Chief of Staff & Assistant Vice Chancellor
Fabrizio Mejia - AVC Student Equity & Success
Dr. Margaret Hunter - Senior Director, Centers of Educational Justice & Community Engagement
Yvette Flores - Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor, Centers for Educational Partnerships
Dr. Denzil Streete - Assistant Dean for Diversity, Graduate Division
Debbie Fong - Human Resources Manager
Kim Steinbacher - Interim Chief Financial Officer
Sandra Messick - Communications Director
Terri Washington - Interim Administrative Officer/Executive Assistant