Dear UC Davis Anthropology Community Members:
We unequivocally condemn the murder of a Black man, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police officers, as well as other instances of racism and violence against people of color. We recognize that this murder isn’t an isolated event but instead reflects systematic racism that has deep roots in our society, including close to home in the 2018 shooting of Stephon Clark by officers from the Sacramento police department.
Members of our own academic community—undergraduates, graduates, staff, and faculty—have been directly or indirectly impacted by racism and police violence. To you all, we express compassion for the trauma activated or re-activated by recent events.
We want to especially communicate solidarity with our undergraduate and graduate students who have had personal encounters with racism and police violence and/or who have returned home to communities where the right to protest injustices is being violently repressed—all in the context of a global pandemic that disproportionately affects poor people and people of color. As a faculty, we acknowledge the difficult circumstances our students and colleagues face, and we pledge to do what we can to support your continued education and to stand with you against racism in all of its forms.
As the focus of anthropology is on understanding both our shared humanity and diversity, and engaging with diverse ways of being in the world, as anthropologists, we recognize the inherent value that each individual brings to the world. Hand in hand with this recognition, we need to commit to addressing injustices both within our discipline and the wider society in which we live.
The faculty, instructors, and staff of the UC Davis Department of Anthropology
- It is worth watching the dedicated moment of silence led by Vice Chancellor Tull and reading Chancellor May’s statement here: https://diversity.ucdavis.edu/resources-racial-trauma- Students looking for support or other information about campus resources established to help students experiencing stress can start at the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs here: https://ossja.ucdavis.edu