In the wake of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the shooting of Jacob Blake, college faculty across the country have been working to educate themselves and others on racialized violence, police violence, and white supremacy.
On September 8-9 across the U.S., college faculty have the opportunity to participate in a collective action across higher education called the Scholar Strike. While inspired by the protests initiated by the WNBA and NBA players, the Scholar Strike has teaching and learning at its core: a teach-in over two days where we extend our teaching and learning to the vital issues of anti-racism and combating white supremacy.
As unionized public employees of the state of Minnesota, we are not authorized to strike. Yet we feel compelled to call your attention to the issues raised by the Scholar Strike in this largely distanced, online semester. Thus, everyone who emails me September 8th and 9th will receive this auto-reply. This action brings together Normandale's values and the current institutional push toward equity for our students, and is a clear moment in which we can stand in solidarity with black communities and communities of color, and the efforts across higher education.
The values of Normandale Community College are clear. “We create a safe, inclusive, and diverse college community which values each individual. . . . Harassment on the basis of race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression is prohibited." When we look at our news headlines, and the history of the U.S., we see overwhelming evidence of a country and state that does not share these values.
The U.S. Constitution codified a slave system that our country remains insentient to its full impact. From our founding through the lynchings of Jim Crow (including in Duluth) through the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and shooting of Jacob Blake, Black Americans and African Americans face disproportionate and often lethal force, at times at the hands of police.
Other people of color also face racist violence, including Native Americans and Latinos. These are the facts of today.
The Scholar Strike is both a recognition and call to action for colleges and universities to honor their values. At Normandale, we cannot “create a safe, inclusive, and diverse college community” and also be neutral on racial violence: we must be anti-racist.
This email asks you to consider what actions you and Normandale Community College can take to combat racism and racial violence. Normandale teaches nearly 50% students of color who are subject to this racist violence. Combating racism is not easy, pleasant, or fast. But if we do not start today, the names of Americans who died from racist violence will only grow.
To learn more about Scholar Strike please visit:
Website: scholarstrike.com
Twitter:
@TheTattooedProf YouTube Channel: ScholarStrike
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scholarstrike2020
Instagram: ScholarStrike