[BFASA] UCR Ethnic & Gender Centers for Racial Justice

[Jamal J Myrick]

Hello BFASA,

Please find attached and below the Ethnic & Gender Centers’ letter for Racial Justice:

Hello Highlander community,

On Tuesday, November 3, our country voted for a president; the outcome of the presidential election has many of us filled with a range of emotions that follows a summer where we witnessed a global protest for Black lives; an uprising led by Black people in America who have suffered persistent injuries to body, mind, and spirit. As we move forward from the presidential election, we must not forget the fight for justice remains with us regardless of who is in Office.

For centuries, Black people have been denied housing and access to health care; pushed out of their communities via gentrification, policing, and mass incarceration. The murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a White police officer in Minneapolis sparked pain, outrage, and protests. However, his death did not happen in a vacuum; Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Nina Pop, and countless others have not received justice. Most recently, Breonna Taylor’s killers were not indicted; this is not a surprise. However, it is still a tragedy that her family will not have justice.

We are committed to supporting UCR students in their higher education goals; we know that access and the pursuit of a higher education requires racial justice—yet, being Black in America today, is enough to get you killed. Racism is real, it is systemic, and it is being documented on video—and nothing is happening to the offenders of this violence.

We stand with UCR students advocating for equity and justice. We are proud to see communities coming out in protest to hold the government and police accountable; these systems of racism and anti-black oppression need to be stopped. As a community we must remain civically engaged, we encourage you to participate in organizations that fight for justice (e.g. Black Lives Matter, Color of Change, and M4BL).

It is not lost on us that this coronavirus pandemic is still devastating our communities; which has, and continues to, hurt and kill people of color at a disproportionate rate. It is appalling that our nation can mobilize financial resources and equipment for militarized police responses to community protests, yet lacks the same resolve to fight COVID-19. We cannot pretend one crisis does not affect and connect to another. The Ethnic & Gender Centers will continue to stand with our students.

The Ethnic & Gender Centers believe that a true university education requires us to teach and practice racial justice. The university is a place of exploration of new ideas, we want to make sure that we are not trying to solve deep systemic issues with outdated solutions. We must reimagine and recommit ourselves to racial justice and be at the forefront of change.

In unity,

African Student Programs
Asian Pacific Student Programs
Chicano Student Programs
LGBTQ Resource Center
Middle Eastern Student Center
Native American Student Programs
Office of Foster Youth Support Services
Undocumented Student Programs
Women’s Resource Center



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