In light of yet another series of killings of unarmed African Americans--Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and most recently, George Floyd--the Department of Religious Studies of the University of California, Davis wants to take the time to publically reflect on the grief that our community- especially, our African American students and colleagues- might be feeling, as well as reflect on our own institutional role in moving our department and community more toward the necessary and lifesaving work of anti-racism.
As our Religious Studies department moves more deeply into the necessary work of anti-racism, we want to say that we are here. We are reading. We are listening. We are taking notes. We are committed to receiving the stories, requests, and demands of the African American community and we want to encourage all others to do the same. We are committed to remembering and reflecting on these recent tragedies so that they may never again occur in the future. We are committed to fighting for equality for all, especially those most harmed by a state and a system that historically dehumanizes people of darker skin.
We cannot help but think that it is people like us- educators, students and colleagues of an academic institution- who will move in after the dust settles from tragic weekends like this. We encourage other members of the University of California system to join us in the lifesaving advocacy of racial justice for all of our students. We hope that the next generation of young black and brown scholars has even less of a racist world to live with and, if not, we hope deeply that more advocates and educators and lifesavers will rise to the occasion and fight this long and seemingly never-ending battle toward racial equity.
We believe that educators have a key role to play in lifesaving anti-racist work. As Layla F. Saad says, while discussing her work Me and White Supremacy, “this is not a book you Read. This is a book you Do.” Let us keep reading and let us keep doing the work. And when the work gets too heavy or too hard, let us help carry each other.
Peace and courage to you all in this unsettled time,
Signed,
The Department of Religious Studies
UC Davis