A message to Cal State East Bay students, from faculty and staff
- June 3, 2020
Dear CSU East Bay students,
We, the members of Cal State East Bay’s faculty and staff, write to express our continuing, committed support for students of color on this campus. We have looked into the sea of faces and tried to inspire you, to enlighten you, and to help you achieve your goals. We do not have the words to console you right now in these terrible and horrifying days. The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a horrific event, and he is just the most recent victim of systemic violence perpetrated against Black people and other communities of color.
We are all overcome with grief and rage. Some of us may not fully understand or share the trauma you have and are experiencing, but we all know that we cannot expect our students, especially our students of color, to learn and grow when they fear for their lives. Let there be no doubt that this violence is part of a long and revolting history of racism starting with the founding of this nation and that continues to this day. We know that the fight against racism and for justice takes many forms, sometimes it is protesting and organizing, sometimes it is just surviving, and sometimes it is the simple act of showing up to class and trying to learn.
Like you, we want change. We want sustainable long-lasting change in our country, in our cities, and in our university. We want this change because we want to live in a society where everyone’s contributions are valued. We want change because we cannot claim to honor diversity if we do not actively work to dismantle the racist systems, structures, and conditions that make life more dangerous and precarious for people of color and which can make the same levels of success much harder to achieve.
We, the faculty and staff at Cal State East Bay, acknowledge the racist history of our nation, its continued impact on communities of color, and commit to rejecting prejudice in general and anti-black violence specifically. We will continue to support you with curricula that encompass culturally responsive practices in the classroom. We will continue to highlight scholars from marginalized groups whose contributions have shaped our understanding of the world. We will continue to strive so that success at Cal State East Bay is an equitable outcome, available to all. Most importantly, we will continue to listen to you, to your struggles and your needs.
We see you, we hear you, we are proud of you, and we are in this fight with you. You are not alone.
“In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” ― Angela Y. Davis
Together we stand,
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POSTSCRIPT
For those of us who feel underprepared to understand and want to be allies, BLM B-town is compiling reading and viewing resource lists for all those interested in furthering their anti-racist education. The living lists will evolve over time. Please check in periodically for updates. These resource lists are broken into specific topics as well.
BLM B-town Anti-Racist
We encourage you to reach out to Cal State East Bay campus counseling services for support if it would be helpful.